Exports of fresh meat, live animals and milk products will be banned from all of mainland Britain following its recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, the European Commission said yesterday.

A spokesman said the Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, had formalised the decision ? which was agreed with Britain ? yesterday. EU veterinary experts may review the measure when they meet tomorrow, he said. ?The main element will be the establishment of a high-risk area from which cattle, sheep and goats cannot be exported,? spokesman Philip Tod told a daily news briefing. ?Nor can fresh meat and milk be exported.?

He said the Commission had agreed with British authorities to define the territory of Great Britain as that high-risk area, rather than limiting the ban to a limited geographical area around the outbreak as the Commission had originally planned. ?That means live animals and milk products will not be able to be despatched from Great Britain,? he said.

But a senior Commission official said EU food safety experts ?were not surprised by the British request? and that, barring any further outbreaks reported in Britain, he expected the zone to be refined at a meeting of EU veterinary experts tomorrow. ?This makes sense and the UK has learned a lot since 2001 and provided us with a very detailed plan,? the official said.

However, fresh meat and dairy products which originated before July 15 can be exported from Britain to other EU countries, the Commission said.

?The export ban will have a very considerable impact on the industry and the market. This is a major setback when the entire Industry has been working hard to build a healthy export market,? Stuart Roberts, Director of the ?British Meat Processors? Association?. Several countries have blocked imports of meat or animals coming from Britain, or have said they will do so.

Japan and South Korea have temporarily halted pork imports from Britain, while the United States ? which already restricts UK imports of cattle and sheep due to other health scares ? has said it will ban imports of pork and pork products.

Ireland has banned imports of meat and non-pasteurised milk as well as livestock from Britain, a step it is allowed to take under EU rules but only as a temporary short-term measure. But Tod said Brussels did not see the need for ?further bilateral measures?, after the EU executive had finalised its decision yesterday.

Britain?s Meat and Livestock Commission said cattle and beef exports in 2006 were worth more than 100 million pounds. The main market, taking 40 %, was the Netherlands, followed by Ireland, France and Germany. Sheep and sheepmeat exports were valued at almost 250 million pounds, with France taking 70 percent.

Pigs and pork exports were seen at around 175 million pounds, with 60 percent going to EU countries and Germany and the Netherlands the main markets. British farmers are not entitled to receive any EU aid as compensation for any losses incurred, Commission officials said.

?Farmers are not entiled to any EU aid unless, like in 2001, it goes on for a long period of time, which would be a number of months,? one official said. Following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Britain in 2001, the EU provided an emergency aid package to four of the member states affected. 1.6 billion euros ($2.21 billion) was requested in compensation by Britain, France, the Netherlands and Ireland.