FEATURE/New Roquefort Lovers Website Airs Beefs Over Gourmet Food Tariffs.

ARMONK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE FEATURES)--Sept. 10, 1999--

Roquefort Cheese Taken Hostage in Food Fight;

Roquefort Lovers Petition President and Hillary Clinton

Roquefort lovers have had enough. Of the government, that is, not of their favorite cheese.

Faced with punishing government tariffs on Roquefort and the prospect of depleted supplies by the Millennium, cheese lovers across the country are uniting at www.roquefortlovers.com.

The new website was launched this month to rally against the tariff and petition the government to repeal it. "Roquefort cheese has been taken hostage in a food fight," said Joe Gellert, president of World's Best Cheeses and site sponsor. "It makes no sense to place a 100% tariff on Roquefort just because the French don't want our beef. What has Roquefort ever done to these politicians? They have no right to play with our food."

The U.S.-imposed sanctions on various European gourmet foods, including Roquefort, because the European Union refused to lift a ban on U.S. beef treated with hormones. Roquefort imports were hit with a 100% tariff beginning at the end of July after the EU failed to comply with a WTO finding that the EU beef policy was inconsistent with WTO rules.

Gellert said he produced the website to make people aware of the unfair tariffs and give cheese lovers a place to vent their anger. "We're sick and tired of the government telling us what we can eat," said Gellert. "At this rate, our country's supply of Roquefort is going to be depleted before Thanksgiving. Just imagine all of our Millennium celebrations without Roquefort!"

Produced in limestone caves in the south of France, Roquefort is often called the most intensely flavored cheese of all, and its production predates recorded history. Made from raw sheep's milk and injected with a special mold, the cheese is renowned for its internal blue-green mold that reaches right to the outside edge of the cheese wheel.

The roquefortlovers.com website lets people show their support for repealing the tariff, and lets them send electronic petitions to President Clinton and to Hillary Clinton. The site also offers Club Roque information, recipes, posters and restaurant table cards, a bulletin board, and an electronic Roquefort newsletter.

"It's especially important that we reach Hillary with this message," said Gellert. "If she wants to be a senator from New York, she'd better understand what Roquefort means to New Yorkers. New York leads the nation in consumption of imported cheeses, and there must be 2 million voters here that love Roquefort cheese."

Gellert encourages Roquefort lovers to visit the site regularly for tariff news, to sign petitions, and to register for "Club Roque" recipes and newsletters. See: www.roquefortlovers.com for more information.

Joe Gellert and his wife, Ellen, own World's Best Cheeses, one of America's leading cheese importers.

The gourmet foods being held hostage in the food war include:

Roquefort cheese Mustards Soups & broths Chocolates Jams Truffles Foie gras Shallots & dried carrots Roasted chickory Tomatoes Fruit juices Toasted breads Hams & prepared meats

Note to Editors: The United States has all but banned a host of European gourmet foods in retaliation for the EU refusal to accept U.S. hormone-treated beef. Effective July 29, more than 30 European foods were subjected to 100 % import duties. The tariffs double wholesale prices and, in effect, ban them from U.S. supermarkets because it becomes impractical to try and pass these increases to the consumers.