THE end is in sight for the nine-year ban on exports of British beef.

A favourable EU inspection report published yesterday on the success of BSE prevention efforts at British farms and slaughterhouses signals unrestricted worldwide sales could begin again next spring.

Exports are strictly limited to British beef from animals aged between six and nine months, and farmers have been waiting for years for the all-clear to enter traditional export markets in earnest once again.

Yesterday's meeting of the commission's veterinary experts was expected to confirm satisfactory progress had been made in controlling the disease, since the industry was rocked by Government confirmation in March 1996 of a possible link between Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and CJD, a similar disease in humans.

The commission reacted with a worldwide ban on British beef exports, and traditional markets could take years to recover.

The breakthrough follows the Government's announcement two weeks ago that its own ban on the human consumption of beef produced from cattle aged over 30 months is being lifted.

Yesterday's news was greeted with jubilation among those in the beef industry, although they said they still faced a struggle to re-establish markets.

David Maughan, a member of the NFU's Livestock Board, who farms at Morton Tinmouth, near Darlington, said: "I almost jumped for joy when I heard.

"It seems a long time since BSE in 1996, and if the ban wasn't being lifted the beef industry would have gradually bled to death."

He said prices had dropped dramatically and they now needed to move more beef and recapture their old markets.

"It won't happen overnight but already people are making moves to open up the market."