WRITTEN QUESTION E-1401/03 by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Vaccination of pet poultry.
Date: 2003-04-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU Member State, Netherlands, animal disease, live poultry, vaccination, veterinary legislation

C 268 E/196

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

7.11.2003

The handling of classified information within the Commission is governed by Commission Decision
C(2001) 3031 (1). These rules are the same as those in Member States,
the North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (NATO), and the Council. According to this Decision, the protection of classified information
requires a wide range of security measures, including the construction of security areas in which classified
information may be dealt with. Technical
inspections to detect listening devices form part of these
measures. In conformity with customary security practise, depending on the actual threat, and the level of
confidentiality, (cid:1) and in accordance with Decision C(2001) 3031, (cid:1) technical inspections are carried out
if considered to be necessary in a given situation.

The policy of international organisations such as the Commission, the Council or NATO for sweeping
rooms is to investigate those premises where information classified ‘EU SECRET’ and higher is regularly
processed.

By the Commission Decision in question, the Commission Security Directorate has been given the
responsibility for carrying out such measures, and has the necessary equipment for doing so.

(1) OJ L 317, 3.12.2001.

(2003/C 268 E/219)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1401/03

by Alexander de Roo (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(16 April 2003)

Subject: Vaccination of pet poultry

As an indirect result of the outbreak of avian influenza in the Netherlands, there has also been a preventive
culling of poultry kept by hobby farmers in certain regions. The poultry involved are chickens, turkeys,
guinea fowl, ducks, geese, swans, quails, pheasants, peacocks, partridges and walking birds (ostriches, emu
and nandos) and doves that are not kept for consumption.

At present the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Fisheries says that the vaccination of
livestock susceptible to avian influenza is not an alternative method of combating the disease. Italian
sources claim, however, that a home-made Italian mixture of a vaccine against avian influenza, which is
endemic in Italy, is in fact effective. Intervet, a division of Akzo Nobel, the market leader in veterinary
vaccines, claims to have developed a marker vaccine which could help the Netherlands government and
poultry farmers tackle this outbreak effectively
(see the Intervet website http://www.intervet.com/contentframe.asp?content=http://www.intervet.com/news/
prod_news/default.asp)

‘Vaccination against avian influenza is possible and is in fact practiced in a number of countries. Intervet is
already using a number of avian influenza vaccines in other parts of the world. In Europe, vaccine-free
control is the preferred method to begin with, in order to avoid further trade bans. Member states of the
European Union require the European Commission’s approval for vaccination. During an outbreak, ring
vaccination or regional vaccination can be used to prevent the virus from spreading or in cases where
there is insufficient destruction capacity. During the recent outbreak in Italy, for example, the authorities
requested permission for vaccination within a certain area.’

Can the Commission say whether a Member State can authorise the vaccination of pet poultry against
avian influenza?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(2 June 2003)

Council Directive 92/40/EEC of 19 May 1992 introducing Community measures for the control of avian
influenza (1) stipulates in Article 16 that vaccination against avian influenza may only be used to
supplement the control measures carried out when the disease appears and under certain provisions.

7.11.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 268 E/197

In particular the decision to introduce vaccination shall be taken by the Commission in collaboration with
the Member State within the framework of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health
(Scofcah). Provided that fundamental interests of the Community are not jeopardized and as a matter of
urgency, the decision to introduce emergency vaccination around an outbreak may be taken by the
Member State concerned, following notification to the Commission. Such a decision has to be re-examined
further appropriate
by the Commission and within the Scofcah. The Commission may then adopt
measures on this matter.

Birds not intended for the production of meat or eggs for consumption or for restocking supplies of game
are explicitly not covered by the control measures laid down in Directive 92/40/EEC. However, if the
disease is detected in birds other than poultry kept for commercial purposes, the Member State concerned
shall inform the Commission of any measure it takes. The Commission may then adopt further appropriate
measures in the context of Council Directive 90/425/EEC (2) concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks
applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of
the internal market.

Indeed, in relation with the current outbreak of avian influenza in the Netherlands, the Commission has
already adopted a number of measures supplementing the minimum measures established in Directive 92/
40/EEC, including a very recent one on vaccination of birds kept in zoos (3).

(1) OJ L 167, 22.6.1992.
(2) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990.
(3) Decision being adopted by the Commission on 25 April 2003, OJ L 105, 26.4.2003.

(2003/C 268 E/220)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1406/03

by Luigi Vinci (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 April 2003)

Subject: Territorial employment pact at Lamezia Terme (Italy)

Knowing that:

(cid:1) Over the period 1996-2001, under the Structural Funds, 89 territorial employment pacts were
financed in the EU, among them that for Lamezia Terme (Italy), adopted via Decree No 948 of
29 January 1999 of the Italian Finance Ministry, on the basis of a total investment of approximately
EUR 48 million funding 66 business initiatives, 30 of them dispersed over the territory of Lamezia
Terme.

(cid:1) The company responsible for implementing the Pact is the consortium ‘Sviluppo ex-area Sir’, also

known as ‘LameziaEuropa’.

(cid:1) The projects funded concerned 49 new initiatives, 16 extensions and one reopening. Thirty seven
were in the manufacturing sector, 12 in the agri-industrial sector, 15 in the tourist sector and two in
the services sector.

(cid:1) 903 jobs were to be involved, 699 of them newly created.

(cid:1) The management of ‘LameziaEuropa’ claims success for the Pact, purely on the grounds that on
29 January 2003 the ‘Cassa Depositi e Prestiti’ savings bank granted a new tranche of financing to the
undertakings concerned.

(cid:1) Lamezia Terme has a high rate of unemployment, especially among women and young people, and
job security is increasingly under threat: employers are failing to honour their contracts, health and
safety rules are being flouted, and moonlighting is on the increase.

(cid:1) These circumstances of illegality are being exploited by organised crime in order to fund its own
activities. In consequence, businesses in the area are being forced into uncomfortably close relations
with local politicians, and one result of this has been the recent resignation of the municipal council.