EU to ban live animal exports from UK - spokesman

BRUSSELS, Aug 4 (Reuters) The European Commission will ban live animal exports from the United Kingdom, along with meat and dairy products only from the area of England affected by an outbreak of foot and mouth disease, the European Union executive body said today.

''The European Commission will adopt an emergency measure on Monday that exports of all live animals, meat products and dairy products from the affected area will be banned,'' Commission spokesman Philip Tod said.

''All live animals from the rest of Britain, but not meat and dairy products, will also be banned for export. This measure does not affect Northern Ireland,'' Tod said.

Britain was moving rapidly to contain the outbreak of foot and mouth, a highly infectious disease that devastated farming six years ago, by isolating a farm west of London today.

Ireland has said it was banning the import of meat and non-pasteurised milk as well as livestock from Britain, a step it is allowed to take under EU rules until the bloc's executive takes its decision.

''Although the Commission deems additional measures unnecessary, any country is entitled to take emergency measures under EU rules until Monday,'' Tod said.

Tod said EU veterinary experts would meet next Wednesday to evaluate the foot and mouth outbreak.

REUTERS PY KN1930