Meeting in Luxembourg on 9 October, EU agriculture ministers broadly welcomed the action plan launched by the European Commission to learn from the fipronil-contaminated egg scandal.
EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis gave an overview of the regime decided upon at a meeting in Brussels on 26 September (see EUROPE 11870). The plan foresees: - the establishment of procedures for better coordination of risk management at the level of the EU; - the establishment of a network of food safety liaison officers in each member state to allow speedier and more effective flows of information; and - coordination between the RASFF rapid alert system and the administrative cooperation system (AAC).
Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Spain, France and Sweden gave their support to the action plan. The Belgian minister, Denis Ducarme, welcomed the plan but regretted that it was not more ambitious, particularly on traceability and controls of all eggs and processed products.
Vytenis Andriukaitis said that while it was good that the fipronil incident wasn’t a serious threat to public health, it had revealed the extent to which one is vulnerable to illegal action by a few dishonest individuals and the upheavals that such fraudulent action can so easily cause. He added that a lot still needed to be done to implement the planned action plan.
The details of the action plan will be examined at a meeting of chief vets from the member states on 24 October, and then at a meeting of managers of food safety agencies in Brussels on 17 November. Work will then continue at the Standing Committee for Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF).