At a meeting of EU veterinary officers in Brussels today Bert Houston is also expected to recommend that Northern Irish farmers be given scope to emphasise the distinction between their products and those from the rest of the UK, following apparent confusion in Japan, Germany and South America.

It is understood this could come in the form of labelling, which would stress that Northern Ireland's products are exempt from the ban on British exports.

The committee of veterinary officers will meet this afternoon to formally assess the European Commission's emergency ban on live exports and meat products following the outbreak of foot and mouth.

The committee, which has powers to extend or modify the ban, could go for a limited relaxation of the ban, according to a spokesman for the commission.

Agriculture companies in Northern Ireland are becoming increasingly worried about the effect of outbreak on their sales.

Dale Farm, one of Northern Ireland's largest agriculture companies, said milk exports worth £1m are at risk each day unless the crisis is resolved.

Source: RTE