WRITTEN QUESTION E-1905/96 by Erich Schreiner (NI) to the Commission (11 July 1996)

Subject: Position of the Committee on Foodstuffs and other scientific advisory committees with regard to Commission decisions on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)

The Commission is able to obtain scientific advice from special committees before reaching decisions.

1. How is the quality of the scientific advisory committees' work to be viewed, if an interdisciplinary committee had to be set up in connection with BSE?

2. What is the purpose of the Advisory Committee on Foodstuffs if the Commission does not follow its recommendations in connection with such matters as BSE and beef derivatives?

3. How did the Commission discover that the consumption of British beef products presented absolutely no danger to health?

4. What is the Commission's particular specialist knowledge which enables it to disregard the scientific advice of the Committee on Foodstuffs?

5. As the Commission is clearly omniscient, there seems to be no need to maintain advisory committees in future. Following the experiences with BSE, are there any plans to restructure the work and organization of the scientific advisory committees, or to abolish them, at least the Advisory Committee on Foodstuffs which is obviously unnecessary?

6. Why, despite being aware of the Advisory Committee on Foodstuff's recommendation of 8 March 1996 on the BSE problem, did the Commission take no action for several weeks to protect European consumers effectively?

7. Which Commission services were responsible for this irresponsible behaviour?

8. In similar circumstances in future, will the Commission regard the health of consumers as negotiable and disregard the recommendations of the relevant scientific advisory committees, such as for example the Standing Veterinary Committee?

9. What sanctions will the Commission apply to Member States which take consumer protection seriously and wish to maintain a ban on the import of British beef?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (11 September 1996)

1, 5 and 8. The Commission has always attached the greatest importance to the work of its scientific advisory committees and will continue to do so. The multi-disciplinary committee has been established in order to bring together the various scientific disciplines relevant, in the first instance, to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). This committee will not replace the existing committees and it will work in close co-operation with them. The Commission has always regarded the health of consumers as being of paramount importance and has not disregarded the recommendations of the relevant scientific committees.

2, 4, 6 and 7. In particular, the Commission has always taken careful consideration of the opinions of the scientific committee for food, and will continue to do so. For example, the Commission followed exactly the course of action recommended by that committee in its opinion on BSE expressed on 8 March 1996. In that opinion, the committee recognised that, in the present state of knowledge, a definite opinion on the risk to human health from BSE could not be given. It acknowledged the work already done by the scientific veterinary committee and supported its continuing activities. It also urged the Commission to observe the development of the BSE epidemic as well as the development of scientific knowledge regarding BSE and risks to human health and to take any measures it deemed necessary. The Commission had already taken, over a period of several years, a number of measures to protect animal and human health from BSE. On 27 March 1996, following an opinion of the scientific veterinary committee on the statement by the British government concerning a possible link between BSE and a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the Commission adopted the measures necessary to protect consumers.

3. The Commission has never stated that the consumption of British beef products presents absolutely no danger to health. However, the Commission has taken measures to minimise exposure to BSE since 1990.

9. As the Community measure preventing British beef from being sent to other Member States or third countries is still in force, this question does not arise. In any case, the Commission will not propose to amend the current rules until it is safe to do so.