WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1966/97 by Richard HOWITT to the Commission. Prescribing Cascade Directive for veterinary medicines
Date: 1997-06-09
Institutions: European Parliament, HOWITT
Subjects: consumer protection, exclusive distribution agreement, pharmaceutical legislation, protection of animals, public health, veterinarian, veterinary drug, veterinary inspection, veterinary medicine

22. 1. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 21/127

(98/C 21/242)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1961/97

by Karin Riis-Jłrgensen (ELDR) to the Commission

(29 May 1997)

Subject: Commission(cid:146)s approaches to Polish Government to abolish pro-environmental measure

I will hereby draw your attention to the Polish national regulations to ban the import of cars not having catalytic
converters and to ban the import in general of cars older than ten years. Their aim is to reduce the extra pollution
caused by the substantial emergence of second-hand cars coming from West European countries.

What  approaches  have  the  Commission  made  in  this  case?  Is  it  true  that  the  Commission  has  been  putting
pressure on the Polish Government to abolish these regulations? Is my impression right that the Commission in
this case is only interested in forcing the Polish market to be open for western products, irrelevant of the quality?
Is it not necessary to support the Polish Government instead, for the sake of health and the environment?

Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 1997)

The Commission is aware that the importation of old technology second-hand cars into Poland could have an
adverse  environmental  impact.  However,  the  Polish  legislation  in  question  differentiated  between  the
environmental standards applied to the treatment of second-hand vehicles from Poland and from the Community
thus permitting Polish vehicles of low environmental standards to continue in circulation whilst vehicles from
the  Community  with  similar  or  higher  levels  of  environmental  standards  were  excluded  from  import.  The
Commission requested that Poland approximate its legislation in this area in accordance with the requirements of
the Europe Agreement. In line with these provisions and with the pre-accession requirement to improve the level
of environmental protection in Poland, it is expected that Poland(cid:146)s decision to approximate its legislation in this
regard by 1999 will lead to higher standards of environmental protection in this sector.

(98/C 21/243)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1966/97

by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Commission

(9 June 1997)

Subject: Prescribing Cascade Directive for veterinary medicines

Does the Commission agree that the Prescribing Cascade Directive unfairly allows veterinary practices to charge
higher prices for their medicines due to the monopoly they have over the supply of animal medication? Why can
a  prescription  not  be  issued  to  be  used  at  an  animal  pharmacy,  thus  saving  the  customer  money  and
inconvenience?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission

(9 July 1997)

Article 4 of Council Directive 81/851/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to
veterinary medicinal products (1) provides that where no authorised product for a condition exists the Member
States may exceptionally, in particular to avoid causing unacceptable suffering to the animal concerned, permit
the administration of another product by a veterinarian. The medicinal product has to be administered under his
direct personal responsibility to one animal or to a small number of animals or a particular holding. The product
used has to be either authorised in the Member State for another species or another condition, or, if the first two
possibilities  do  not  apply,  for  use  in  human  beings.  If  there  is  no  authorised  product  available,  a  veterinary
medicinal product may be prepared extemporaneously by a person authorised to do so under national legislation
in accordance with the terms of a veterinary prescription. For food-producing animals an extended withdrawal
time has to be observed to ensure that food obtained from treated animals does not contain residues harmful to
the consumer.