A NEW report which highlights the French Government's failure to meet key European BSE consumer safeguards highlights the "blatant hypocrisy" of its own illegal ban on British beef, says the National Farmers' Union.

The damning report by the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) underlines that the French ban on British beef is in place for political reasons, said NFU President Ben Gill said today.

An angry Mr Gill said: "The French Government has used the pretext of public protection as the basis for its illegal ban on our beef since it was imposed in August 1999.

"Yet as this report shows, they need to get their own house in order. Their ban is merely a cynical attempt to unjustifiably prevent British farmers from re-establishing their important meat markets in that country.

"This study only serves to underline the untenability of the French Government's position. They should now lift this ban immediately."

The FVO study took place last September to verify the implementation of European rules on protective measures against BSE. Its recently published report concludes that the measures designed to prevent potentially infected material getting into animal feed were not being effectively implemented.

The European Commission last month launched legal procedures to pave the way towards the imposition of heavy fines on the French Government. This followed the December 2001 European Court of Justice ruling that the French ban was unlawful.

The NFU is also pursuing its own action against the French Government in the French courts.