The EU Commission may lift the ban on Northern Ireland exports if it shows no case of foot-and-mouth disease, the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne, has said.
He was speaking before a farm in mid-Ulster was isolated last night, pending an investigation of a possible case of the disease.
A meeting next Tuesday of agriculture ministers and the EU veterinary standing committee may decide to focus or regionalise the ban, he said at a Labour Party seminar in Dublin on food safety.
"It all depends on the answers to the questions we've asked at the moment."
Mr Bryne added: "If we find for instance there are no instances in Northern Ireland then of course it would be appropriate to lift any embargo in respect of any region where it is appropriate to do so."
Mr Byrne said the EU had legally imposed a ban on UK exports.
"There is no doubt about it being legal. The European Union has emergency powers under the existing legislation which entitles me to bring forward such emergency interim measures to the Commission."
The ban has been imposed until March 1st but may be extended, he added.
He said he was frustrated by the response of member states to the BSE crisis. The Commission was often left to account for mistakes and the reaction from member states was often to call for new measures rather than acknowledge failures, he added.
"This is too serious an issue, with too much at stake, to score cheap political points. Consumers deserve better than to be subject to political point-scoring."
Member-states should accept and implement the plan in place which ensured beef was safe, he added. He said the Republic had taken the issue of food safety seriously but there was always room for improvement.
He defended the Commission's decision to ban T-bone steak in countries such as the Republic and not the UK.
"The Commission has to address the crisis in a Community context which is a major challenge given the different situations in the member states."