WRITTEN QUESTION E-2016/99 by Jan Andersson (PSE) to the Commission. Commission efforts to remedy shortcomings in the use of meat export certificates.
Date: 1999-11-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European social policy, Finland, Sweden, health certificate, import (EU), meat

C 303 E/24

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

24.10.2000

The Commission(cid:146)s approach to the problem raised by the Honourable Member has remained
4.
unchanged since its communication on illegal and harmful content on the Internet (7) and the green
paper on protection of minors and human dignity in audiovisual and information services (8), to which the
Honourable Member is referred.

(1) Decision 276/1999/EEC of the Parliament and the Council of 25.1.1999 (cid:129) OJ L 33, 6.2.1999.
(2) OJ L 270, 7.10.1998, http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg IO/avpolicy/new_srv/recom-intro_en.html.
(3) OJ L 322, 12.12.1996 http://europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/project/stop_en.htm.
(4) http://www.stop-childpornog.at/conc.asp.
(5) Legislative resolution embodying Parliament(cid:146)s opinion on the draft Joint Action, adopted by the Council on the
basis of Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, to combat child pornography on the Internet (10850/5/98 (cid:129)
C4-0674/98 (cid:129) 98/0917(CNS))
(Consultation procedure) 13 April 1999, Report of Civil Liberties Committee
(rapporteur Gerhard Schmid) A4-0141/1999.

(6) COM(1999) 427 final http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/dat/1999/en_599PC0427.html.
(7) COM(96) 487 final http://www2.echo.lu/legal/en/internet/communic.html.
(8) COM(96) 483 final http://europa.eu.int/en/record/green/gp9610/protec.htm.

(2000/C 303 E/020)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2016/99

by Jan Andersson (PSE) to the Commission

(9 November 1999)

Subject: Commission efforts to remedy shortcomings in the use of meat export certificates

So far this year, 25 consignments of salmonella-infected meat imported from other EU Member States have
been discovered in Sweden. These consignments were in most cases accompanied by certificates from the
countries of origin that were technically in order, but the meat was infected with salmonella nevertheless.
Under current rules, only spot checks may be made. There is obviously a danger, therefore, that infected
meat will get through to consumers. Salmonella is nowadays a common public health problem that causes
a relatively high number of fatalities in several Member States. The fact that certificates from Member
States cannot be taken as guaranteeing that imported consignments of meat are salmonella-free therefore
constitutes a very serious problem.

What steps is the Commission taking to remedy the obvious shortcomings in Member States(cid:146) use of meat
export certificates?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(2 December 1999)

Consignments of fresh beef, veal and pig meat, poultry for slaughter and fresh poultry meat intended for
Finland and Sweden must be sampled and tested for salmonella according to the rules laid down in
Council Decisions 95/409/EC (1), 95/410/EC (2) and 95/411/EC (3), respectively. The sampling shall be
carried out in the establishment of origin. Consignments must be accompanied by a certificate according
to Council Directives 64/433/EEC (4), 90/539/EEC (5) and 71/118/EEC (6), for fresh beef, veal and pig meat,
poultry for slaughter and fresh poultry meat, respectively.

The Commission is aware of some irregularities in the past concerning incorrect certification and that the
Swedish authorities have initiated a specific (cid:145)guarantee project(cid:146). However, the Commission has not been
informed on the results of the project concerning this year.

Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 (7) sets down the framework of
the controls
concerning veterinary checks for the internal market which should in principle be carried out at origin
and not at destination. Thus Article 3 of the Directive provides an obligation that Member States shall
ensure that only products that have been obtained, checked, marked and labelled in accordance with
Community rules for that commodity are placed on the market.

Several steps have been taken or are currently under preparation in order to guarantee compliance with
the Community provisions concerning veterinary checks and certificates thereof. Directive 89/662/EEC sets

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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down in Article 16.3 a requirement that Member States must submit to the Commission in a harmonised
form basic information on veterinary checks carried out under this Directive. This Article was initially
implemented by Commission Decision 98/470/EC of 9 July 1998 implementing Council Directive 89/662/
EEC as regards information on veterinary checks (8) which put in place the framework requirements for the
collection and submission of information, and contained one annex dealing with the sector for fresh meat.

A draft decision for the next sector, that covering poultry meat, is currently in preparation prior to being
submitted to the standing veterinary committee. The Commission has the intention to produce further
draft decisions to extend the sectors of activity for which information must be gathered and submitted to
the Commission.

In addition to the measures explained above it is important that Member States bilaterally agree on
measures concerning cases of suspected or proven irregularities in certificates in accordance with Article 8
of Directive 89/662/EEC.

(1) OJ L 243, 11.10.1995.
(2) OJ L 243, 11.10.1995.
(3) OJ L 243, 11.10.1995.
(4) OJ 121, 29.7.1964.
(5) OJ L 303, 31.10.1990.
(6) OJ L 55, 8.3.1971.
(7) OJ L 295, 30.12.1989.
(8) OJ L 208, 24.7.1998.

(2000/C 303 E/021)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2032/99

by Inger Sch(cid:246)rling (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 November 1999)

Subject: Drinks packaging

The consumption of drinks packaging in the EU is very high and is damaging the environment. Has the
Commission done anything to promote reusable drinks packaging, for instance? If so, how much money
has it made available? How does it view the prospects for introducing an EU-wide system of standard
returnable packaging that can be reused anywhere in the EU? Has it any idea of how much drinks
packaging is consumed in the EU every day?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(4 January 2000)

The encouragement of reuse systems of packaging in the Member States is one of the measures foreseen
by Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste (1) in order to
prevent or reduce the environmental impact of packaging waste provided that the packaging can be reused
in an environmentally sound manner in conformity with the EC Treaty. However, no specific financial
instrument has been foreseen for this purpose at Community level.

The setting up of a European system for reuse is a rather complex issue where several aspects
(standardisation, transport distances) play a role. This makes it difficult to harmonise the existing reuse
systems, which have historically developed along different lines. Moreover, the need to ensure a high level
of environmental protection has to be combined with internal market rules.

As a first step in view of the promotion of reuse systems, the Commission launched a study aimed at
describing the present situation and the constraints which hamper the further development of reuse
systems. The study was completed recently and is available on the web site: http://www.europa.eu.int/
comm/environment/waste/report4.htm. The contents of this study express the opinion of its authors.