WRITTEN QUESTION E-0092/01

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(29 January 2001)

Subject: BSE: measures to be adopted by the Member States

On 4 December 2000 the EU Council of Ministers adopted a set of decisions related to BSE, including screening tests for cattle aged over 30 months and a temporary ban on animal meal in the fifteen Member States.

All the Member States have started the procedures for implementing these decisions, but as things stand there are major variations in the extent to which they have implemented them and the resources made available for that purpose. In France, the government is adopting measures which would not actually have been considered mandatory until 1 July 2001, including the equipment of 26 reference laboratories (to join the 13 that already exist) and the operation of tests at a rate of 100 000 per week. The contrast between this situation and that in other Member States, such as Italy, which has already admitted that it lacks the capacity to handle the problem, and Spain, which has only one reference laboratory and cannot match test capacity to demand, is creating a state of confusion, both among European consumers and in the industry itself, in the face of the variations in the action taken by different national and even regional governments.

In view of the above, and taking into account the European dimension of the BSE phenomenon, originating as it does in imports of contaminated British fodder, as well as the variations in response to the problem between the fifteen Member States, does the Commission intend to issue guidelines on the number of screening tests to be carried out in relation to total numbers of cattle, on the number of reference laboratories needed to make the tests, on the optimal number of centres required for the treatment, destruction and elimination of residues, and on any other measure liable to restore consumer confidence and enable the stockbreeding sector to recover?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(15 March 2001)

Following new developments in the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic in the Community at the end of 2000, a number of Community measures were adopted to further reinforce the protection of consumers against BSE and to prevent the transmission of BSE. These measures include systematic testing of all bovine animals over 30 months of age entering the food chain and a temporary ban on use of processed animal protein in all feed for farmed animals.

Detailed rules on the testing of bovine animals for BSE are laid down in Commission Decision 98/272/EC of 23 April 1998 on epidemio-surveillance for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies(1), as last amended by Commission Decision 2001/8/EC of 29 December 2000(2) and Commission Decision 2000/764/EC of 29 November 2000 on the testing of bovine animals for the presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy(3), as amended by Decision 2001/8/EC. According to these rules, all bovine animals over 30 months of age slaughtered for human consumption and subject to special emergency slaughter, or showing clinical symptoms of any disease in the inspection carried out before slaughter, shall be tested for BSE as of 1 January 2001. Bovine animals over 30 months of age which die on farms or in transport shall be tested at random with a minimum sample size laid down for each Member State based on the size of the bovine herd. As of 1 July 2001, all bovine animals over 30 months of age slaughtered for human consumption shall be tested for BSE.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2777/2000 of 18 December 2000 adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market(4), further sets out that all bovine animals over 30 months of age slaughtered for human consumption shall be tested for BSE as of 1 January 2001. Alternatively bovine animals over 30 months of age can be offered for a purchase for destruction scheme instead of being slaughtered for human consumption.

In the beginning of this year, Member States were asked to send a report to the Commission on the status of implementation of the new BSE-related Community measures. All Member States reported having implemented the provisions related to BSE testing in their national legislation. Some Member States will however only attain full testing capacity at the end of March, but in the meantime bovine animals over 30 months of age can be purchased for destruction. It would not be appropriate to issue guidelines on the number of laboratories needed for the testing in each Member State, as the testing capacity varies between different laboratories.

Also the capacity of plants approved to destroy animal waste can vary to a large extent. Thus the actual number of such plants is not necessarily a good indicator of the capacity. However the Commission is aware of the problems experienced in a number of Member States in relation to disposal of animal waste and feed containing such waste.

The Commission will continue to monitor the situation closely, including through inspections of Food and Veterinary Office.

(1) OJ L 122, 24.4.1998.

(2) OJ L 2, 5.1.2001.

(3) OJ L 305, 6.12.2000.

(4) OJ L 321, 19.12.2000.