Countries around the world clamped down on European livestock and meat and dairy product imports Wednesday after foot-and-mouth disease spread to the continent with a first confirmed outbreak in France.
Australia, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States were among the first to react to news Tuesday that the outbreak, first recorded in Britain three weeks ago, had finally spread to continental Europe.
The United States and Canada said they would ban all EU meat imports, a move which surprised a top European Union representative who said Brussels had not been officially informed.
"We have a veterinary agreement saying that there should be prior notification and prior consultation," Gerry Kiely, head of the European Commission's farm affairs unit said.
The US-Canadian move would cost the EU some 1.5 billion dollars, he said.
Australia imposed an immediate ban on all meat, dairy and livestock imports from the EU, to protect its local beef and wool industries, quarantine officials said.
In New Zealand, the government announced similar measures would also be taken to protect its key livestock industry.
Japan strengthened measures it had already taken to keep the virus out by banning French imports of meat products.
Italy's announcement Wednesday that a suspected case of foot-and-mouth had proved to be a false alarm offered little hope to European farmers in the face of a world determined to protect its livestock free of the outbreak.
Paris confirmed Tuesday its outbreak in a cattle herd in Mayenne, western France.
It had feared the disease would reach its shores from Britain despite destroying imported British livestock once the outbreak appeared in Britain on February 19.
French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany has warned that there could be more cases. But he said France would do "all we can to make sure it is as limited as possible."
France is the world's second most successful agricultural exporter after the United States, according to UN Food and Agriculture Organization figures.
Its food exports last year were worth 37 billion euros (33 billion dollars), the French statistics institute INSEE said.
Outside the European Union, Norway, Switzerland and Poland have already banned imports of French livestock. Estonia announced Wednesday it was also banning French meat and dairy imports.
France is considering vaccinating the country's livestock in an attempt to halt the disease's spread, even though the EU Veterinary Committee has deemed vaccination unnecessary in Britain where there are 205 confirmed cases.
Further outbreaks of the highly contagious disease were reported in Argentina, but no link had been established with the British epidemic.
The United Arab Emirates Wednesday reported the disease in imported animals. Although the origin of the infected animals was not known, most of the country's livestock imports come from Australia.
Meanwhile with the disease so widespread in Britain and many areas declared off limits to travelers there have been growing calls for local elections due May 3 to be postponed.
Special counselors have also been talking to farmers, many said to be suicidal, reeling under a second wave of agricultural disease following the mad cow epidemic which has decimated the nation's herds -- PARIS (AFP)
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