WRITTEN QUESTION E-2296/01 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Imports of contaminated meat into Greece.
Date: 2001-07-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Greece, beef, food safety, health certificate, health control, import, intra-EU trade, veterinary legislation

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/57

Compliance with EU environmental standards may have an impact on employment in countries with
5.
particularly high-pollution industries, but measures to meet EU requirements will also create many jobs in
sectors relating to environmental protection. These are sectors with a particularly promising future.

The overall effect of membership of a common market and the use of a single currency (in due
6. and 7.
course, when the candidate countries are in a position to introduce the Euro) will not be to reduce the
number of jobs. On the contrary, it will help to create jobs, since resources will be better deployed and
productivity increased, which will allow productive sectors to be developed.

(2002/C 115 E/061)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2296/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Imports of contaminated meat into Greece

(31 July 2001)

According to Document No K 3768 of the Veterinary Service of the Prefecture of Piraeus, an inspection on
30 May 2001 found that 17,2 tonnes of beef from Germany and 12,5 tonnes of beef from France were
contaminated with listeria, and this meat was seized on 14 June 2001.

More recently, a similar incident occurred with 3,5 tonnes of beef from Germany, as Document No K
4377 of the Veterinary Service of the Prefecture of Piraeus shows, and this beef was seized on 11 July
2001. In both cases the meat was accompanied by all the necessary certification.

Is the Commission aware of these incidents? Is it satisfied with the controls on imports and exports of
animal products between the Member States of the European Union, particularly in the case of France and
Germany?

What does the Commission intend to do to prevent any recurrence of such incidents in future?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(4 October 2001)

The Commission’s rapid alert network was not informed of the facts mentioned by the Honourable
Member. Article 4 of Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in
intra-Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market (1) specifies that products
obtained in accordance with the relevant veterinary directives should be checked in the same way, whether
they are intended for intra-Community trade or for the national market.

With the exception of Council Directive 92/46/EEC laying down the health rules for the production and
placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products (2), no other veterinary
directive lays down microbiological criteria relating to Listeria monocytogenes. Where limits for this
micro-organism are laid down for foodstuffs other than milk and milk-based products, this is based on
national regulations. In order to conform with the Treaty, such regulations must be based on sound
scientific opinion and should not constitute an obstacle to trade. The monitoring procedures required to
set these limits are also the responsibility of the Member States in question.

The Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health, in its opinion of 23 September
1999, mentions that, according to the data available on the human epidemiology of food-borne listeriosis,
the presence of fewer than 100 Listeria monocytogenes per gram at the consumption stage may be
considered as a low risk to all consumer populations.

C 115 E/58

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

The Commission has set up a working party of experts from Member States in order to undertake a broad
study on the harmonisation of microbiological criteria relevant to each food category. This working party’s
findings will be incorporated into a draft Community Regulation, as proposed by Article 6 of the Proposal
for a Regulation on the hygiene of foodstuffs (3), adopted by the Commission on 14 July 2000 and
forwarded to the Council and the Parliament.

(1) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989.
(2) OJ L 268, 14.9.1992.
(3) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.

(2002/C 115 E/062)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2304/01

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(31 July 2001)

Subject: Danish measures to ban the import as from 2003 of fruit and vegetables containing residues of

plant protection products, the use of which is prohibited in Denmark

The Danish government is considering introducing a ban as from 2003 on imports of fruit and vegetables
that contain residues of plant protection products, the use of which is prohibited in Denmark. The
background to this measure is apparently that the European Commission will not conclude its evaluation/
assessment of authorised plant protection products by 2003. This assessment will probably not be
completed until 2007. The Danish measures would apply until then.

Can the Commission confirm whether Denmark’s plans are consistent with Community consumer

1.
protection policy?

2.

Does the Commission regard measures of this kind as a distortion of the internal market?

Can the Commission say whether the Danish government’s plans will create difficulties within the

3.
WTO?

European supermarket chains also intend to impose similar requirements. Is it authorised, within the
4.
framework of European legislation on supermarket chains (or other market operators), to refuse products
in such a case?

If the Commission does not agreed with the Danish plans, how does it intend to cover the period

5.
from 2003 to 2007?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(29 October 2001)

The Commission does not have details of the specific measures under consideration in Denmark, nor of
how they will be implemented in practice. Two separate sets of Community legislation are involved.

The first is Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 on the placing of plant protection products on
the market (1). This provides that an evaluation of the active substances that were on the market in 1993
be completed by 2003. The Commission recently submitted a report to the Parliament and the Council on
this process (2). Many substances will not have been evaluated by 2003 (2008 is a more likely completion
date). It is not clear whether Denmark will ban the uses of those substances whose evaluations will not
have been completed.