ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996                TAG: 9606240042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: FLORENCE, ITALY
SOURCE: Associated Press

EUROPEAN UNION TO LIFT ITS BAN ON BRITISH BEEF

Britain's beef with Europe is finally over.

European leaders agreed Friday to gradually lift the global ban on British beef exports imposed nearly three months ago following a consumer scare over mad cow disease that has devastated Britain's beef industry.

In return, Britain pledged to take steps to eradicate the cattle illness and stop blocking European Union business by vetoing decisions that require unanimous approval.

Announcing Britain had at long last won a deal to end the export ban, British Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind said, ``My prime minister has indicated that our policy of noncooperation ceases as of now.''

The ban on British beef exports began over fears that arose when the deadly cattle ailment was linked to a fatal human variant, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

The decision to lift it came on the first day of a two-day summit attended by the 15 EU leaders, who sought to restore global British beef sales, worth almost $900 million annually.

How quickly the ban is lifted hinges on Britain's ability to meet strict sanitary and other conditions set and monitored by the European Union. If not, European leaders made clear Friday, the ban will stay in place.

The EU leaders made ``no decision allowing Britain to export one single cow or one single [beef] product,'' unless it complies, Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama said Friday.

``The real work starts now,'' added Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo.

In their own vote of confidence to the beef industry, the European leaders ended Friday's sessions with a dinner of T-bone steak garnished with olive oil and rosemary - a Florentine speciality.

In France, cattle-raisers set fire overnight to tires, straw and effigies of British Prime Minister John Major. Farmers used tractors to block roads Friday and prevented a British ferry from docking for hours to pressure France to stand firm at the summit.

LENGTH: Medium:   51 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  AP. French farmer Jean-Marie Boeglin shares a tender 
          moment with his calves and heifers as colleague Jerome Badoual looks
          away. They rode a barge down the Seine in Paris in one of several 
          protests Friday over the European Union's plan to lift the ban on 
          British beef imports.