Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-10-Speech-2-006"
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"en.20040210.1.2-006"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank the Commissioner for his remarks and I think we can all join him in hoping that what he has outlined will be successful. I would like to make three points.
First, in relation to the European Union's own services, one imagines that those operating on our behalf in south-east Asia are mainly from the Food and Veterinary Office in Dublin: our team of European Union health and food inspectors. Could the Commissioner tell the House how many people are involved in this work? He briefly mentioned that. One of the things that worries the MEPs who have visited the Food and Veterinary Office is that it is very understaffed. In fact, I believe there are only 90 inspectors for the entire world. What worries me is that, if this pandemic in Asia is tying up a lot of the efforts of such inspectors, where is the work not being done?
One of the things we were talking about in the Committee recently was the importation of chicken meat from Brazil because of the danger that this was impregnated with nitrofurans. Now if we are looking at south-east Asia, can the Commissioner reassure me that somebody is still looking at what is happening in Brazil?
My second point is about the human health dimension, because although this obviously has an animal health issue at its starting point, the human health dimension is very important. Is Mr Byrne satisfied that the European Union already has the capacity to monitor effectively any signs that an animal epidemic, or a major human pandemic, has started to occur here, given the likelihood of concealment? We have come across the element of concealment already in the countries where this has arisen. There is a temptation, I am sure, for concealment to happen elsewhere in the world also. Will he give some thought to setting up a rapid response team dedicated to planning for the worst in the European Union? He has outlined something of this, but not perhaps talked about that precise team.
The next report we are debating is very relevant – Mr Bowis' report on the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Unfortunately, that centre has not yet been set up. Would it be possible for an advance guard of the new Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to set up a planning team with which the European Parliament can have a dialogue?
Thirdly, Mr Byrne is also responsible for food safety at home and for legislation regarding food labelling. Given that we do not know exactly what the route of transmission is – if there is a route to humans – and that consumers are wary of food of unknown origin at such a time, would the Commission consider providing consumers with extra information via the labelling of the country of origin of the poultry meat component of composite foods which account for a very large section of the European Union market? I note that Mr Byrne said that the Commission had banned the import of poultry meat and poultry products. Oh really? Many consumers will tell you that it is impossible to tell where the poultry meat comes from in the composite foods we buy throughout the European Union. This is some of the information which I believe in this context should be given to the consumer."@en1
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