French beef workers blockade over BSE measures
Beef industry unions blocked traffic for hours at toll booths in Rennes, Lyon, Bordeaux and Paris to protest at stringent new government-ordered testing for mad cow disease.
The A13 and A1 highways near Paris were among the routes blocked by slaughterhouse owners, meat transporters and other professionals who say the ambitious plan to screen 20,000 animals every week is hurting an industry already battered by mad cow fears.
The protesters called for a lifting of the blockade in the early afternoon. In a statement, three protesting unions said they felt "let down" by the government.
