1.   It remained unclear whether London was ready to extend the slaughter programme it announced Thursday.

2.   An announcement on a supplementary slaughter programme was expected later in the day from the British government.

3.   An agreement is also unlikely if Britain continues to refuse to extend the selective slaughter programme.

4.   British farmers have also called on the government to implement the selective slaughter programme.

5.   But the commission insisted that even this limited easing of the ban was linked to Britain coming forward with a more extensive selective slaughter programme.

6.   The selective slaughter programme, if its targetting is accurate, could cut the incidence by about a third over the next few years, officials estimate.

7.   Ruminant proteins were outlawed in the manufacture of animal feeds and successive slaughter programmes were introduced in a bid to stamp out BSE.

8.   The agriculture spokesman for the main opposition Labour Party, Frank Dobson, said that the government would have to rejig the orientation of existing slaughter programmes.

9.   The commission still has no idea when the British slaughter programme will be submitted to Brussels.