France faces fines for failing to lift ban on British beef

France is facing financial penalties over its failure to lift a ban on the import of British beef after Brussels imposed a 15-day deadline yesterday for the embargo to be ended. The European Commission demanded that France comply with the European Court of Justice which ruled that its behaviour was illegal.

But France remained defiant and warned that it would not consider complying with the deadline until the autumn. It infuriated British farmers by saying it would not lift the embargo until it had received an opinion by Agence Française de Sécurité Sanitaire des Aliments (Affsa), the French food safety agency.

"The French government will look into this matter in the light of the Affsa opinion, which will likely be released in September, by the time it has proceeded to all the necessary analysis," a statement from the French government said. Its stance has dismayed Brussels officials and angered UK farmers, who say the ban is unjustified on safety grounds and has cost them millions of pounds.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) welcomed the ultimatum from Brussels and said refusal by France to act was "sheer arrogance". Tim Bennett, the NFU deputy president, said: "We hope this ultimatum will leave France in no doubt about the seriousness with which its illegal action is viewed by the European Union. The very existence of the ban continues to cast a scandalous and unjustified slur on our product throughout Europe. France must take heed and meet its legal obligations as soon as possible."

The European Commission banned British beef exports in March 1996 as fears grew about BSE. But since August 1999 the embargo has been lifted so long as strict processing standards are met, the beef is deboned and comes from animals less than 30 months old.

The court ruled last December that France's refusal to lift the ban was unlawful and ordered it to allow British beef imports if they were correctly labelled. France refused to comply and said the commission had been hasty. It said its own health and safety findings should take precedence.

The court has the power to impose a penalty which will rise each day France refuses to lift the embargo. Greece was brought before the court over waste management and faced a penalty of £12,940 a day.