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prior to Jan. 1. On Jan. 5, the EC Committee of Permanent Represen- ^
tatives recommended a counter-re- j
taliatory list equal in value to the I
U.S. list, and referred the issue to | the EC Foreign Affairs Council, which met on Jan. 23 and adopted but did not implement the counterretaliation. The EC has asked the GATT to rule on the legality of the U.S. retaliation.
In addition, a series of incidents in the EC involving illegal hormone use received wide publicity in the summer of 1988. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Servicfe (FSIS), partly in response to the alleged widespread use of illegal hormones in the EC, and as a routine function of a U.S. regulatory agency charged with insuring the safety of U.S. imports, sent a letter to the EC requesting further information to verify that residue testing procedures in EC meat-exporting countries were equivalent to U.S. standards.
Hormonal substances have been found safe when used under proper animal husbandry practices, and have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and by the Codex Alimentarius Commission through a Joint E xpert Committee of the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Health Organization.
Also, a 22-member scientific working group appointed by the EC Commission, headed by Dr. Eric Lamming, came to the same conclusion about the safety of hormones when properly administered. But the EC Commission disbanded the group before it could submit the results. The scientists themselves, at their own expense, published their findings.
The main benefits of hormonal implants include improved weight gain, leaner meat, more efficient feeding and enhanced nutrient utilization. In the United States, normally, a capsule holding a miniscule amount of the hormone is implanted at the base of the ear when the animal enters'the feedlot. The hormone capsule remains effective for about 120 days.
The animal normally gains weight faster and has less fat, making the procedure commercially attractive. Ironically, hormone leveljs in meat from U.S. steers treated with hormone implants range from two to five times lower than meat from EC bulls, which is commonly eaten in Europe.
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