The dispute over British beef exports gets more farcical by the day.

The French are still refusing to budge from their defiant stance, pointing to the findings of their own critical report on British beef and ignoring a European Union decision which gave the green light for exports.

The German Health Ministry is reported to have written to David Byrne, the European commissioner in charge of food safety, calling for the French report on British beef to be fully examined.

But today Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said he had a telephone call from the Federal German Government which intimated it had instructed the Regional Government to back the EU decision.

What on earth is going on?

The European Commission has threatened the French with legal action, but will it hold its nerve?

Past performances suggest that once the French have dug in their heels over an issue the commission gets wobbly knees.

As one of the founder members of the Euro club the French seem to think they are entitled to special rights.

They are not.

When other countries attempt to bend the rules, the first and loudest screams of protest come from Paris.

If the commission does not go ahead with legal action other countries will be encouraged to ban the sale of British beef.

The French defiance will have a domino effect. And that will mean that British farmers have once more been firmly kicked in the teeth by the French, who appear to believe that the rest of Europe must fall into line behind them.

Many of this country's farmers have already gone to the wall because of the beef exports ban and others are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

One farmer in the West Country, who can trace family ownership of his farm back 400 years, has packed in and joined the queue at the local Job Centre.

True, the BSE outbreak was a tragedy which should and could have been avoided if the then government had been more pro-active.

But in the end we held up our hands and took the drastic measures required to once more produce healthy herds.

The crisis is over and the French should accept that, not hang on tenaciously to a report which Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers' Union has described "drivel."

In the meantime Nick Brown has announced a personal boycott of French goods.

And perhaps there will be a groundswell of public opinion backing him.

French wine may be left on the shelves while we sample Spanish, Australian and American reds and whites - in fact anything but French.

And perhaps Lancashire, Cheshire and Wensleydale cheeses will find their way into housewives' shopping baskets while we tell the French to stick their Brie where the sun never shines.

The French are quicker than most nations to set up sanctions when they feel their produce is being threatened.

Let's see how they handle a boycott on their stuff.

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