By Fredrik Dahl

BRUSSELS, June 2 (Reuter) - The European Commission approved a deal late on Sunday intended to end a row over European Union imports of Norwegian salmon which had strained relations between Brussels and Oslo. The EU executive voted after more than two hours of talks in favour of a proposal by EU Trade Commissioner Sir Leon Brittan to wards off the threat of a trade conflict with Norway, which is not a member of the 15-nation bloc. Instead of the EU imposing an anti-dumping duty, the five-year deal which Brittan agreed earlier with Norwegian Foreign Minister Bjoern Tore Godal included a minimum price and an increase in the export duty on Norwegian salmon. In addition, Oslo agreed to limit the growth in Norwegian salmon exports to the EU to around 10 percent a year. EU Transport Commissioner Neil Kinnock, Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino and Social Affairs Commissioner Padraig Flynn pressed for stricter terms and voted against the agreement. "There has been a certain amount of disagreement...but we eventuall

y reached agreement," Brittan told reporters. The deadline for a decision was on Monday morning and Sunday's special meeting was called after the Commission failed to agree last Thursday despite three hours of talks. Scottish and Irish competitors say Norway, the world's biggest salmon producer, is flooding the market and depressing prices. Norway, which like the EU is part of the 18-nation European Economic Area, strongly rejects the allegation. Brittan insisted that the deal with Oslo offered better protection for Scottish and Irish salmon farmers than an anti-dumping duty of 13.7 percent. The Commission earlier considered such an import duty after an internal inquiry alleged that Norwegian producers received state subsidies and dumped the fish on the EU market at less than the cost of production. "Everybody agreed that there had been dumping. Everybody agreed that that had to be put a stop to. The only question was whether it was better to do it by an agreement or by the duties," Brittan said. "I have no

doubt in my mind that it was better to do so by an agreement because the agreement was going to last longer and also lead to higher prices." EU officials said Brittan won some late concessions from Norway which helped to secure Commission support, especially an increase in the minimum price to 3.25 European currency units ($3.7) per kilogram from an earlier proposal of 3.18 Ecus. Brittan also said the deal was "pretty watertight" as far as the control over it was concerned. This failed to convince Scottish Industry Minister Brian Wilson who said he was not pleased with the outcome. "We have been down the road of minimum prices before and nobody in the industry believes minimum prices can be enforced because they haven't been inthe past," he told reporters. Norway regarded the trade conflict as its most serious dispute with the EU since Norwegians rejected membership of the bloc in a 1994 referendum. Norway's salmon exports to the EU are worth some 5.5 billion crowns ($778 million) a year. The industry is esp

ecially important in rural and vulnerable areas along the coast.