Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision establishing rules for the recognition of third country health and veterinary inspection measures for fresh meat and meat products as equivalent to those applied to Community production, and for the conditions to be met for importation into the Community and amending Council Directive 72/462/EEC on health and veterinary-inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat and meat products from third countries () (94/C 397/15)

On 17 October 1994 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Articles 43 and 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned proposal.

The Economic and Social Committee decided to appoint Mr Pricolo as Rapporteur-General for its Opinion.

At its 320th Plenary Session (meeting of 24 November 1994), the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following Opinion by a large majority with one abstention.

1. Introduction

1.1. The health conditions for the marketing of animals and meat within the EU are strictly regulated. Accordingly, Council Directive 72/462/EEC established a Community system which closely regulates the health conditions required of animal and meat imports from third countries.

1.2. The Directive provided for the establishment of a list of third countries from which meat and animals may be imported. The list is based on general criteria such as the state of health of the livestock, the organization and powers of the veterinary services and the health regulations in force in the third country concerned.

1.3. The general criteria are accompanied by specific requirements governing slaughterhouses and packaging and conservation plants. The aim is to ensure that products meet the health requirements judged necessary by the European Union.

1.4. The control procedures consist of inspections, in the third countries, of establishments which produce or place on the market meat and meat products, and border inspections at the point of import. The border inspections entail a number of complex operations (examination of the certificate on the basis of a specific model, thorough veterinary inspection, and all other measures necessary to ensure the health status of the product up to the consumption stage).

1.5. Third countries which appear on the abovementioned list are also granted the possibility of having their health and veterinary inspection requirements recognized as equivalent to those of the EU, although this only applies to animal products other than fresh meat and meat products.

1.6. The recognition of equivalence speeds up the various procedures while still providing the requisite guarantees.

1.7. The present Commission proposal extends the recognition of equivalence to fresh meat and meat products.

2. Preliminary comments

2.1. The proposal consolidates equivalence recognition procedures calculated to provide the requisite guarantees. Recognition is based on a thorough analysis of the health situation in the country concerned in the light of:

- first and foremost, experience (this is only possible for countries listed in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 72/462/EEC);

- the results of Community inspection visits to the country concerned;

- the state of health of the livestock, other domestic animals and wildlife in that country;

- the regularity and rapidity of the supply of information on health developments in the country particularly regarding any outbreak of infectious or contagious animal diseases;

- the country's legislation on the use of certain substances in animal feedingstuffs.

2.2. It should also be noted that the EU has assumed precise obligations by concluding international agreements, notably with the USA (Council Decision 93/158/EEC on the implementation of Directive 72/462/EEC), which it is in the interests of both parties to uphold.

2.3. The Committee views the basic aim of the proposal as being:

- firstly, to help secure a uniform health framework worldwide, in which regular reciprocal checks may be carried out, sometimes without advance notice;

- secondly, to form a pool of scientific knowledge that is regularly updated according to the highest health standards.

2.4. The Committee also notes that the proposal is consistent with the new GATT agreement, which specifically refers to equivalence procedures, naturally in the context of compliance with the highest possible health standards.

3. Conclusions

3.1. With the exception of Article 8, the Committee endorses the proposal. Recognition of the equivalence of third-country health and veterinary inspection measures with those of the EU is the most appropriate instrument for ensuring a uniform regulatory framework, based on high standards, for meat producers worldwide.

3.2. In legal terms, equivalence is a concrete expression of the reciprocity principle, which is a key tenet of international law.

3.3. The Committee also welcomes the wider practical effects which the proposal will have. Bilateral agreements will enable the Community to tailor its legislation more effectively to the situation in individual third countries, with the end result of simplifying trade in meat products and reducing procedural delays in marketing.

3.4. The Committee cannot endorse the proposal in Article 8 to use the Standing Veterinary Committee in a purely advisory capacity. It asks the Commission to retain the SVC as a regulatory committee.

3.5. In short, the Committee is confident that the Commission's proposal will help to liberalize international trade in the meat and meat products sector, while ensuring full compliance with EU health and veterinary inspection provisions.

Done at Brussels, 24 November 1994.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Carlos FERRER

() OJ C No C 282, 8. 10. 1994, p. 11.