Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-05-16-Speech-2-346"
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"en.20060516.38.2-346"2
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"Madam President, I wish Mrs Roth-Behrendt a speedy recovery. She has produced an excellent report, dealing with the subject matter under discussion most diligently. Consequently I voice my support for her position on almost all aspects of her report except one: the issue of fishmeal.
Fishmeal is a rich source of protein and it is extremely nourishing to animals, including ruminants. Such animals are able to metabolise the proteins contained in fishmeal and use them for their structural and energy needs. Therefore the use of fishmeal to feed animals provides the farming industry with an efficient low-cost diet supplement.
There are two main issues concerning feeding fishmeal to ruminants. The first is how ethically correct it is to feed animal protein to animals that do not normally eat such protein. That is indeed controversial. It remains, however, an ethical issue and not one that concerns the aim of the regulation at hand today, which is to prevent, control and eradicate certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.
The second – and most relevant – question is the following: can certain TSEs be transmitted from fishmeal to ruminants? The answer, based on scientific evidence so far available, is ‘no’. To my knowledge, there has never been a documented case of TSE being transmitted from fishmeal to a ruminant, even though fishmeal has, in the past, been used extensively by farmers and the practice continues today on many farms outside the EU.
Of course we have the precautionary principle to consider. But how far can we take that principle when we have no hard evidence that TSEs can pass from fish to ruminants? We know that, in the highly unlikely event of such evidence being found, we could halt the practice straight away. The precautionary principle works well only when used with caution. Otherwise it can be a severe impediment to our existence. For example, why do we not ban travelling in order to prevent transport-related deaths and injuries? After all, we humans eat fish, and we are not worried about contracting fish-derived spongiform encephalopathy, something that is far more likely than for a cow to contract it from fishmeal.
Had she been here, I know I would not have managed to convince Mrs Roth-Behrendt of my point that fishmeal is good as a ruminant food, but I hope that I have provided the rest of my colleagues with food for thought."@en1
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