Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-11-15-Speech-3-182"
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"en.20001115.9.3-182"2
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"Following a suggestion from the independent scientific assessment agency, AFSSA (the French Food Safety Agency), a decision was taken to ban beef on the bone. The spinal cords of cattle will also be excluded from the production of gelatine and tallow and the entire organisation of animal slaughter will be re-examined in such a way as to make the cutting up of carcasses even safer.
This very day in Brussels, the experts on the Standing Veterinary Committee at the European Commission have been meeting with a view to preparing ways of extending the European programme for carrying out screening tests on cattle. This meeting of veterinary experts at the Commission is especially useful in the run-up to the next Agriculture Council, which will take place on 20 and 21 November under the chairmanship of my fellow Minister, Jean Glavany.
This meeting will compare experiences and approaches with regard to the test programme, the ban on animal meal and other measures that might be reinforced at a European level. The results of this first debate will be presented to the Council on 20 November. The key issue is to restore the confidence of European consumers in beef.
The Presidency has also planned to hold, during the same meeting, an open debate on food safety on the basis of work in progress, current developments regarding the crisis and recent proposals from the Commission on hygiene and food law, particularly on setting up a European Food Agency.
It should be recalled that a number of proposed regulations are under discussion, which will reinforce the effectiveness and the relevance of the raft of Community measures and shall thereby, I hope, restore consumer confidence.
I am reminded that a framework programme on the fight against TSEs is currently being examined by the Council with a view to an agreement being adopted at the Agriculture Council in December.
The primary objective of this text is to establish the legal base making it possible, by means of a single text, to implement practically all the epidemiological and monitoring measures, health policy and the ban on specified risk materials, as well as measures relating to the introduction on the market, the exchange, importation and exportation of live animals and their products. All these measures relate to BSE in both cattle and sheep and to scrapie in small ruminants. The scope of these measures covers human and animal feed: the other aspects of the problem of the TSEs will be dealt with under other legal headings (medicines, cosmetics and others).
By the same token, the Commission has put forward measures on food hygiene, which are under examination both in the Council and in Parliament.
The Commission’s very recent proposal on food law and the setting up of a European Food Agency will be debated extensively during the Internal Market, Consumers and Tourism Council to be held on 30 November, which I will be chairing, with a view to devising guidelines for the operation of this agency. I believe that the open debate on food safety, which will be held next week during the Agriculture Council, will clearly show, among other things, that scientific research is a cornerstone of the European raft of measures on food safety.
The European Parliament recently took up a position on the Commission White Paper, which foreshadows the establishment of this agency. I am sure that your parliamentary calendar will take full account of the need to move ahead more quickly so that, as suggested by the Commission, we can have a European Food Agency by 2002.
As soon as this proposal to set up the European Food Agency was presented by the Commission on 8 November, the Presidency enlisted the work of the Council.
The methods of control will be strengthened along the entire food chain.
Two meetings of the Council group were held on 9 and 14 November to prepare the general debate, which will take place on 30 November in the Council.
The role of the European Food Agency will be mainly to express high-quality, independent scientific opinions on all issues having a direct or indirect impact on the health of consumers and arising from the consumption of food to cover all the stages of primary production right up to the final consumer.
The European Food Agency will also provide clear and accessible information on issues arising out of its mandate. As a result, effectiveness, independence and transparency will be the key principles guiding the assessment of food risks in Europe.
France has embarked upon an important programme of some 48 000 tests to be carried out on cattle populations deemed to be at high risk, 8 000 of which also come under the Community programme. The decision has been taken to extend this programme to cover the whole of the territory of France. Tests will also be carried out on a random basis on cattle entering the food chain.
We propose that the Commission and the European Union should thus undertake to extend these tests at a European level, in the light of scientific recommendations.
A specific concern is the human form of the disease and the care that is provided. A programme to encourage disinfection and sterilisation within hospitals and to reinforce measures for the use of single-use material will be put in place very quickly. A reassessment of the precautionary and safety measures regarding the production and use of blood products is underway. Special attention will be paid to hygiene and safety conditions for workers in the facilities concerned.
The progress of research is a crucial factor in improving our knowledge of BSE as well as in its prevention and treatment. That is why the efforts that have been made since 1997 in terms of research will be extended and broadened.
The current unpopularity of beef consumption is reflected in a significant imbalance in the market. Tools to support the beef industry in tackling this crisis must be implemented. France has asked that the situation of the beef market be included on the agenda of the Agriculture Council, which will take place in Brussels on 20 and 21 November. In the interim, it has called for the implementation of the private storage measure provided for by the COM for beef. The intervention measure cannot exclude the possibility of going much further and of determining whether the production of oil seeds in Europe can be stepped up.
This national action plan, which was announced by Prime Minister Jospin yesterday in Paris, resulted from the fact that food safety is a legitimate concern of consumers. It is also a constant inspiration to the government, which will continue to act with determined vigilance to ensure that it is guaranteed.
We are convinced that this concern is fully shared by all the European institutions, whether it be the European Parliament, Madam President, the Commission or the Council. As a result it must be put squarely at the top of the European agenda."@en1
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