WRITTEN QUESTION E-0553/00 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission. Consumption of the meat of endangered primates.
Date: 2000-02-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU environmental policy, market approval, protected species, wild mammal

C 46 E/12

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.2.2001

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(12 May 2000)

As the Honourable Member will know, there was considerable resistance at the Seattle World Trade
Organisation (WTO), Ministerial Conference to the Community call to include animal welfare in the
agenda for the next round of trade talks.
It is clear that much of this resistance was based on a
misunderstanding of our objectives. The Commission will continue to work actively both to launch a
comprehensive round of trade talks and to create a better understanding of our concerns on animal
welfare in order to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

(2001/C 46 E/015)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0553/00

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN) to the Commission

(29 February 2000)

Subject: Consumption of the meat of endangered primates

According to a recent report by the World Conservation Union, one of the leading environmental
lemurs and other primates risk
associations in the United States, around 25 species of monkeys,
disappearing from our planet in the next 10 to 20 years. This threat of extinction is caused not only by
the destruction of tropical forests, but also by an increasingly alarming phenomenon (cid:129) the exponential
growth in the consumption of monkey meat.

The blame is being laid first and foremost on the logging companies, trading in tropical timber, which
allegedly fail to provide their workers with sufficient food. Furthermore, the problem of poaching has
become more serious as a result of the wars which are devastating central Africa and have put an end to
tourism, which was previously the cornerstone of the local economies. Now that gorillas are no longer
useful as a tourist attraction, their meat has acquired enormous value as a delicacy.

Can the Commission say what measures it intends to take to guarantee the protection of the primate
species under threat of extinction?

Can it issue a directive banning all forms of trade in monkey meat within the EU, especially considering
the serious viral risk presented by the consumption of such meat?

Can the Commission also put the required pressure on the WHO to ban such practices in the countries in
question?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(4 April 2000)

The information available to the Commission indicates that trade of illegal primate meat towards the
Community is not a significant factor in the context of the extinction of endangered primates. Interna-
tional commercial trade in parts or derivatives of great ape species is already prohibited under the
provisions of the Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora
(CITES) as it is for all other species threatened with extinction included in its Appendix I and Annex A
of Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 (1), which implements CITES in the Community. A great number of
developing countries are party to CITES as well as 14 Member States.

13.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 46 E/13

The Commission is aware of serious problems caused by unsustainable bushmeat consumption and
bushmeat trade among developing countries,
in particularly in parts of Africa. The Commission has
therefore under the environment budget line supported a study in order to identify the magnitude of
bushmeat trade in Africa, to determine the underlying causes and to define possible policy measures. The
results of the study will be published soon.

The threat to wildlife is in the first place from habitat degradation and destruction. The Commission
supports projects and programmes, which focus on the sustainable management of ecosystems as well as
the preservation of protected areas. Tropical forests are among the most important habitats for wildlife,
and for primates in particular. Therefore, activities supported under the tropical forest budget line have
many links with wildlife. Attention to conservation and sustainable use of wildlife by the local population
is also given through several rural development programmes funded under the European development
fund or the export earnings stabilization system for least-developed countries in Asia and Latin America. In
both cases this is mainly done in the context of a (cid:145)livelihood(cid:146) approach, where local development
opportunities are linked with the conservation of biodiversity. Local use of wildlife is not necessarily
illegal or unsustainable.

Significant pressure on endangered wildlife is also exerted by illegal activities (e.g. hunting and trade) not at
least in unstable situations of warfare or social unrest. In this context, Community support for (cid:145)good
governance(cid:146) and (cid:145)capacity building(cid:146) projects and programmes is therefore also important to tackle the
problem.

(1) OJ L 61, 3.3.1997.

(2001/C 46 E/016)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0562/00

by Christopher Huhne (ELDR) to the Commission

(29 February 2000)

Subject: Legislation and the manufacturing industry

How many regulations has the EU produced which affect the manufacturing industry in each of the last
five years? How many equivalent regulations have been produced by each Member State?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(11 May 2000)

The wide spectrum of the Community(cid:146)s fields of activities makes it difficult to identify all pieces of
Community legislation which may have an indirect impact on manufacturing industry. However, for
legislation directly applicable to industry, the Honourable Member will find below the required statistics on
legal acts adopted during the course of the last five years. These cover, on the one hand, the number of
legal acts adopted by the Community (387 in total) and, on the other hand,
the
corresponding technical regulations notified to the Commission within the framework of Directives 83/
189/EEC and 98/34/EC (3 057 in total).

the number of

Although one would expect to see a certain disparity between the two sets of figures, because of the nature
of the legal
instruments used by the Community (regulations or directives), and the timing of their
transposition into national law, the Honourable Member will notice the relatively large divergence between
these statistics.

This issue was examined by the Commission, with concern, in its 1995 report on (cid:145)National Regulations
applicable to Internal Market products(cid:146) (1). In substance, the report confirmed the widespread perception
that Member States frequently add (gold-plate) to Community rules in their transposition measures, by
failing to opt for the simplest of a range of options or by requiring complicated procedures to achieve
requirements set out in directives. This not only increases the limited number of Community rules but also
imposes unnecessary burdens on business while contributing, unfairly, to the perception of the Commun-
ity as a source of red tape.