European Union farm ministers meet next week to decide on extending the ban on all meat-based livestock feed and a plan for small-scale producers that might signal the future of the Union's agriculture policy.
The existing ban on meat and bonemeal, imposed in January over fears mad cow disease was spreading across the Continent, expires at the end of the month.
All EU governments agree it should be continued but splits emerged at a meeting of veterinary chiefs on Wednesday, with some countries, notably Germany and Austria, pushing for a permanent embargo but others opting for an open-ended extension.
Britain abstained because it wants the Commission to review the inclusion of fishmeal in the scope of the ban.
EU diplomats expected the Commission's proposal for a continued ban with no specific enddate to gain sufficient votes at the two-day ministerial meeting in Luxembourg, which starts on Tuesday.
One said: "There will be a bit of a discussion on this, but I think in the end it will go through."
Ministers will also discuss EU Farm Commissioner Franz Fischler's plans to simplify payments made under the 40-billion euro a year Common Agricultural Policy to small-scale producers.