Brussels, 25/02/2013 (Agence Europe) - For an equine scandal, a powerful remedy is needed. Far from being inevitable, the massive-scale fraud of horsemeat sold as beef in ready meals throughout Europe is the symptom of an uncontrollable globalised supply system, cut-price agri-food productivism, an incomplete labelling system and unsustainable modes of consumption, according to the Greens/EFA Group at the European Parliament. The solutions to prevent this from continuing or happening again, therefore, exist and are in the hands of the political decision-makers of the EU, the farmers, and the distributors, and also the European consumers.
More controls on product quality, better labelling guaranteeing the transparency of the information due to the consumer, in-depth reform of the entire agricultural and food system currently in place, a greening of the common agriculture policy (CAP), reform of the fisheries policy, linked in with the emergence of responsible consumers, who are prepared to eat less meat of better quality which costs a bit more, are the ingredients of the overall recipe recommended by the Greens as the EU's response to this crisis. They presented it to the European press in Brussels on Monday 25 February, a few hours before the start of the Agriculture Council which, by request of Irish Minister Simon Coveney, was to take stock once again of the situation with Tonio Borg, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy.
Emphasis on regional production. In the view of the German Rebecca Harms, co-president of the Greens/EFA Group, there is nothing at all surprising about this scandal. “Foods are processed more and more and sold at lower and lower prices. The pressure on prices has had the result that inferior quality raw materials have been brought into the food chain. Europe needs to set the bar higher”. In addition, if these food chains are organised at an international level, nobody can say whether both controls are working. As a result, “we need regional production systems which cover the production of the animals”, she said. Belgium's Bart Staes recommended tougher punishments for fraudsters and a tightening-up of the checks, which should be made stricter and more frequent (in addition to just random checks), by ensuring this a better follow-up. He believes that the veterinary office of the EU, which carries out 300 checks a year, does good work, but the watchword is currently budgetary savings, whereas this body should be given sufficient resources, financial and human. “The veterinary office does very good reports, but these are not always applied. There should be an annual debate on the office's investigations, with the committee on the environment and food safety of the Parliament, and with DG SANCO”, he said.
Origin labelling for all processed products. Sweden's Carl Schlyter, who was the shadow rapporteur for the rules on food labelling, observed that the Parliament had asked for “origin labelling for goat and pork meat and poultry and for dairy products and processed products. Unfortunately, the ministers fought that because it was bad for business”. According to Schlyter, “we mustn't wait!” It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good: as a result of the effect of this crisis of confidence, French President François Hollande announced to the French agriculture trade fair at the weekend that he would support the labelling of the origin of meat in ready meals. And the prior impact assessment, which the Commission was to present at the end of the year, will be published in the autumn, as recently announced by Paula Testori, Director of DG Sanco, Staes announced. But, Schlyter said, “we want origin labelling for all processed products”.
The Swedish MEP also argued for the Parliament's voice finally to be heard in the calls it has been making for years for animals' transport time to slaughter to be a maximum of eight hours. “If we reduce the transport time, many problems would disappear, because it is easier to respect the legislation if journeys are not as long. We also need a labelling system to shorten the food chain”, he argued. The improvement of the public procurement directive with better rules on quality in order to facilitate purchasing without discriminating against those who produce quality would also be a good thing, because “the local authorities struggle to check the allocation of public procurement contracts”. “The highest bidder often wins the contract. Meat that costs five euros per kilogram necessarily comes from an animal which suffered. We have artificial prices with animals suffering from the pressure on prices”, said Schlyter.
Eating less meat is one of the solutions put forward by the Greens, who are carrying out many national campaigns urging consumers to eat meat just once a week, for example. This solution would help both to save CO2 emissions from transport and to ensure that “farmers get fair prices”, Bart Staes stressed. One of these campaigns, entitled “Les Européens en ont assez d'avaler n'importe quoi” (Europeans have had enough of swallowing any old thing), explains that eating well is a political act. In order to do this, we need a good food policy which encompasses the right of the poorest people to feed themselves, which reflects the sustainability and diversity of agriculture, and in which farmers, fishermen and consumers jointly assume responsibility to practice fair prices and fair trade. (AN/transl.fl)