Brussels, 11/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Each day brings its good and bad news in matters relating to dioxin-contaminated eggs and meat in Germany and the ramifications in the EU (see EUROPE 10290). Taking the bad news first - a rate of dioxin above the authorised limit value in the EU (1 pictogram per gram of meat fat) was detected on Tuesday 11 January in one of the quarantined German farms that produces pigmeat, in Lower Saxony. All pigs there will be slaughtered and their carcasses burnt. This is the result of a control carried out on two farms (in the second, the rate complied with European legislation).
Now the good news - the results of the analysis on the batch of processed eggs in mid-December, to be despatched by the Netherlands to the United Kingdom but which remains frozen in the Netherlands, are available and reassuring. The rate of dioxin identified (0.23 pictograms per gram of fat) is lower than the limit value fixed by European legislation (3 pictograms per gram). “It is more than likely that the rate of the two batches of liquid eggs dispatched and sent to the UK market is also below the limit value”, commented Frédéric Vincent, spokesman for John Dalli, European Health and Consumers Commissioner. On Tuesday morning, Germany indicated via the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) that 558 farms were still quarantined on its territory, although this is noteworthy progress if one compares this figure to the 4,800 farms quarantined at the end of last year, at the peak of the crisis. Most farms reopened are now producing milk and beef meat. Regarding the slaughter of suspect animals, “Germany considers that it is up to the farmers to decide whether to destroy, or not to destroy, laying hens given the examination over several weeks to determine whether the eggs are contaminated or not”, Frédéric Vincent told the press.
As agreed, Germany had an opportunity on Tuesday to take stock of the situation within the EU's standing committee on the food and feed chain. “Member states welcomed how the crisis was managed and raised a large number of questions”, the spokesman said. However, at this stage, the German representative was unable to say whether contamination was of criminal origin and also whether it occurred in March or earlier than that. It will be up to the German authorities to determine this. The legal inquiry on the subject is ongoing. The Belgian delegation presented the system set in place in this country in 2000 to step up dioxin controls, with analysis on every 200 tonnes of animal fat. The standing committee will return to the matter next week. The Agriculture Council of 24 January may include the item on its agenda if the Hungarian Presidency so decides.
Commission disappointed by feed producers. Talks held on Monday between the Commission (DG SANCO) and composite feed producers have not for now been very successful. For the second time, discussion turned to how appropriate it was to have voluntary agreements for improving controls on the food chain, if not legislation to impose a strict separation between the manufacture of fat for industry and that intended for animal feed. “We were somewhat disappointed by the proposals or rather the lack of proposals from industry. We did not feel people were keen to make proposals but rather felt an acute sense of consumer distrust”, Dalli's spokesman said. “Fat is sent to industry to be blended and sent on for industrial purposes (paper), for example, or on to the food industry. Contamination took place in the midway stage. As during previous crises (2003 in Germany, 2006 in Belgium, 2008 in Ireland and again in Germany in 2010), the blend of fats entered the food chain. Four times in ten years is more than enough! During the years 2000, the European Union churned out piles of legislative texts on food hygiene (including Directive 2002/32/EC and Regulation 1881/2006). It is now a matter of reinforcing it”, Frédéric Vincent commented. The European Commission wishes to point out that food safety has always progressed in the EU due to the crises. (A.N./transl.jl)