No C 248/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 9. 84 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 64/432/EEC as 
regards certain measures relating to foot-and-mouth disease and swine vesicular disease 
(84/C 248/08) 
On 26 April 1984 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Articles 43 and 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Commu­
nity, on the abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Agriculture, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's 
work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 14 June 1984, in the light of the report by 
Mr Storie-Pugh. 
At its 218th plenary session (meeting of 4 July 1984) the Economic and Social Com­
mittee adopted the following opinion unanimously: 
The Committee generally approves the Commis­
sion's proposal, with the following comments. 
1. General comments 
1.1. The Committee welcomes the efforts made by 
the Commission to put an end to the exceptional 
arrangements which have existed for many years 
now in Ireland and Northern Ireland. 
The Committee recognizes the importance of the 
livestock industry to Ireland and to the United 
Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland. The Com­
mittee is aware of the anxieties expressed there, both 
in regard to the export trade with third countries 
and to the potentially serious consequences of an 
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. 
However, there are certain points which cause the 
Committee to believe that these fears should not be 
overstressed: 
— First, the assurances given by the third countries, 
if formalized and adhered to, will allow the ex­
port trade to continue. It is important that these 
proposals do not take effect until such time as 
Ireland and the United Kingdom in respect of 
Northern Ireland are fully confident that the 
trade provisions affecting their exports to third 
countries are transparently and clearly spelled 
out. 
— Secondly, both Denmark and the rest of the Uni­
ted Kingdom have operated similar provisions 
without major difficulties since 1977. 
— Thirdly, recent experience shows that no primary 
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has been at­
tributed to trade in meat or live animals — neither intra-Community trade nor trade from 
third countries. 
Nevertheless in the circumstances and in order to 
allay further the apprehension surrounding the pro­
posed changes, the Committee considers that the 
Commission should examine seriously the possibil­
ity of compensatory funding in the event of an out­
break of foot-and-mouth disease. 
1.2. There must be a Community policy on foot-
and-mouth vaccine — its manufacture, distribution, 
sale and use. The main causes of primary outbreaks 
of foot-and-mouth disease are, first, faulty inactiva-
tion when preparing the vaccine and, secondly, 
leakage of virus during the course of manufacture. 
The Committee is therefore strongly of the view that 
a decision should be made as a matter of urgency on 
the Commission proposal for a Council Directive 
introducing Community measures for the control of 
foot-and-mouth disease — COM(82) 505 final of 
9 September 1982. 
1.3. Swine vesicular disease and foot-and-mouth 
disease have, since 1973, always been dealt with by a 
common set of regulations, presumably because of 
the importance of differential diagnosis (especially 
in countries which do not practice foot-and-mouth 
vaccination). There are, however, a number of dis­
quieting elements, e.g. the different clinical picture 
which varies between Member States, which sug­
gests that consideration should be given to making 
proposals for SVD a separate issue to those of foot-
and-mouth. 
1.4. A period of, say, nine months should be al­
lowed for bringing the provisions of this proposal 
into effect. 
17. 9. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 248/17 
2. Specific comments 
Article 1 (3) (B) (f) — Article 4a Re-draft to read: 
'(0 placing in quarantine in the country of desti­
nation for a period of 21 days'. 
Done at Brussels, 4 July 1984. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Francis CEYRAC 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision concerning the coordination of the 
actions of the Member States and the Commission related to the implementation of a 
long-term programme for the use of telematics for Community information systems con­
cerned with imports, exports and the management and financial control of agricultural 
market organizations 
(84/C 248/09) 
On 3 April 1984 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on 
the abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services, which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 13 June 1984, 
in the light of the report by Mr Nierhaus. 
At its 218th plenary session (meeting of 4 July 1984) the Economic and Social Com­
mittee adopted the following opinion by a unanimous vote. 
I. Introduction 
The Commission document contains a Community-
wide development programme for cooperation in 
the automation of data and documentation for im­
ports/exports and management in agriculture 
(CADDIA) together with a proposal for a Council 
Decision aimed at ensuring that the Commission's 
and Member States' measures are coordinated. This 
document is in response to Council Decision 82/ 
607/EEC of 28 July 1982, which called for (a) an 
analysis of the needs, feasibility, costs and benefits 
of a development programme for the use of telema­
tics systems for the processing of data on imports/ 
exports and on the management and financial con­
trol of agricultural market organizations and (b) the 
submission of proposals for a long-term develop­
ment programme. 
The vast and complex development programme 
which the Commission has now presented was pre­
pared by a Preliminary Task Force (PTF) consisting 
of respresentatives of the Member States and the 
Commission's departments. II. Specific comments 
The Committee has the following comments to 
make: 
1. The Commission's plan, including its proposal 
for a Council Decision, meets with the Committee's 
approval. The systems in use at present for the col­
lection, processing and evaluation of data are still 
not fully coordinated and are in urgent need of a 
thorough overhaul. There are four reasons for this: 
— costs, 
— the Community authorities must be able to react 
swiftly and flexibly, especially where the organi­
zation of agricultural markets is concerned, 
— readily understandable economic data must be 
available for Community policy-making, 
— the proper documentation of quantitative and 
qualitative data is required for the exchange of 
information between the Community and its 
Member States.