WRITTEN QUESTION E-1516/02

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(29 May 2002)

Subject: Use of animal fat in animal feed

I have previously raised the problem of animal fat in my written question E-2646/01(1) and in my letter to Commissioner Byrne, to which he replied on 31 January 2002. In his letter, the Commission again indicates that it will investigate the implications of scientific advice on animal fat for Community legislation. As no Commission communication or proposal has yet been published, the following questions are intended to clarify these matters for the benefit of consumers and the industry.

Since December 2000, the use of any animal fat in animal feed has been banned in Germany because of the suspected risks of transmission of BSE/TSE. In France, for the same reason, restrictions were imposed on the use of animal fat in animal feed in November 2000 and October 2001. In June and September 2001, the EU Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) decided that beef fat could safely be used as an ingredient in animal feed provided that its processing met certain conditions. On 7 February 2002, the SSC decided that there were no grounds for assuming that there was any connection between pigs and TSE. These decisions clearly indicate that the above-mentioned measures adopted in Germany and France are not justified.

1. Will the Commission soon be acting on the aforementioned opinions of the SSC and adopting a clear position on the relationship between animal fat and BSE/TSE? On the basis of that position, will the Commission propose changes to European legislation?

2. If not, what problems remain and how will the Commission solve them?

3. Do the measures adopted by Germany and France conflict with the above opinions of the SSC? If so, what will the Commission do about this? If not, why not?

(1) OJ C 115 E, 16.5.2002, p. 138.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 2002)

1. and 2. The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) recommended additional conditions for using ruminant fat in ruminant feed, including milk replacers, in an opinion on the safety of tallow obtained from ruminant slaughter by-products, adopted at the SSC meeting of 28 and 29 June 2001 and updated at the meeting on 6 and 7 September 2001. Based on that opinion, a Commission working document concerning tallow in milk replacers and other ruminant feed was prepared and discussed with the Member States in the framework of the Standing Veterinary Committee of 22 and 23 January 2002, and of 19 and 20 February 2002. However, as in the meantime the SSC had started a quantitative risk assessment of the safety of ruminant fat, it was decided to wait for that assessment before proceeding with the document.

So far, the SSC has not recommended measures on pig fat which would entail amendments to the current legislation. However, a detailed report and opinion on transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) risk in pigs is currently being prepared by the SSC.

The above forthcoming opinions of the SSC will provide the Commission with the necessary elements to decide on what amendments to the existing legislation on animal fats should be brought forward. In this context, control aspects such as the feasibility to keep different types of fats separate and the availability of analytical methods to detect fats of different species will also have to be considered.

3. It seems appropriate to await the outcome of the forthcoming new opinions of the SSC on the safety of ruminant fat and the TSE risk in pigs before assessing the national measures of Germany and France.