WRITTEN QUESTION E-3795/00

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(7 December 2000)

Subject: Mad cow disease and animal meal in Italy

On 16 November 2000 the Turin Public Prosecutor, Mr Guariniello, charged a Turin-based firm on the grounds that it had slaughtered cattle posing a high risk from the point of view of BSE and consequently circumvented the ban on the sale of meat from such animals. This practice seems fairly widespread not least because it is apparently easy to tamper with barn books and the ban on using animal meal as cattle feed does not apply throughout the Union. The fact is that it is perfectly possible for dangerous meat to be sold and hence dished up on the table.

Can the Commission therefore say:

1. whether it has been informed by the Italian authorities of the facts set out above and what steps it has taken or will take to protect citizens from the movement of dangerous foodstuffs in the Union;

2. what practical measures it has taken or will take to substantially reduce the risk that contaminated meat might find its way on to the market;

3. whether it does not consider that the legislation on farm animal feed is an issue that needs to be dealt with and finally resolved as a matter of the utmost urgency so as to enable the public to benefit from wholesome foodstuffs;

4. whether it does not think it odd that the use of animal meal was permitted in France until a few days ago but has been prohibited in Italy for several years, well before the first cases of mad cow disease were discovered in the United Kingdom?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(23 March 2001)

The Commission did not receive information from the Italian authorities on the specific case on the slaughter of cattle posing bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) risks under investigation by the Public Prosecutor of Turin, Mr Guariniello.

The Commission has already put in place a very comprehensive series of Community measures as regards public health.

These measures include notably:

- generalisation of the ban on feeding mammalian protein to ruminants of July 1994, to a temporary ban on the use of processed animal protein from all terrestrial species in feed for all farmed animals, as of January 2001;

- processing standards for the treatment of animal waste (133 degrees, 3 bars of pressure for twenty minutes), as of 1 April 1997, reinforced as of 1 January 2001;

- prohibition on dead animals unfit for human consumption to be used for animal feed as of 1 March 2001;

- active surveillance measures for the detection, control and eradication of BSE, as of 1 May 1998 and the introduction of rapid diagnostic testing of cattle over 30 months of age targeting high-risk animal categories from 1 January 2001, and all healthy cattle from 1 July 2001;

- exceptional market support measures which provide that no untested cattle over 30 months of age are released for human consumption after 1 January 2001;

- removal from the human and animal food and feed chains of specified risk material (SRM) accounting for over 95 % of infectivity, from cattle, sheep and goats throughout the Community from 1 October 2000. These materials, mainly brain, spinal cord, eyes, tonsils, and parts of the intestines, were already being removed in several Member States prior to this ban on the basis of the first Commission Decision on SRMs dating from July 1997. Extension of the list of SRMs to be removed with the entire bovine intestine as of 1 January 2001;

- embargoes on the dispatch of live bovines, meat-and-bone meal and bovine products from Portugal and the United Kingdom.

All Community measures are based on scientific advice and are regularly reviewed by the Community's Scientific Steering Committee.

A number of other important Commission proposals are currently under consideration by the Council and Parliament:

- proposal for a Regulation on the prevention and control of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs)(1). The Agricultural Council of December 2000 reached a political agreement on its Common Position;

- proposal for a Regulation on animal by-products(2) ensuring that only material from animals fit for human consumption are used in animal feed;

- proposal for a Regulation establishing the European Food Safety Authority responsible for risk assessment and communication on food safety issues(3).

The Commission's ongoing response to BSE must also be judged in the wider context of the White Paper on Food Safety(4) which sets out a very comprehensive range of proposals aimed at ensuring food is safe from farm to table.

The Community measures, where correctly applied, substantially reduce the risk for consumers. However, effective implementation and enforcement of Community legislation on BSE is the competence of the Member States. The Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) carries out inspections to audit the enforcement by the Member States and its reports are regularly published on the Commission website.

Despite reported shortcomings, it can be concluded that the overall situation has significantly improved since the first BSE crisis. The FVO inspections are being stepped up and particular attention will be given to a correct implementation of the feed ban and recently approved measures on SRMs and testing.

Following the latest scientific advice from 12 January 2001, and the conclusions of the Agriculture Council on 29-30 January 2001, the Commission is preparing draft proposals to ban the use of mechanically recovered meat and to apply additional restrictions for the use of rendered ruminant fat for animal feed, and concerning the removal of the vertebral column.

(1) OJ C 45, 19.2.1999.

(2) COM(2000) 574 final.

(3) COM(2000) 716 final.

(4) COM(1999) 719 final.