WRITTEN QUESTION E-1114/00

by John McCartin (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 April 2000)

Subject: Maximum permissible residue limits and residue surveillance policy

Maximum permissible residue limits are established for all active ingredients in veterinary medicines destined for use in food-producing animals on the basis of data supplied by the pharmaceutical industry in accordance with strict requirements.

Member States are required by law to submit their food-residue surveillance plans for the coming year, and the results from the previous year, to the Commission. These results indicate the incidence of residues from veterinary medicines in food samples from across Europe.

Why is it not obligatory for the Member States or the Commission to publish these results? This should form part of an on-going programme to improve transparency and restore consumer confidence.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(29 May 2000)

Council Directive 96/23/EC of 29 April 1996 on measures to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in live animals and animal products and repealing Directives 85/358/EEC and 86/469/EEC and Decisions 89/187/EEC and 91/664/EEC(1) requires the Member States and third countries exporting foodstuffs to the Community to implement monitoring plans for the detection of residues in live animals and animal products intended for human consumption. The Directive indicates what residues are to be monitored for each animal species and lays down the sampling procedures to be followed for detecting substances.

This Directive was first implemented in 1997 for cattle, pigs, sheep, horses, poultry and aquaculture products. In the case of milk products, eggs, game and honey, the provisions of the Directive were not implemented until 1998, following the adoption of Decision 97/747/EC of 27 October 1997 fixing the levels and frequencies of sampling provided for by Council Directive 96/23/EC for the monitoring of certain substances and residues thereof in certain animal products(2), which supplements the provisions of the Directive.

Directive 96/23/EC specifies three levels for communications on the monitoring plans implemented by the Member States. The Member States have to transmit their monitoring plans for the current year and the results obtained the previous year to the Commission not later than 31 March each year (Article 8(3)). The Commission, after evaluating the monitoring plans, has to inform the Member States within the Standing Veterinary Committee of the outcome of these monitoring plans (Article 8(4)). The Commission is also required to send Parliament and the Council a communication each year on the results of these monitoring plans (Article 8(5)). Article 8(3) also states that Member States shall make public the outcome of the implementation of the plans. Some Member States are already publishing the results of their monitoring plans in the form of an annual report, in some cases on an official Internet website.

Since Directive 96/23/EC was adopted, the Commission has paid particular attention, with the support of groups of national experts, to standardising the data reported by the Member States in order to make comparisons easier and ensure that the report provided for in Article 8 of the Directive is as useful as possible. This task is time-consuming, particularly as the Member States have tended to develop very different practices with regard to testing for residues and laboratory analyses.

A report on the results of the monitoring plans for 1998 is due to be presented to the Standing Veterinary Committee at the end of May. So far, nine Member States have presented the results of their inspection plans for 1999. Under Directive 96/23/EC the Commission will remind the Member States of their obligation to make public the outcome of their monitoring plans and will ensure that they do so. The Commission will also see to it that the results are then forwarded to the Council and Parliament.

(1) OJ L 125, 23.5.1996.

(2) OJ L 303, 6.11.1997.