DATE=05/17/01

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=FRANCE / MAD COW (L Only)

NUMBER=2-276124

BYLINE=LISA BRYANT

DATELINE=PARIS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A French Senate commission is accusing the French government of dragging its feet in the fight against the spread of (bovine spongiform encephalopathy [B-S-E], or) mad cow disease. From Paris, Lisa Bryant reports a commission study says French authorities placed economic concerns ahead of the public's best interest.

TEXT: The six-month Senate investigation looks into 20 years of alleged French government errors since mad cow disease was first diagnosed in nearby Britain. Extracts of the commission's final report were printed in Thursday's edition of Le Figaro newspaper.

The study blames French authorities, along with the European Commission, for failing to take adequate sanitary measures to counter the mad cow crisis that has been discovered across France and Europe.

It rejects explanations by French authorities who say smuggled imports of illegal animal meal from Britain more than a decade ago were to blame for spreading the fatal and contagious bovine disease.

Instead, it said a succession of French governments placed concerns about maintaining agricultural competitiveness ahead of the safety of the food supply.

In an interview with Le Figaro, the Senate's commission president, Francois Sauvadet, said, "Political officials at the highest level have played with public safety in the name of economic interest."

Mr. Sauvadet said those officials responsible should be accountable to the public and, if necessary, to French justice.

The mad cow panic first surfaced in France in the 1990s. A new rash of mad cow cases last year sparked consumer panic and sent beef prices plummeting. But experts said the rise in bovine cases was partly the result of more rigorous screening for the disease.

France has also confirmed three cases of Creutzfelt-Jakob disease, the fatal human variant of mad cow. A French lawsuit filed by families of the victims last year, blames the French and British governments, along with the European Union, for failing to adopt adequate prevention measures against mad cow.

Last year, fighting mad cow took on partisan tones. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's leftist government initially resisted tougher mad cow prevention measures, before finally adopting them late last year.

By contrast, conservative French President Jacques Chirac - who may run against Mr. Jospin in next year's presidential race - called for quick action. But the European Agricultural Commission deemed France's response to be adequate. (SIGNED)

NEB/LB/GE/KBK