WRITTEN QUESTION P-0043/01

by María Rodríguez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(16 January 2001)

Subject: Disposal of carcasses of ruminants as part of action to combat BSE

The Commission will no doubt be aware of the reports that have appeared in the media about the dumping of over three hundred animal carcasses in a disused quartz mine in Mesía, Galicia, without any tests first having been carried out on the brain tissue of the animals concerned.

This infringement of Community law is made all the more serious by the fact that it was perpetrated by the Xunta (the Galician autonomous government) itself, in that the dumping was carried out by the company which it has commissioned to collect dead cows for subsequent incineration.

The Spanish Ministry for Agriculture has shown a quite alarming passivity during this scandal, indicating that it does not intend to take any action against the Xunta given that, in the Minister's opinion, nothing needs to be done to rectify what the Xunta had been doing to combat BSE.

Given that the pathogen responsible for BSE can survive for years buried underground, can the Commission state:

1. What impact the presence of the carcasses buried in Mesía might have on the health of the local inhabitants?

2. How it is going about monitoring whether the anti-BSE measures adopted by the Council are being properly implemented in the Member States?

3. Whether, given the magnitude of the crisis, it intends to take steps to ensure that all action taken is fully in keeping with the measures adopted by the EU?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(2 March 2001)

1. The Commission considers that the risk involved has to be assessed by the Spanish authorities taking, for example, local factors into account, such as geology, catchment areas of drinking water, and the risk of drainage of spoiled water into rivers.

2. Commission experts from the Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) carry out regular on-the-spot checks in all Member States to verify the correct implementation of Community legislation on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and related matters. The FVO carried out three missions to Spain from September 1998 to April 2000 on issues related to BSE. Reports of these missions have been published on the Health and Consumer Directorate general website. More recently the Commission has launched a series of follow-up missions to the Member States. In this context a mission to Spain took place from 11 to 15 December 2000 and the report is currently in preparation.

A new series of missions to the Member States will start in March 2001 in order to verify the implementation of the legislation recently adopted by the Council and which came into force on 1 January 2001.

3. In relation to matters relating to public and animal health, the Commission's policy is to maintain a high level of vigilance in order to ensure that Member States fully comply with their obligations under Community law.

In a case where, after establishing the facts, it appears to the Commission that a Member State is not fulfilling its obligations, the Commission is prepared to take all necessary action within its power in order to secure the respect of Community law. In appropriate cases this action would include the opening of infringement proceedings under Article 226 (ex Article 169) of the EC Treaty.