OTTAWA: Canada will refrain from banning French beef imports even though a case of mad cow disease was confirmed at a farm in the European country, Ottawa said on Thursday. The decision came after the French Ministry of Agriculture said a lone case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, was found in the northeastern region of Ardennes. Canada has evaluated the French beef inspection system and is confident the products are safe, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said. Therefore, no actions on imports were required at this time, the agency said.  This was the first case of mad cow disease in France since 2011.