Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-04-Speech-3-371"
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"en.20090204.20.3-371"2
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"Madam President, I would like to thank the Commission for that very detailed statement on this subject.
I have a sense that, in Member States, we regulate the compliant particularly tightly and we do not keep a lookout for the potentially non-compliant. We do not think outside the box. There is perhaps a tendency, once the paper trail is correct and the boxes are ticked, to put it all to bed and not look underneath the surface.
I think we need to look again at regulation. We are looking at it again in the financial sector, and we also need to look at it in the food sector. I also think that, at farm level, inspectors are sometimes regarded as the devil incarnate coming on to farms. Why do farmers not welcome inspectors in, seeing them as protectors of their businesses?
I think we need to change the mindset now in the entire food chain, based on this experience. I welcome very particularly the announcement of the Irish Farmers’ Association that they are setting up a food taskforce. It is high time that farmers took some control of the food chain that they are the first step on.
Lastly, the issue of low-cost ingredients is not one for now, but the pressure on producers to produce ever more cheaply is part of this issue and needs to be addressed.
I think the reason we are debating this tonight is because we want to learn lessons and ensure that it does not happen again. The difficulty is that, back in 1999, when we discovered a problem in Belgium, we thought then that we had tightened up our rules sufficiently so that there would not be another incident. However, we are where we are now, and we know the consequences of the system’s failure, in terms not just of money – although that is hugely significant for the European Union, for the Irish Exchequer, for taxpayers – but of the loss of confidence among consumers, and the damage done generally to the Irish food producing sector in terms of markets.
I am happy that we have made progress now and are restoring our name on the international marketplace, but I am also acutely aware that farmers throughout the European Union also face problems because of the Irish difficulty. That is why I think that tonight’s debate is not just about Ireland. In my view, it is clear from your statement that this problem that occurred in Ireland has the potential to happen in other Member States. So that is, I suppose, where the starting point for this debate must be.
We know that this oil should not have got into the animal feed chain. What we are trying to find out is how that happened and – as you rightly say – that is the subject of a police investigation with a cross-border dimension to it. We will, I hope, find out the exact trail of events so that we can avoid a similar occurrence.
But it also raises another question, which you have alluded to, and that is how we handle waste or surplus food. Recycling is now ‘the thing to do’. Everybody is in favour of it because we all want to be environmentally friendly and sustainable. So there are two issues here: first of all the issue of recycling of oils – to which you have alluded – and I think that needs more careful attention in relation not only to PCBs but more generally to the collection, distribution, handling and so on of waste oils, though obviously there is a particular worry about PCBs.
Regarding surplus food – or waste food as it is sometimes called – my own view is that it is appropriate that we use this product in the animal feed chain, but I want to say very clearly that, if we cannot guarantee its safety and how it is processed and handled, then I am afraid we may need to look at banning this in the food and feed chain.
I would not like to see that happen, but then again I would not like to see happen again what occurred in Ireland and the subsequent consequences of it. What we want is for this surplus or waste food to be used because it is good quality, not because the animal feed chain is a dumping ground for it – I think that is an important point.
We need to talk, too, very openly about the whole issue of the mixing of animal feeds. Farmers like to buy ingredients and to mix their own rations, and generally larger farmers do this. That is appropriate if we have tight controls on it. I understand that there are regular checks carried out, but in this case there were clearly some gaps in the checks on that market. Indeed, those farmers who were caught and suffered consequences because they used this product were saying to me, ‘Why was somebody not coming and checking what was coming into our yards?’
On the issue of regulation, I believe that there are very tight controls on licensed animal feed operators – the compound feed industry of the European Union – and they came in because of practices in the past which we needed to tighten up on."@en1
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