Ministers approved proposals from European Health and Consumer Protection Commission David Byrne banning the use of animal products in any livestock feed for any animal used for consumption by humans.
The farm ministers from the 15 member nations went further and voted to destroy all bone meal stocks and limit the use of fish parts to non-ruminants – animals that are not naturally vegetarian.
The European Commission proposal had also urged that tests on all EU cattle be extended to all cows over the age of 30 months beginning July 1, 2001, and removal from the food chain of any untested animal until then. But the farm commissioners remained undecided on that issue.
While the vote total was not publicly disclosed, it was said that a "qualified majority" of ministers were in accord. Finland reportedly opposed the ban, and Belgium reportedly abstained.
Beef sales have plunged by half in France since news surfaced last month that potentially infected meat had reached supermarket shelves.
Individual national bans against meat-based animal feed exist already in France, Germany and Britain. Britain already bars cattle older than 30 months from entering the food chain.
The mad cow disease epidemic was first identified in 1986 in Britain, which has more cases than all countries of the world combined. Ten years later, after it was discovered that the disease had jumped species and infecting humans, the EU slapped a worldwide embargo on the export of British beef.
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