One of the most bitter transatlantic trade disputes of the past decade inched towards resolution on Wednesday, when the European Union announced it had complied with a 1999 World Trade Organisation ruling against its ban on beef hormones. Though Brussels refused to lift the ban, trade officials insisted that the original legislation banning the use of six growth-promoting hormones had been amended in a way that should satisfy both the complainants - the US and Canada - and the WTO. Pascal Lamy, EU trade commissioner, said: "Today's move shows that we are fully committed to abiding by our WTO obligations. We have worked hard to get this new legislation into place and I now call on the US and Canada to lift their trade sanctions against the EU." However, Commission officials acknowledged privately that the two complainants were unlikely to respond to Mr Lamy's appeal, suggesting that the EU would have to seek another WTO ruling on the case. A US official, who asked to remain unnamed, said the US would have to study the amended EU law carefully before reaching a decision. However, he insisted that Washington would not "take at face value the claim that they [the EU] have brought themselves into compliance". He added: "We have many questions on the nature of the risk assessment on which the amended directive is supposed to be based." The WTO had slapped down the EU's original ban, claiming it had lacked the scientific evidence required for such measures. Washington and Ottawa were then awarded the right to impose punitive tariffs on EU exports, which amounted to US$117m (