WRITTEN QUESTION E-0803/01

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(19 March 2001)

Subject: BSE crisis: liability and compensation issues and measures by the Commission

1. Is the Commission aware of any instance of criminal proceedings being initiated or claims for compensation being made against the producers of animal feedingstuffs owing to irregular production procedures either in the EU or elsewhere? If not, how does it view the fact that no criminal proceedings have been initiated against them?

2. Does it consider that in the event of a violation product liability should be suspended?

3. What measures will it take to amend the directive on product liability in view of the BSE crisis?

4. Does it intend to take measures to institute an open declaration of animal feedingstuffs?

5. Does it intend to take measures to draw up a positive list of ingredients of animal feedingstuffs and thus to institute a clear declaration stating whether animal feedingstuffs are of animal or plant origin?

6. What measures does it intend to take to develop alternatives to the use of animal meal meal from animal carcasses in animal feedingstuffs?

7. When does it intend to organise a conference on animal meal, similar to the conference it organised in July 1997?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(4 July 2001)

Although the Commission does not have information that any such case has been brought before a criminal court for hearing in any Member State, it is aware that at least one complaint lodged by a civil party in France is currently being examined under a preliminary instruction.

Council Directive 85/374/EEC of 25 July 1985 on liability for defective products(1) introduced in the Community the principle of liability without fault. According to it, any producer of a defective movable must compensate any damage caused to the physical well-being or property of individuals, independent of whether or not there is negligence on the part of the producer. However, it should be noted that in accordance with the general rules on liability, article 4 of the Directive recalls that The injured person shall be required to prove the damage, the defect and the causal relationship between defect and damage; futhermore, article 7 which provides for the conditions under which the producer is exempted from its liability, includes under its point (e) the case where the state of scientific and technical knowledge at the time when he put the product into circulation was not such as to enable the existence of the defect to be discovered.

The Directive covered in its original version all movables, with the exception of primary agricultural products and game. Primary agricultural products meant products of the soil, of stock-farming and of fisheries, excluding products which have undergone initial processing. Therefore, animal feedingstuffs, which in principle have undergone initial processing, were already covered by Council Directive 85/374/EEC.

In the light of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis, the Commission proposed to amend the Directive and to extend its scope of application also to primary agricultural products and game. Directive 1999/34/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 10 May 1999 amending Council Directive 85/374/EEC on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States concerning liability for defective products(2) now obliges the Member States to apply strict liability to unprocessed agricultural products. The Honourable Member's attention is drawn to the Commission report on the application of Directive 85/374/EEC, which it adopted on 31 January 2001(3).

On 7 January 2000, the Commission adopted a proposal to introduce a new labelling regime(4). This proposal is now before the Parliament and the Council. The Commission's proposal provides for each ingredient in compound feedingstuffs to be mentioned on the label in order to enable the farmer to make an informed choice. Group names of ingredients will no longer be allowed. This proposal is still under discussion in the Council and in the Parliament under the co-decision procedure.

The Commission is considering launching a feasibility study on this issue, with special reference to laying down rules for establishing and maintaining a positive list.

Following the Council's decision to extend to non-ruminants the ban on the use of processed animal protein in animal feed in order to strengthen the guarantees provided to consumers on food safety, and following its request for an analysis of the supply of and demand for plant protein, the Commission submitted two documents to the Parliament and the Council, to which the Honourable Member is invited to refer:

- the first is a working document(5) on the supply of and demand for protein-rich plants in the Community following the BSE crisis,

- the second is a Communication(6) to the Parliament and the Council concerning options to promote the cultivation of plant proteins in the Community, based on the working document.

A follow-up of the conference on animal protein organised in July 1997 is not foreseen in the current year 2001.

(1) OJ L 210, 7.8.1985.

(2) OJ L 141, 4.6.1999.

(3) COM(2000) 893 final.

(4) COM(1999) 744 final.

(5) SEC(2001) 431.

(6) COM(2001) 148 final.