June 21

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service has determined that pork from Denmark is free of dioxin contamination and may be imported for sale in the United States. Meat and poultry products produced in European Union member states have been on hold at U.S. ports of entry since June 3 because of the dioxin scare.

Thomas Billy, FSIS administrator, said the hold was necessary because of concerns that open trading among EU member states may have spread contaminations "beyond its original boundaries."

However, he added, the Danish government had provided FSIS "with sufficient information to demonstrate that Danish pork is safe for consumers." Of the 75 million pounds of pork product shipped to the United States from the EU between Jan. 1 and May 31, nearly 55 million pounds came from Denmark.

For Belgium, The Netherlands and France, where contaminated feed was fed to animals, the hold on and testing of each product lot will continue until sufficient data are collected for FSIS to find the products are safe for consumers. Importers will have to pay the costs of the testing.