WRITTEN QUESTION E-0300/02 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Poultry consignments contaminated with dioxins.
Date: 2002-02-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: animal nutrition, export policy, food contamination, food inspection, health control, poultry

4.7.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 160 E/207

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2002)

In accordance with Article 8 of Council Directive 98/58/EC of 20 July 1998 concerning the protection of
animals kept for farming purposes (1) the Commission is analysing the information on animal welfare
legislation provided by countries trading animals and animal products with the Community. The results of
the comparison with the relevant Community legislation should be available before June 2002.

At present only the conventions of the Council of Europe on the protection of farmed animals, during
transport and at slaughterhouses, are available as multilateral agreements on animal welfare. In the specific
area of protection at slaughterhouses, all the Member States have signed the Convention as well as the
following third countries: Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Former
Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Yugoslavia.

Council Directive 93/119/EC of 22 December 1993 on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter
or killing (2) requires for meat imported from third countries at least equivalent treatment to that provided
for in this directive.

The Commission has constantly maintained its efforts to obtain wider international acceptance of welfare
principles laid down in the Community legislation and,
in the context of WTO. The
Commission will continue to work in this direction during the current WTO negotiations, while
investigating future measures and actions compatible with the present international obligations of the
Community that could support producers within or outside the Community to apply better welfare
standards.

in particular,

(1) OJ L 221, 8.8.1998.
(2) OJ L 340, 31.12.1993.

(2002/C 160 E/266)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0300/02

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Poultry consignments contaminated with dioxins

(11 February 2002)

On 18 January the Belgian authorities discovered a case of poultry fodder contaminated with dioxin,
resulting in large quantities of poultry being withdrawn from major supermarket chains which cooperate
with similar undertakings in Greece.

Does the Commission know whether consignments of contaminated poultry have entered the Greek

1.
market?

Is it satisfied by the checks carried out by Member States prior to the export of meat and if not what

2.
measures does it intend to take?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(27 March 2002)

According to the information provided by the Belgian authorities to the Commission concerning the
contamination of feedingstuffs by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in January 2002, no chickens fed with
feedingstuffs contaminated with PCBs have reached the Greek market.

An intensive monitoring system on the presence of PCBs in feedingstuffs and foodstuffs is currently
applied in Belgium. As a result of this monitoring, a contamination by PCBs above the Belgian maximum
level of 200 microgram per kilogram (µg/kg) fat for PCBs had been observed in feedingstuffs. Given the
time needed to perform the analysis and the short production cycle of chickens for fattening (broilers),
some of the chickens fed with the contaminated feedingstuffs had already been slaughtered and marketed

C 160 E/208

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

4.7.2002

when the contamination was detected on 18 January 2002 and when the concerned poultry holdings were
identified on 22 January 2002. Samples taken from the remaining slaughtered chickens contained levels of
PCBs below the national maximum level of 200 µg/kg fat for poultry meat with the exception of one result
(438 µg/kg fat).

Intensive controls at all stages of the food chain are necessary to enable early detection of a contamination,
but it has to be acknowledged that when production cycles are short or contamination occurs shortly
before consumption of the food, limited quantities of possibly contaminated food may have reached the
consumer. As regards dioxins, the Commission is developing guidelines for monitoring at all stages of the
food chain, including frequency of sampling.

(2002/C 160 E/267)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0319/02

by Giles Chichester (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(12 February 2002)

Subject: Preparations for the European Council meeting in Barcelona

The 2000 Lisbon European Council called on the Council and the Commission, together with the Member
States where appropriate to ‘introduce by June 2001 a European innovation scoreboard’. Does the
Commission believe that this target will be met, and what evidence can it advance in support of its view?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(18 March 2002)

An initial version of
the European Innovation Scoreboard was published as an annex to the
Communication ‘Innovation in a knowledge-driven economy’ adopted by the Commission on
20 September 2000 (1).

The 2001 version of the European Innovation Scoreboard was adopted on 14 September 2001 (2). The
Member of the Commission responsible for Enterprises and Information Society presented this document
at a press conference on 1 October 2001 (3). The scoreboard prompted considerable media interest (more
than 60 press articles worldwide) and was debated by the Industry Council on 5 December 2001.

The 2002 version of the European Innovation Scoreboard is currently under preparation. It will present
updated national figures, include data from the candidate countries where available, and take into account
the regional dimension of innovation.

The European Innovation Scoreboard is produced under the ‘European Trend Chart on Innovation’. This
project supports the open co-ordination approach launched at the European Council at Lisbon (23 and
24 March 2000). It is executed under the Fifth Framework Programme on Research and Technological
Development by the ‘Innovation and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)’ programme and offers
yearly country reports, topical policy workshops and a database of more than 600 ongoing innovation
policy measures from all Member States to enhance the exchange of experience between innovation policy
makers in Europe (4).

(1) COM(2000) 567 final.
(2) Commission Staff Working Paper SEC(2001) 1414.
(3) The scoreboard can be downloaded in all Community languages from http://www.cordis.lu/innovation-smes/
scoreboard/. Special issues of the ‘Innovation & Technology Transfer Newsletter’ and of ‘Cordis News’, dedicated to
the scoreboard, as well as the press briefing of the Member of the Commission responsible for Enterprises and
Information Society are also available from this website.

(4) See www.cordis.lu/trendchart.