Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-300"

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"Mr President, Commissioner, the beef industry has signed a contract with public opinion, based on the transparency claimed and, I might even say, demanded by the citizen. Today, this transparency is applicable, within the beef industry, to two different but indissociable areas: BSE and labelling. France is stepping up its precautionary measures for specified at-risk materials and is implementing an extensive protocol to evaluate ESB tests on bovine animals. Tomorrow, the European Union is preparing to outline a test programme for all Member States. In this context, consumers would not understand the delays in the matter of labelling. I am therefore particularly concerned to ensure that the operators in this industry are not confronted with a legal vacuum which would lead public opinion, quite legitimately, to wonder whether there is a real desire for greater transparency. How else is it possible to explain the fact that at European level we have managed to obtain an agreement on chocolate but that we are unable to meet the deadlines we set ourselves in an area as sensitive and important as beef. Let us make no mistake as to what is at issue here. I am convinced that the subject of beef labelling is no mere technical issue. I should like to point out that if labelling is of such great importance to consumers it is because it is their guarantee that product traceability has been tightened up, that the operators in the industry and also the European and national public authorities have become more accountable, and that control systems have been improved. Finally, what our fellow citizens are demanding is the right to information. This right to be informed is the natural counterpart to the development of trade and the proper exercise of competition. By virtue of the transparency it conveys, labelling makes it possible to improve the freedom of movement of beef, providing assurances to consumers and guaranteeing their freedom to make an informed choice. In the beef sector, improving consumer information through labelling represents a strong message from Europe to its trading partners: it demonstrates its intention, over and above product health safety, to safeguard the consumer’s freedom of choice."@en1

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