THE European Commission is to propose a ban on the import of all meat products from the area around Camperdown in the KwaZulu Natal Midlands where there was an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on a farm last week, an EU official said. The Commission, the European Union’s executive body, will put the proposal to the EU’s Standing Veterinary Committee of experts from the 15 EU member states. Veterinary authorities have slaughtered and buried 600 pigs as well as cattle, sheep and goats after the outbreak. Another 100 farms have been placed under quarantine with police road blocks to control movement in a 10km radius around the affected farm. The country’s Pig Producers Organisation said it was confident the outbreak was under control and would not affect agricultural exports. – Reuters