This is excellent news

Lord Whitty Farming minister

Meanwhile the European Parliament has announced that it is to hold a public inquiry into the epidemic, unlike the various UK inquiries which are being held in private.

The UK's farming industry and government are keen to get the disease-free status confirmed throughout the international community.

The committee has also decided that exports of cattle to Northern Ireland will be allowed to resume.

In addition it agreed to remove the special controls relating to exports of fresh meat and meat products. Such exports can now be sourced from anywhere in the UK, said Defra.

Farming minister Lord Whitty said: "This is excellent news.

Evidence

"I am pleased that the European Commission and other member states appreciated the need for exports from Great Britain to resume as soon as possible.

"The decision is particularly welcome since it comes sooner than many had realistically expected."

The European Parliament's public inquiry into the epidemic will take a year.

A committee will hear from witnesses including scientists and politicians.

Four million animals were slaughtered in the UK

The Dutch Government, which used a limited vaccination programme as well as mass slaughter to contain its own outbreak, has already agreed to give evidence.

The committee will not have the power to force witnesses to appear.

But the BBC's Janet Barrie in Strasbourg says the inquiry could still prove embarrassing for the UK Government, as its policy of using only mass slaughter is expected to be strongly criticised.

Conservative members of the European Parliament say the Strasbourg approach is in sharp contrast to that of the UK Government, which has insisted on private hearings.

"It is good news for the future of British and European agriculture that we now have a proper mechanism to ensure we learn the lessons of the 2001 outbreak," said Conservative MEP Neil Parish.

No legal force

But Labour members say the Strasbourg committee will act too slowly to make a difference, and other inquiries are more likely to produce useful results.

Among other issues, the committee is expected to examine whether tougher controls on meat imports from outside the European Union would help prevent a recurrence of the outbreak.