The Swiss government has agreed to ease restrictions on the importation of potatoes following fears that Euro 2008 football fans could face a shortage of French fries in June.

A spokesman for the countrys department of agriculture told national radio on Wednesday that the government would allow an additional 5,000 tonnes of potatoes to be brought in.

The decision follows a request by Swiss potato industry association Swisspatat who warned that supplies were already running low in the buildup to the June tournament.

The association has estimated that 3,000 additional tonnes will be needed to make chips for foreign supporters, with the remaining 2,000 used for other forms of potato.

Switzerland has already been fretting over dwindling supplies of its beloved ‘cervelat sausage following a European Union ban on the Brazilian cows intestines traditionally used to encase the meat.

Economics minister Doris Leuthard, who is also responsible for agriculture, told the national parliament in March there were enough cervelats in reserve to last at least through Euro 2008.

The tournament runs from June 7 to 29 and will be co-hosted bySwitzerland and neighbouring Austria.

2008年“歐洲杯”足球賽將于六月開幕，因擔(dān)心炸薯條在此期間供不應(yīng)求，瑞士政府日前批準(zhǔn)放寬土豆進(jìn)口限制。

瑞士農(nóng)業(yè)部發(fā)言人于本周三接受全國廣播電臺的采訪時說，政府將批準(zhǔn)再進(jìn)口五千噸土豆。

應(yīng)瑞士馬鈴薯行業(yè)協(xié)會Swisspatat的申請，瑞士政府做出了這一決定。瑞士馬鈴薯協(xié)會此前發(fā)出警告，瑞士國內(nèi)的土豆供應(yīng)在“歐洲杯”開幕前已開始出現(xiàn)短缺。

據(jù)瑞士馬鈴薯協(xié)會估計，在額外進(jìn)口的土豆中，其中三千噸將做成薯片供應(yīng)外國球迷，另外兩千噸將做成其它土豆類食品。

熏香腸是瑞士人最愛的食品之一，但由于歐盟禁止其成員國進(jìn)口用于制作香腸的巴西牛腸，瑞士已為熏香腸供應(yīng)不足而大傷腦筋。

瑞士經(jīng)濟兼農(nóng)業(yè)部長多利斯·盧瑟德于三月在議會上說，目前瑞士的熏香腸儲備量至少能維持“歐洲杯”比賽期間的供應(yīng)。

2008年“歐洲杯”將于6月7日至29日舉行，由瑞士及其鄰國奧地利聯(lián)合主辦。