Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union permanently banned the import of U.S. and Canadian hormone-treated meat and asked the two countries to drop tariffs imposed in retaliation for losses caused to North American beef exporters.

The 15-nation bloc said it now has scientific evidence to justify the ban, which was imposed in 1989 and ruled illegal by the World Trade Organization in 1998. The U.S., which had shipped $500 million worth of beef to the EU each year, is retaliating with tariffs worth $116.8 million on imports from Europe ranging from Roquefort cheese to leather goods. Canada is imposing tariffs totaling C$11.3 million ($8.5 million).

``I now call on the U.S. and Canada to lift their trade sanctions,'' EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said in a statement in Brussels. U.S. officials in Brussels declined to comment.

The beef-import ban reflects the EU's better-safe-than-sorry food-safety policy, known as the precautionary principle. The EU is pursuing the same policy in biotechnology, banning the import of genetically modified foods because of safety concerns and prompting complaints to the WTO by the U.S., Canada and Argentina.

In the beef dispute, the commission said today it has come up with sufficient proof that hormone-treated meat poses a health risk, allowing the EU to shut its markets without breaking international trade law.

Safety First

``The EU has delivered a thorough risk assessment based on current scientific knowledge, fully respecting its international obligations,'' said EU Health Commissioner David Byrne.

U.S. farmers produce 95 percent of their beef using growth- promoting hormones and U.S. exports of certified hormone-free beef to the EU have fallen as low as $20 million under a 10,000- metric-ton quota. Canada has an additional quota of 1,500 metric tons.

The EU had been in talks with the U.S. to raise the hormone- free import quota as compensation in return for an end to the retaliatory tariffs. The commission said the talks were no longer necessary.

``These talks have now become pointless,'' said Gregor Kreuzhuber, a commission spokesman ``With today's decision, the basis of the sanctions is gone and so is the need for compensation.''

U.S. Evidence

The National Cattlemen's Beef Association in the U.S. says that there is no scientific evidence that hormones are harmful, and that banned hormones, such as estradiol, are present in other products available in the EU ranging from birth control pills to beer.

The EU ban affects six hormones used as a ``cocktail'' by U.S. beef producers, said Beate Gminder, a commission health spokeswoman.

The EU has concluded that one of the hormones -- estradiol 17 -- is a carcinogen, said Gminder. The bloc is banning the other five hormones -- testosterone, progesterone, trenbolone acetate, zeranol and melengestrol acetate -- while it seeks more scientific information about them, according to Gminder.

The EU's Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health expressed concerns about the health risks posed by the hormones in 1999.

In the gene-altered foods dispute, the commission says EU plans to tighten food labeling will lead to a lifting of the ban.

``We continue to challenge that,'' Pierre Pettigrew, Canada's trade minister, said of the hormone ban. ``Bring me the science and I'll look at it, but we won a panel that in my view was quite clear and we will certainly continue to demand that our trade rights are respected,'' he told reporters in Geneva.