/ 18 August 1999

EU EXTENDS FISH BAN

EUROPEAN Union inspectors said here Wednesday that they would maintain a ban on fish imports from Kenya imposed because of the alleged use of poison by Lake Victoria fishermen. “Although the lake’s beaches look all right, there are still deficiencies which might still risk the consequences of international standards,” said Claus Norbert Fink, the head of three-member inspection delegation. The team has visited government chemists, the Kenyn Bureau of Standards laboratory and beaches along the vast inland freshwater lake. The EU banned imports of fish from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in April after reports that fishermen were using chemicals to increase their catches.