AUGUST 1999 The official end of the export ban is celebrated by farmers as the first consignments of animals due for export are prepared for slaughter and a marketing drive - centred on France - begins. The farmers are subsequently angered when France and Germany announce they will not lift their bans on British beef because they have further questions over their safety.
NOVEMBER 1999 EU food safety commissioner David Byrne announces the start of legal action against France for refusing to lift the ban.
DECEMBER 1999 French PM Lionel Jospin says his country will not lift the ban and threatens to take the EU to court for trying to force it to take British beef.
FEBRUARY 2000 The European Commission begins legal action against Germany for its failure to lift its ban.
MARCH 2000 Germany agrees to lift its ban but France maintains it will not. Legal action against Paris goes ahead.
The ban on British beef by EU was not lifted until March 2006!
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sj