The Romanian government is examining the possibility that horsemeat found in beef products in Britain and France came from an abattoir in Romania.
Romanian officials are investigating whether horsemeat found in beef products in Britain and France came from a Romanian abattoir.
Officials said they would take action if laws had been broken.
They said they would take action if laws had been broken.
The chairwoman of the Commons food and rural affairs committee, Anne McIntosh, has called for a temporary ban on meat imports from the EU.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said a moratorium on EU meat imports, which some people have called for, was not allowed under EU rules.
But the shadow environment secretary, Mary Creagh, said that was not the answer to the problem.
In France, six supermarket chains have withdrawn ready-meals from food groups Findus and Comigel.
Environment Secretary Owen Patterson told the BBC's Daily Politics programme: "This is a conspiracy against the public. It's either gross incompetence or an international criminal conspiracy."
Earlier this week, Findus UK took its frozen beef lasagne, made by Comigel, off the shelves after some were found to have up to 100% horsemeat in them.
He said the British government was determined to "get to the bottom of it" and was working closely with other European governments, but he said a moratorium was not allowed under EU rules.
Romania's National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority representative Constantin Savu said: "As far as we know there was horsemeat provided from Romania, but this doesn't raise any problem, because we have more than 25 abattoirs authorised not only to butcher horsemeat but also to export it within the EU."
He added: "There is no problem with the fact that we export the horsemeat but we cannot know what happens to it on its way to export, after it exits the abattoir."
He said an investigation was under way to establish what had happened but said: "We have commercial papers for the meat, they are so many that they cannot be counterfeited.
"There is no possibility of changing the sort of the meat within the abattoirs."
Speaking about the growing horsemeat contamination, Mr Paterson said the British government was determined to "get to the bottom of it" and was working closely with other European governments.
But he added: "It looks as if the problem is limited to processed food and it looks as if there has been criminal substitution of beef with horse."
But he added: "It looks as if the problem is limited to processed food and it looks as if there has been criminal substitution of beef with horse."
Earlier this week, Findus took its frozen beef lasagne off the shelves after some were found to have up to 100% horse meat in them.
Findus France has said it will take action in the French courts, believing itself to be the victim of fraud.
Findus France has said it will file suit in the French courts, believing itself to be the victim of fraud.
But the company that supplied the meat, Spanghero, based in southern France, has also said it was the victim of fraud - and intends to sue its Romanian supplier.
But the company that supplied the meat, Spanghero, based in southern France, has also said it was the victim of fraud - and intends to sue its Romanian supplier.
Six French supermarket chains - Carrefour, Monoprix, Auchan, Casino, Cora and Picard - have also withdrawn ready-meals made by Findus and Comigel.
In the latest developments:
That withdrawal of a broader range of products does not affect Findus UK's policy of withdrawing only frozen beef lasagne, Findus UK said.
Six French supermarket chains - Carrefour, Monoprix, Auchan, Casino, Cora and Picard - withdrew ready-meals from Findus and Comigel
Findus UK said the only product on sale in the UK using ingredients from the French supplier had been its beef lasagne product. All other beef products on sale in the UK have been DNA-tested and cleared
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was confident patients eating food in hospitals were not being put at risk, and emphasised that it was fraud issue, rather than a food safety issue
The chairwoman of the Commons food and rural affairs committee, Conservative MP Anne McIntosh, called for a temporary ban on all processed or frozen meat imports from the EU until the source of the contamination was found
Shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh said "a measured, controlled response" which was "proportionate" was needed.
"This does not change the UK situation - all other Findus beef products in the UK were tested and cleared," it insisted.
The French minister for consumer affairs, Benoit Hamon, said it appeared financial gain was the motive of the fraud and overall it could have netted the perpetrators £250,000.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was confident patients eating food in hospitals were not being put at risk.
He told the BBC: "All hospitals have a responsibility to make sure the food they're serving is safe.
"We don't believe at the moment that there are public safety issues - there may be fraud issues in terms of people eating something that isn't what the label on the tin says it is. "
Meat moratorium
Miss McIntosh, Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton in North Yorkshire, told BBC Breakfast: "None of our meat, none of our slaughterhouses, are implicated and we should be buying as local as possible and we should be buying fresh meat from the butcher, farm shop and supermarket."
She said she wanted a temporary ban on all processed or frozen meat from the EU and said: "I believe there should be a moratorium on the movement of all meat until such time as we can trace the source of contamination."
But Mrs Creagh said a ban on EU meat imports would have "the whiff of panic" and she said: "We need a measured, controlled response to this and it's got to be proportionate.
"What the government hasn't done is get a grip, get the tests on the burgers that were withdrawn three weeks ago out. We could have tested those. If they'd tested them, they could have reassured the public. What they've done is sit on their hands and now they're totally behind the curve."
She told the Daily Politics show: "The government had its industry summit yesterday and failed to invite in representatives from the big caterers who supply schools and hospitals so no tests are being carried out on burgers which are sitting in hospital and school freezers."
Asked why routine testing of meat for horse DNA was stopped in 2003, she said: "The Food Standards Agency tests for the presence of adulteration on the basis of intelligence.
"The last test was done in 2003 and since then, as far as I am aware, there hasn't been any intelligence that there has been any horse meat being passed off in beef."
The BBC's Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield said the scandal had cast light on the bewildering complexity of the food business in the EU.
He said: "A Swedish brand - Findus - supplying British supermarkets employed a French company, Comigel, to make its ready meals.
"To get meat for its factory in Luxembourg, Comigel called on the services of another French firm Spanghero. It used an agent in Cyprus, who in turn used an agent in the Netherlands, who placed the order at an abattoir in Romania."
Our correspondent said: "That extraordinary Europe-wide chain of instructions has now been identified by the French anti-fraud office, which is piecing together how so much horsemeat masquerading as beef entered the food chain."
The French minister for consumer affairs Benoit Hamon said it appeared financial gain was the motive of the fraud and overall it could have netted the perpetrators £250,000.
Horsemeat in France is not noticeably cheaper than beef, but according to the Green MEP Jose Bove the price of horsemeat has recently fallen dramatically in Romania following a new law there banning horses and carts on the highway.
Horsemeat in France is not noticeably cheaper than beef, but according to the Green MEP Jose Bove the price of horsemeat has recently fallen dramatically in Romania following a new law there banning horses and carts on the highway.
Temptation
He said this could have opened tempting possibilities for cheating.
He said this could have opened tempting possibilities for cheating.
Romania's National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority representative Constantin Savu said: "As far as we know there was horse meat provided from Romania, but this doesn't raise any problem, because we have more than 25 abattoirs authorised not only to butcher horse meat but also to export it within the EU."
He said: "We have in these abattoirs officially authorised veterinarians that assist and control the technological process from receiving the animals until the meat is ready to go out of the abattoir. They have certified papers and put official stamps on the meat until it exits the abattoir."
Mr Savu said: "There is no problem with the fact that we export the horsemeat but we cannot know what happens to it on its way to export, after it exits the abattoir."
He said they have begun an investigation to establish what happened but he said: "We have commercial papers for the meat, they are so many that they cannot be counterfeited.
"There is no possibility of changing the sort of the meat within the abattoirs."
