WRITTEN QUESTION E-0097/01

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(29 January 2001)

Subject: BSE: meat and bone meal

At the very end of the year 2000 the carcasses of 300 head of cattle were dumped in an open quarry in the Galician town of Mesía which had been neither waterproofed nor designed to house such waste. This act followed a similar deposit of more than 50 tonnes of meal banned by the European Union and produced from Group A animals.

Unbeknown to the local residents, the carcasses and the sacks containing the meal were transported in vehicles not designed for that purpose. This has provoked great alarm amongst the residents, who do not know what effect this might have on their health and the health of those who have come into contact with the waste.

In view of the aforementioned facts, on the basis of the information available to it, will the Commission say what risks are posed to the health of the people involved in transporting meat and bone meal from Group A animals and risk material?

Given the uncertainty as to where this meat and bone meal came from and where it first originated, will the Commission give details of the EU Member States to which meat and bone meal from the United Kingdom was exported during the period in which the said meal had already been banned but continued to be produced nonetheless?

Has the Commission introduced rules governing the transportation of meat and bone meal which is to be disposed of, the features required of the vehicles involved, the protective measures to be taken by those people assigned to transport such meal, and the means of disposing of it?

Does it believe that the existence of an open deposit of tonnes of meal for which no prior precautions have been taken poses a health risk to the residents of Mesía? In its view, what measures ought to be taken to minimise that risk?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 2001)

On 26/27 October 2000, the Scientific Steering Committee adopted preliminary notes on the safe handling, transport and storage of possible bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) meat-and-bone meal, which may be contaminated with a BSE agent or other pathogens. These notes, which indicate the principal requirements to minimise the risk associated with storage of this material, are available on Internet at the following address:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/sc/ssc.

Details on direct exports of meat-and-bone meal from the United Kingdom to all Member States and third countries are widely available and have been reported in the public domain. The Commission will send these details directly to the Honourable Member.

The following Community legislation currently applies on production, transportation and disposal of meat-and-bone meal:

- Council Directive 90/667/EEC of 27 November 1990(1) laying down the veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste, for its placing on the market;

- Commission Decision 97/735/EC of 21 October 1997(2) concerning certain protection measures with regard to trade in certain types of mammalian waste;

- Council Decision 1999/534/EC of 19 July 1999(3) on measures applying to the processing of certain animal waste to protect against transmissible spongiform encephalopathies;

- Commission Decision 2000/418/EC of 29 June 2000(4) regulating the use of material presenting risks as regards transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

The proposal for a Regulation of the Parliament and the Council laying down the health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption(5) lays down detailed conditions for the production, storage, transportation and disposal of meat-and-bone meal. This proposal implements the most recent scientific advice in this area. In line with this proposal for a Regulation, meat-and-bone meal which is unfit for consumption under a strategy to prevent a disease, has to be disposed of as waste, thus complying with the waste legislation, particularly with Council Directive 75/442/EEC of 15 July 1975 on waste(6) and Council Directive 91/689/EEC of 12 December 1991, on hazardous waste(7), and they should be classified according to the list of hazardous waste, Council Decision 94/904/EC of 22 December 1994 establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant to Article 1(4) of Council Directive 91/689/EEC on hazardous waste(8), under the category waste whose collection and disposal are subject to special requirements in view of the prevention of infection. This meat-and-bone meal would be classified as hazardous waste unless they are pre-treated following the process for the inactivation of the infectious agents, as laid down by the Council Decision 1999/534/EC of 19 July 1999 on measures applying to the processing of certain animal waste to protect against transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and amending Commission Decision 97/735/EC(10). Once thus pre-treated, the meat-and bone-meal can be considered as non hazardous waste within the meaning of the environmental legislation.

Directive 2000/54/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000(9) lays down minimum provisions on the protection of workers against risks to their health and safety, including the prevention of such risks, arising or likely to arise from exposure to biological agents including unconventional agents associated with the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

(1) OJ L 363, 27.12.1990. Directive as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden.

(2) OJ L 294, 28.10.1997. Decision as last amended by Decision 1999/534/EC.

(3) OJ L 204, 4.8.1999.

(4) OJ L 158, 30.6.2000. Decision last amended by Commission Decision 2001/2/EC (OJ L 1, 4.1.2001).

(5) COM(2000) 574 final.

(6) OJ L 194, 25.7.1975.

(7) OJ L 377, 31.12.1991.

(8) OJ L 356, 31.12.1994.

(9) OJ L 262, 17.10.2000.

(10) OJ L 204, 4.8.1999.