(BRUSSELS) - Brussels will this month propose lifting an EU import ban on US poultry, adopted due to health fears over a chlorine washing process, European sources said Tuesday.

The European Commission initiative foresees several health conditions linked to the lifting of the ban, including a requirement for the US industry to rinse the meat in drinking water after it has been disinfected with chlorine or sodium solutions.

The properly treated chickens will then be clearly marked to inform European consumers, according to the draft version of the plan, to be presented on May 28, the sources said.

The lifting on the ban was made possible after a European Food Safety Authority assessment last month.

It found that the four antimicrobial substances used for cleaning poultry carcasses -- chlorine dioxide, acidified sodium chlorite, trisodium phosphate and peroxyacids -- represented "no safety concern within the proposed conditions of use".

The US poultry ban, which was imposed in 1997, would initially be lifted for two years, during which fresh scientific opinions will be sought.

The US food industry uses the chlorine washing process on its poultry to kill off bacteria, including salmonella, before it reaches consumers' plates.

EU veterinary experts favour hygiene controls throughout the hatching and rearing cycle to better ensure that the bacteria does not develop in the first place.

The commission proposal -- which could be subject to criticism from EU governments unwilling to upset public opinion and their own farm lobbies -- will be made public ahead of an EU-US summit in June.

The news came as the EU-US Transatlantic Economic Council -- which aims to achieve barrier-free and secure trade -- was meeting in Brussels.

A high-level US delegation led by Daniel Price, international economic affairs assistant to US President George Bush, was holding talks with a European team led by EU Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen.

Last November, at the inaugural Transatlantic Economic Council meeting, Verheugen promised to reconsider the poultry issue on the basis of scientific advice.

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