THE European Union (EU) has placed a three-month ban on all beef imports from Swaziland following the kingdom’s failure to contain an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. EU resident advisor Aloys Lorkeers said the ban would also allow European agricultural experts to monitor Swazi cattle herds for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), popularly known as mad cow disease, although there was no proof that Swazi cattle were infected with BSE. – African Eye News Service.