A spokesperson for the commission told FoodProductionDaily.com that the bloc would be reviewing its options regarding the WTO's decision, which has led to markets like the US and Canada imposing additional taxes on some of its foods in retaliation.

EU processors have had to carefully choose the source of their meat supplies as a result of the ban, with pressure now likely to mount at the WTO level for the bloc to drop its objections to the use of the growth hormones.

Trade dispute

The WTO's ruling comes as part of an ongoing trade dispute between the bloc and both the US and Canada over the EU's decision to outlaw meat from both countries that contains growth hormones, because of health concerns.

The organisation initially claimed that as the health concerns were not conclusively backed by scientific studies, the US and Canadian governments could therefore impose custom tariffs on EU food exports like cheeses.

Despite claims made by the EU that there was now a strong scientific basis for the ban, the WTO yesterday ruled that these health concerns have remained unproven and therefore said the ban was not justified under its rules.

With the ban still in place, Canada and the US were therefore not judged to have violated their own WTO commitments as a result and would not be force to drop the custom tariffs.

The Commission spokesperson said that as a result of the verdict, it had failed in lifting the Canadian and US custom charges, though still hoped to resolve the issue at a later date.

The WTO also said Canada and the United States should have re-submitted their complaints in the wake of the 2003 update but that since the EU was still not in compliance, Ottawa and Washington were not deemed to have violated their own WTO commitments.

Growth hormones

Growth promoting hormones are used to increase the weight gain of cattle. Such drugs are not permitted in Europe because of concerns about possible health risks from residues in the meat and other edible parts, though there has been no conclusive testing on the issue.

Previous scientific studies have linked the eating of red meat with specific hormone-dependent cancers in humans.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked by the European Commission to assess any new scientific evidence that emerged since the EU risk assessment in 2002 on natural and synthetic growth promoting hormones (GPH) in cattle. ` red meat and certain hormone-dependent cancers."

The EFSA panel also said that new data published since 2002 confirmed and extended the understanding of the effects of GPHs.

"However, these new data available to EFSA do not provide any quantitative information that would change the understanding of the possible risks to human health associated with residues of GPH substances in meat and meat products," the panel stated. "Consequently the panel concluded that there are no grounds to call for revision of the previous risk assessments.