Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-06-Speech-4-153"
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"en.20010906.8.4-153"2
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"Mr President, the regions of Oene, Kootwijkerbroek, Mayenne, Cumbria and Northumberland have become notorious in Europe. Regions where humans and animals have suffered from the foot-and-mouth epidemic. However, the suffering was caused not only by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, but also by the means of combating the disease imposed by EU regulations, namely the slaughter of all animals on infected farms and in a buffer zone around them. An approach based solely on the preservation of distant export markets. Odd, if we realise that the European Union actually imports meat from vaccinated cattle from Argentina.
Much of the suffering of the last few months would have been unnecessary if the Commission had been prepared to accept preventive vaccination. In France and since June also in the Netherlands the crisis has been averted. Unfortunately, that is not yet the case in the United Kingdom. There the suffering of farmers and animals continues unabated. The figures make our heads spin. Since 9 a.m. this morning, there have been 2 005 new cases. Twenty recent new cases in Northumberland that for three months had seen no new infections. In the United Kingdom, four million animals have been destroyed in connection with foot-and-mouth disease and a further one-and-a-half million because of welfare problems related to the crisis. Let me be clear about this. This is not a loss of production units. This is the destruction of living creatures. It surprises me that the British government is only now considering using vaccination. The argument that they wish to retain the lucrative export markets no longer cuts any ice, now that winter is nearly upon us. Under the present circumstances, the United Kingdom will have lost that market for a considerable time.
I sincerely hope that the British government will listen to Sir William Stewart of the British Association of Science who says that vaccination must play a part in combating foot-and-mouth disease and should have been used at a much earlier stage. There is intensive contact with continental Europe through the many movements of people, animals, vehicles and lorries. That makes the situation in the United Kingdom life-threatening for agriculture in Europe. The present checks, including those at the Dutch border, are so minimal that they are asking for trouble.
I therefore call on the Council and the Commission to take adequate preventive steps to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in continental Europe, so that humans and animals are spared unnecessary suffering. Finally, I appeal urgently to the Commission once again in the light of the unmanageable crisis in the United Kingdom to change the non-vaccination policy."@en1
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