WRITTEN QUESTION P-2268/03 by Giorgio Celli (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Heavy metal traces in wild mushrooms.
Date: 2003-07-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: consumer protection, food contamination, food safety, food standard, heavy metal, mushroom-growing

C 33 E/242

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.2.2004

Is it true that the proposals in question would result in women’s paying lower pension contributions

3.
but higher car insurance premiums?

Is it more appropriate for such rules to be adopted by the European Union rather than the Member

4.
States? If so, why?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(22 August 2003)

The Commission would draw the Honourable Member’s attention to the fact that a large body of
Community legislation already exists to implement the principle of equal treatment for men and women in
the area of employment and work.

Since the Treaty of Amsterdam came into force in May 1999, a new legal basis, Article 13 of this Treaty,
exists, empowering the Council, on the basis of a proposal from the Commission, to take appropriate
action in the areas of Community competence and without prejudice to the other provisions of the Treaty,
to combat discrimination based, inter alia, on sex.

It should be remembered that, in 2000, on the basis of Article 13 of the Treaty, the Council adopted a
directive to combat all discrimination based on race or ethnic origin (1) in employment, access to goods
and services, including housing, social protection, social advantages and education.

In this context, the Commission is looking at ways of implementing Article 13 in order to combat sex-
based discrimination in areas other than employment and work.

(1) Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons

irrespective of racial or ethnic origin, OJ L 180, 19.7.2000.

(2004/C 33 E/248)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2268/03

by Giorgio Celli (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(3 July 2003)

Subject: Heavy metal traces in wild mushrooms

increase in recent years,

There has been a substantial
in the marketing and
consumption of edible wild mushrooms. According to data supplied by AIIPA (1) in 1998, Italy imports
some 20 000 tonnes per annum of non-cultivated mushrooms (fresh, dry, frozen, canned, etc.), of which
almost half belong to the Boletus edulis group (B. aereus, B. aestivalis, B. edulis, B. pinophilus). These latter
originate mostly in Europe, but growing quantities are now coming from Africa (especially South Africa),
China and Central America. In Italy, there are approximately 1000 businesses operating in the import,
processing and distribution sectors.

in Italy and elsewhere,

Regulation (EC) No 466/2001, published in the Official
the European Communities on
16 March 2001 (2) and based on the opinion of the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF), lays down the
including cultivated mushrooms. The
admissible thresholds for certain pollutants in food products,
threshold for all cultivated mushrooms is 0,2 mg/kg (fresh weight) for cadmium and 0,3 mg/kg (fresh
weight) for lead.

Journal of

Is the Commission aware that no such thresholds for wild mushrooms exist in Community law?

6.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 33 E/243

What measures will the Commission take concerning cadmium and lead thresholds for wild mushrooms,
given that studies by authoritative researchers have revealed dangerous levels of those metals in wild
mushrooms that are freely marketed in the EU? (3)

(1) The Italian Association of Food-Producing Companies (cid:1) circular dated 20 April 1999 addressed to the member

companies on ‘Italy’s external trade in mushrooms in 1998’ (Milan).

(2) OJ L 77, 16.3.2001, p. 1.
(3) L. Cocchi et al., 2001 (cid:1) ‘Metalli pesanti e isotopi radioattivi nei funghi: aspetti igienico-sanitari’ (‘Heavy metals and
radioactive isotopes in mushrooms: health and hygiene aspects’,
the Second International
Conference on Mycotoxicology, Viterbo, 6-7 December 2001 (cid:1) Associazione Micologica Bresadola (cid:1) Centro Studi
Micologici, 2002, 17:73-91.

in Proceedings of

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2003)

Legislation on contaminants in food sets maximum levels for lead and cadmium in all cultivated
mushrooms. Wild mushrooms are presently not covered because, at the time these levels were set, no data
were available to indicate that the dietary intake of lead and cadmium from wild mushrooms was a
concern for public health.

The Member States have recently gathered new data on levels of lead and cadmium in different foods. It is
expected that the report will be finalised before the end of 2003. This report will be used for the review of
maximum levels for lead and cadmium in foods.

(2004/C 33 E/249)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2269/03

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(9 July 2003)

Subject: Decline in the bee population/use in pesticides of the active agent Imidacloprid

Beekeepers in France, Germany, Italy and Austria are all reporting the same phenomenon: a massive
decline in the bee population. In some regions, up to 80 % of all swarms have died. This has already led to
falls of several thousand tonnes per year in honey yields. Since honey bees also play a key role in
pollination, yields of apples, pears and rape are also diminishing.

French beekeepers are blaming the severe decline in the bee population which they have been suffering
since 1994 on the insecticide Gaucho (active agent: Imidacloprid) marketed by the firm BayerCropscience.
Imidacloprid is used both as a spray and in the treatment of seeds. Systemic insecticides of this kind move
from the seed into the plant at germination and are later present throughout the plant. Harmful insects die
when they eat part of the plant, but, since the active agent also finds its way into pollen, bees are also
damaged. As a result, the French Ministry of the Environment has banned the use of Gaucho in sunflower
cultivation.

That Imidacloprid is harmful is not in doubt (cid:1) the packaging for every product containing it bears the
words ‘dangerous to bees’. A number of tests have shown that this insecticide damages bees’ sense of
direction. In response, the French National Union of Beekeepers, the German Union of Beekeepers, the
German Nature Conservancy and the Coalition Against BAYER Dangers are calling for a preventive ban on
the use of Gaucho.

1. What is the Commission’s response to the massive decline in the bee population in all parts of
Europe?

2.

How does the Commission assess the risks to agriculture?