WRITTEN QUESTION P-0052/01 by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission. BSE and burial of cows in Mesia (Galicia).
Date: 2001-01-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Galicia, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, carcase, cattle, health legislation, health policy, infringement of EU law, waste disposal

19.6.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174 E/247

Given that
Commission state:

the pathogen responsible for BSE can survive for years buried underground, can the

1. What impact the presence of the carcasses buried in Mes(cid:237)a 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)

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

Commission experts from the Commission(cid:146)s Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) carry out regular on-
2.
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(cid:146)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.

(2001/C 174 E/266)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0052/01

by Rosa MiguØlez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(16 January 2001)

Subject: BSE and burial of cows in Mesia (Galicia)

The Commission already knows of the macabre discovery of a tip where the corpses of cows had been
buried at the end of the year 2000, a story which was reported in the press all over Europe.

Responsibility for dumping the animals was quickly admitted by the regional authorities. The reasons
given to consumers farmers and the general public by the politicians concerned raise questions about the
decisions adopted by the EU Council of Ministers on 4 December, since it was maintained that the animals
found at Mesias were not suspected of having mad cow disease and that the burials (cid:145)involved no risk and
were carried out in strict compliance with the law(cid:146).

C 174 E/248

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

19.6.2001

In the light of the confusion among the general public generated by statements of this kind on matters of
such great importance, will the Commission answer the following questions:

(cid:129) Under Community legislation,

is it compulsory to burn the corpses of cows which have died of

natural causes and, if so, since when?

(cid:129) Under the same legislation, is it compulsory to carry out a Prionic test on a cow which has died with

no symptoms of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and, if so, since when?

(cid:129) Under the same legislation, is it permissible to bury the corpse of a cow which has died of natural
causes without first removing the parts of the animal which pose a danger? Which parts of the animal
would this be exactly?

(cid:129) Where animals are buried in accordance with Community legislation, what are the conditions which

must be met by the sites chosen for this purpose?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(28 February 2001)

According to Commission Decision 2000/418/EC of 29 June 2000 regulating the use of material
presenting risks as regards transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) and amending Decision 94/
474/EC (1), since 1 October 2000, dead bovine animals from which specified risk material
(i.e. skull
including the brains and eyes, the tonsils, the spinal cord of animals aged over 12 months and the
intestines from the duodenum to the rectum of animals of all ages) has not been removed, shall be
completely destroyed by:

(cid:129) incineration with or without pre-processing,

(cid:129) co-incineration with pre-processing,

(cid:129) burial in an approved landfill site after pre-processing at at least 133(cid:176)C for 20 minutes and at 3 bars

of pressure

to this Decision establishes that Member States may allow the burial

Point 4 of Annex I
in the
circumstances set out in Article 3(2) of Council Directive 90/667/EEC of 27 November 1990 laying
down the veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste, for its placing on the market
and for the prevention of pathogens in feedstuffs of animal or fish origin and amending Directive 90/425/
EEC (2) and by a method which precludes all risk of transmission of a TSE and is authorised and supervised
by the competent authority.

The derogation established by Article 3(2) of Directive 90/667/EEC shall be considered as exceptional, and
under no circumstances should they be considered as routine procedures for disposal of high-risk animal
material.

According to Commission Decision 98/272/EC (3), as amended by Commission Decision 2000/764/EC of
29 November 2000 on the testing of bovine animals for the presence of bovine spongiform encephalo-
pathy (BSE) and amending Decision 98/272/EC on epidemio-surveillance for transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies (4), animals which die on farms or in transport shall be examined for BSE at random. The
minimum sample size is laid down in the above Decision. The initial examination shall be made with one
of three rapid post mortem tests listed in the Decision and, where the test result is positive, the sample
shall be submitted to confirmatory laboratory examination in accordance with recognised procedures.

(1) OJ L 158, 30.6.2000.
(2) OJ L 363, 27.12.1990.
(3) OJ L 122, 24.4.1998.
(4) OJ L 305, 6.12.2000.