The authorities in Mexico have sharply criticised a ruling in the United States upholding a ban on imports of Mexican tuna fish.

The Mexican fishing minister said the ruling violated agreements on free trade and announced plans to appeal.

On Tuesday, a US court upheld a strict definition on labels used to describe tuna caught without the help of fishing nets which are harmful to dolphins.

Mexico had been pressing for its tuna to be included in the definition of dolphin-safe tuna.

But the court agreed with environmentalists, who had argued that the changes would weaken safeguards intended to protect dolphins from unsafe fishing practices. Mexican officials say the embargo has cost the country more than fifty million dollars every year.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service