.05 second add-ons for MP3

Why is there a .05 second gap at the beginning and the end of every mp3 file I make with Audacity…and how can I stop this from happening?

You can’t stop it from happening - it is a limitation of the MP3 format. They always have a short silence at the beginning, though the length may vary.
Ogg, Flac and WAV files do not have this limitation.

We warn people against trying to do production in a compressed format. WAV is for production and effects, MP3 is the delivery format. They don’t cross well.

Koz

Thank you one and all. I had a funny feeling this was the reason.

Some information on that issue is here.
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t40480.html