Sunday April 25 12:27 AM ET

U.S. To Tighten Controls On Hormone-Free Beef

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The United States has agreed to tighten controls on hormone-free beef exports after a European Union study said supposedly hormone-free U.S. beef contained hormone residues, an EU document showed Friday.

The EU's ruling Commission Wednesday threatened to ban imports of U.S. hormone-free beef from June 15 if a solution to the problem could not be found by then.

U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky initially reacted angrily to the move, saying it was a step in the wrong direction, while acknowledging that any technical issues concerning U.S. beef imports could probably be resolved.

But U.S. officials, in talks with their EU counterparts in Washington Wednesday, took a more conciliatory approach, according to the Commission document obtained by Reuters.

The officials said the United States did not dispute the objectivity of the EU study and was anxious ``to correct the problem'' of the residues, the paper said.

``The U.S. was surprised at the results of the ... study, since they had no advance awareness of problems and believed that the control measures in place were effective,'' it said.

The United States asked the EU for a list of slaughterhouses which supplied the meat analyzed in the study, it added.

U.S. officials assured the EU that they were reviewing controls in slaughterhouses and would not sign meat export certificates to the EU unless they were satisfied, it said.

The Commission Friday welcomed these comments.

``We welcome the United States' constructive approach. We have a mutual interest in resolving the problem as we have no desire to ban U.S. imports provided they are produced without hormones,'' Commission spokesman Gerry Kiely told Reuters.

Kiely has said previously he expects EU veterinary chiefs Tuesday to endorse the Commission's view that an import ban is necessary. A formal proposal would probably then be drawn up Wednesday, he said.

The ban, if adopted, would effectively block all U.S. beef imports into the EU which already bars the import of all U.S. beef produced from cattle reared using hormones.

The EU imports between 7,000 and 8,000 tons of U.S. hormone-free beef a year, worth around $20 million. It is high quality meat sold in restaurants and shops.