EU bans British meat, dairy and livestock exports

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union has banned all British exports of fresh meat, live animals and milk products following a confirmed outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), the European Commission said on Wednesday.

"The Standing Committee (of veterinary experts) adopted an emergency decision today ... extending the categorisation of Great Britain as a high risk area until 15th October 2007, subject to review," the EU executive said in a statement.

"This means that live animals susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease cannot be dispatched from Great Britain, nor can their products," the statement said.

The ban does not include Northern Ireland, the Commission said, adding that "all animals on the infected holding are being culled and a 3 km protection zone and 10 km surveillance zone have been established around the premises".

The European Commission had suspended earlier its Tuesday decision to let Britain resume exports of live animals from the county of Surrey in England from November 9 which would have paved the way for Britain to be declared FMD-free from that date.