WRITTEN QUESTION E-3118/00

by Brigitte Langenhagen (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(6 October 2000)

Subject: Use of animal cadavers in meat-and-bone meal

The decision to ban the recycling of fallen farm animals for use in meat-and-bone meal and feed has led to great uncertainty on the part of the affected farmers, slaughterhouse operators and associations in Germany. It is feared that the new rules on disposal will incur additional unilateral costs.

Would the Commission state:

1. What are the reasons for this decision? Do they have any scientific basis?

2. What additional costs will be incurred? Who will have to meet them?

3. Does the Commission plan to introduce provisions to enable such costs to be defrayed?

4. Does the Commission recognise the danger that other methods of disposal could be resorted to and the decision could be circumvented?

5. What is the Commission's opinion of the German procedure for producing meat-and-bone meal (pressure sterilisation at 133 C for at least 20 minutes at 3 bar)?

6. What is the Commission's view of the possibility of introducing that procedure throughout Europe? Could that be a means of achieving optimum consumer protection throughout Europe?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(1 December 2000)

1. The Honourable Member refers to the proposal for a regulation of the Parliament and the Council concerning health rules on animal by-products not for human consumption(1) adopted by the Commission on 19 October 2000. The key part of this proposal is the prohibition of recycling certain animal by-products into the feed chain, namely dead animals and condemned animal material. The only raw material allowed to be used for the production of animal feed would then be material derived from animals declared fit for human consumption.

This proposal is based on nine scientific opinions adopted by the scientific steering committee, all of them recommending the exclusion from the animal feed chain of materials derived from animals not fit for human consumption. The explanatory memorandum of the proposal provides background information highlighting the reasons for this new policy on animal by-products not intended for human consumption and gives the complete list of the scientific opinions.

A modified form of this proposal, concerning only dead animals, is also to be put to the Member States at the invitation of the Agriculture Council on 20/21 November as a safeguard measure.

2. The Commission is aware that there might be a number of potential problems as a consequence of the prohibition of recycling certain animal material in feed. In particular the cost implications of the proposal are potentially important, because the new rules will make the disposal of certain animal material and carcasses a cost whereas they previously presented a positive economic value. In order to overcome this problem, the proposal also includes a number of alternatives to the production of feed material for the use or disposal of these animal by-products such as co-incineration, composting, biogas products, fertilisers, and the oleochemical industry. These alternative methods of use or disposal allow a recovery of costs. An analysis of impacts is provided in the explanatory memorandum of the proposal.

3. The Commission is aware that in the Member States there is a wide variety of approaches to the financial support for the processing and disposal of animal by-products. In order to avoid this situation affecting the conditions of competition between agricultural products, the proposed regulation establishes that harmonised rules on this issue may be laid down at Community level.

4. The regulation contains the necessary provisions in order to guarantee a separation of the different types of animal materials streams during collection, transport, storage and processing and imposes a reliable identification and registration system for the final products.

5. and 6. Council Decision 1999/534/EC of 19 July 1999, on measures applying to the processing of certain animal waste to protect against transmissible spongiform encephalopathies(2) establishes that, from 1 April 1997, all mammalian animal waste destined for the production of meat-and-bone meal for animal consumption must be processed in accordance with the minimum parameters of 133 °C for 20 minutes at 3 bars of pressure. Furthermore, from 1 July 2000, rendered fats, derived from high risk ruminant animals, destined for animal consumption must also be processed in accordance with the above minimum parameters. These requirements are based on current scientific opinion and will be reconsidered in the light of relevant scientific developments.

(1) COM(2000) 574 final.

(2) OJ L 204, 4.8.1999.