WRITTEN QUESTION P-3805/00

by Paulo Casaca (PSE) to the Commission

(29 November 2000)

Subject: BSE in Germany

On 23 November 2000 the Portuguese authorities confirmed that a Friesian dairy cow born in the Hanover area on 23 September 1995 and imported into the island of San Miguel on 27 October 1998 was infected by BSE.

The scientific evidence currently available shows that the incubation period for BSE in cattle is between four and five years. It is therefore clear that the animal concerned was infected in Germany and not on the Azores.

It might also be pointed out that, according to the German authorities, that country is BSE-free and no case of the disease has ever been recorded.

This case demonstrates that the guarantees given by the German authorities are completely unfounded.

We have been witnessing a growing and increasingly worrying renationalisation of the common agricultural policy.

Health checks continue to be carried out by the national authorities, and Community inspections have proved generally incapable of analysing the credibility of the various national systems with any degree of accuracy.

As a rule, the European Union has declared an embargo on countries with the most cases of BSE. The question arises as to whether such action is preventing the spread of this terrible disease, or whether it merely penalises those countries which have been most rigorous in monitoring and combating it.

Can the Commission say:

(a) when BSE tests on cattle will be made compulsory in all the Member States?

(b) which animals will be subject to such tests?

(c) to what extent experts from the Commission or from international bodies whose independence is guaranteed will monitor these tests?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(9 January 2001)

Recently bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been detected in three cows born in Germany, one of which had been exported to the Azores in October 1998. In its opinion of 6 July 2000 on the geographical risk of BSE it had been established by the scientific committee advising the Commission on BSE related matters that in Germany BSE is likely to exist in the domestic cattle population despite the fact that no BSE case was yet identified. Therefore Germany was assessed by this opinion to be in category III (BSE likely but not confirmed). The discoveries did not come as a surprise, therefore, to the Commission.

Community legislation on BSE surveillance, which includes the requirement to examine all suspect animals and a minimum number of samples from animals with certain clinical signs each year, has been in place since May 1998. The practical implementation in the Member States has been assessed by a series of inspections carried out by the Food and Veterinary Office of the Commission. The inspection reports can be consulted on the Commission web-site.

In the light of recent developments in the BSE situation, the Commission has, among other measures, extended the BSE testing to all bovine animals over 30 months entering the human food chain. Bovine animals over 30 months of age, which die on farms, shall also be tested at random.

Only tests appropriately evaluated and approved can be used in the above testing programme. Sampling and testing must be carried out in accordance with established methods and protocols. The testing will again be monitored by the Food and Veterinary Office by regular inspections in all Member States. The results of the testing shall be reported regularly to the Commission.