EU rejects U.S. poultry, maintains ban

BRUSSELS, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- European Union agriculture ministers have voted to keep United States poultry out of European market because of U.S. cleaning practices.

The vote rejected an attempt to reverse a ban on U.S. poultry imports.

U.S. poultry can be rinsed with chlorine, which is not allowed in the EU, Deutsche Welle reported Friday.

Eighteen of 26 agriculture ministers in Brussels voted Thursday to keep U.S. poultry off the import list.

EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen had proposed accepting U.S. poultry if it included a guarantee it would be rinsed with water, but Germany's Ilse Aigner rejected the offer, saying the two continents had "a different philosophy," on the subject.

"The Americans are free to disinfect their poultry with chlorine. We don't want to do it, and we will not do it," said French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier.