WRITTEN QUESTION E-0456/01

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) and Gianfranco Fini (UEN) to the Commission

(19 February 2001)

Subject: Food safety, delays and connivance

In the wake of the increasing alarm over mad cow disease and the legitimate fears of the public, controls on foodstuffs have been stepped up, albeit with some delay.

The Italian press, referring to investigations conducted by the Italian anti-adulteration units (NAS), has declared that a third of all products examined were found to be illegal in one way or another. The food safety emergency which has been plaguing Europe for a few years has concerned primarily BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), discovered in Great Britain, dioxin-contaminated chickens bred in Belgium and the Netherlands, and antibiotic-reared pigs. All this has been done in absolute contempt of Community legislation

The current state of affairs is: fresh BSE scandals in France, Germany and Italy; the production, sale and export of banned animal meal by Great Britain and other Community countries; a delay by the Commission in deciding which butchered parts should be withdrawn from the market and what sanctions to impose on those countries which, because of non-existent controls or connivance, allowed the production and sale of foodstuffs which were harmful to health and caused incurable diseases.

In the light of this, can the Commission:

1. State the reasons for the delay in setting up the Food Safety Agency which was proposed by the Commission at the start of its term of office and supported by Parliament.

2. Launch a new task force to monitor the problem, pending the entry into operation of the Food Safety Agency; report all cases of fraud and draw up a guide for all EU consumers to be promoted through the media and to help consumers purchase foods which do not put their health at risk; initiate infringement proceedings against those countries, including Italy, which have failed to fulfil their obligations by violating the most basic consumer protection rules; propose that Member States introduce sweeping, root-and-branch controls with specific deadlines for delivering the results. On the basis of these results measures could be taken, also to prevent any kind of harmful substances relating to the food sector from being surreptitiously sold in the EU or exported to third countries.

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(6 April 2001)

There has been no delay on the Commission's part with regard to the establishment of the European Food Authority (EFA). On 12 January 2000, the Commission published its White Paper on food safety in which it proposed the creation of EFA. The European Council gave its first input in June last year and the Parliament (Bowis report) gave its opinion on 25 October 2000. Two weeks later, on 8 November 2000, the Commission presented its formal legislative proposal to the Council and the Parliament. Following the Nice European Council conclusions, the Commission is making the maximum effort for the EFA to be operational at the beginning of 2002.

Independent of the establishment of the EFA, the Commission ensures that a high level of consumer health protection is enshrined in its proposed legislation. A detailed legislative programme was set out in the White Paper on food safety. The measures are based on the opinion of the Scientific Steering Committee and of the eight sectorial Committees, and are of course updated to take account of evolving scientific evidence. The Commission is putting particular emphasis on the need to ensure that the measures are properly implemented in all Member States. To this end, as regards the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) issue, the inspections carried out by the Food and Veterinary Office have recently been stepped up and particular attention will be given to a correct implementation of the feed ban and the recently adopted measures on the removal of specified risk materials and on testing.

The Commission attaches great importance to the fight against fraud and any other illegal activity prejudicial to the Community budget. In order to strengthen its means of fraud prevention, the Commission established the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) by its EC, ECSC Decision 1999/352 of 28 April 1999(1). Reporting of fraud cases is carried out annually by OLAF, and is available for public consultation at thefollowing web-site address: http://europa.eu.int/comm/anti_fraud/documents/rapport_en.pdf.

With a view to ensuring consumer safety, and in the interest of increasing the knowledge and awareness of the public in this area, the Commission has been financing for three years the food safety campaign, which is dedicated to consumers' information and above all education on food safety.

In cases where a Member State fails to comply with a requirement of Community legislation and is not prepared to take early action to remedy the situation, the Commission can open infringement proceedings under Article 226 (ex-Article 169) of the EC Treaty. It has in the past opened such proceedings in many cases of failure to respect rules for the protection of public and animal health and will continue to do so.

(1) OJ L 136, 31.5.1999.