Brussels, 05/12/2000 (Agence Europe) - The "Special Mad Cow" Agricultural Council, chaired by French Minister Jean Glavany, managed, late Tuesday evening, to agree on a set of exceptional measures that the European Commission proposed to restore consumer confidence in beef and balance the market that is collapsing under the weight of the drop in consumption and the fall in prices caused by the new mad cow crisis. The agreement secured through a qualified majority on the ban, for at least six months, on all meal made from animal proteins - except fish meal - in the fodder of farm animals intended for human consumption (see yesterday's EUROPE p. 11), was followed by the adoption of Council Conclusions which enshrine the joint approach opted for by ministers to provide, in the months to come, a European response to an eminently European problem, even though certain Member States have, so far, been spared by the BSE epizooty (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). Adoption of these conclusions was the reward for nine hours of intense negotiations between the Fifteen and Commissioners Fischler (Agriculture) and Byrne (Health, Consumers), on the implications of this ban, on the fate to reserve for bilateral embargo measures on French beef, on measures considered to support the market and on the future compensation of farmers in the framework of the Plan to destroy cattle over than thirty months that have not undergone BSE (bovine encephalopathy spongiform) screening tests and will, due to this, be removed from the human food chain. The feasibility study for unprecedented measures and the size of the costs at stake explain the time taken by the Ministers to reach an agreement for which the content is listed below:
Temporary ban on animal meal. The Council approved (with the opposed votes of Finland and Germany) the suspension, from 1 January until 1 July 2001, of the use of animal meals in farm animal feed, with the exception of fish meal, which can be legally given to poultry and pigs, but not to ruminants. The banned animal meals will have to be processed and destroyed in conditions guaranteeing the respect for human health, animal health and the environment.
The six month ban will be used by the Commission to examine more closely the quantity of checks undertaken by the Member States to guarantee the respect, on their territory, of Community legislation that bans, since 1994, the giving of animal meal to ruminants. After the end of these six months, the ban could be extended, or modified to exempt certain Member States (such as Sweden, Finland and Greece) classified as low geographical BSE risk category countries, to be removed, even if certain delegations (notably Belgium) have underlined that the investments mobilised for the destruction of these meals would make it difficult to take a step backwards.
Bilateral measures. The Council was informed of the opinion of the Veterinary Steering Committee (VSC) which had considered there was no scientific justification for the embargo measures adopted by Austria, Italy and Spain on French beef and veal (see EUROPE of 30 November, p.10). It noted the Commission's appeal to lift these national measures before 1 January 2001.
Concerning the additional measures adopted by France - withdrawal of certain products from the food chain - the Commission will invite the VSC to give its opinion, before 15 January 2001, on how appropriate such measures are in the light of the effective implementation of the ban on meat and bone meal, the results of inspections carried out by the Union's Food and Veterinary Office in the Member States and the implementation, from 1 January 2001, of rapid BSE testing on all high risk cattle over 30 months of age. If the VSC's opinion convinces the Commission that such additional measures are not justified, then these should be done away with. Pending this, the Commission calls on all Member States to abstain from any further measures.
Other measures. The Council noted the decision already approved by the Standing Veterinary Committee to include, from 1 January 2001, all intestines from cattle of any age in the high risk materials category banned from being used in the food chain (see EUROPE of 2 December, p.8).
Combined measures to support the market. The Council took act of solutions being envisaged that will be the subject of a formal proposal by the Commission to the Beef Management Committee, on 12 December, which are: 1) a system of "purchase for destruction" of animals of over 30 months that have not been tested, by which farmers would receive Community compensation of 70% of the value of the animal at market price, the remaining 30% being the responsibility of the Member States (in the case of a 10% drop in consumption, the cost for the Commission is estimated at 875 million euro); 2) the flexible use of public intervention; 3) a rise to 80% (instead of the current 60%) of the level of advances on premiums for beef, to increase farmers' cash-flows.
Considering that, despite these measures, the situation of all beef producers (including veal) risks being profoundly affected, the Council calls on the Commission to submit an assessment and any proposal it deems fit as soon as possible. These measures will have to take account of the financial perspectives agreed in Berlin. Commissioner Fischler stressed that these measures would be by funded within the existing margins (Ed.: 1.12 billion euro), on condition that priority be given to the plan for the destruction of animals, that the impact on the market does not exceed a fall of 10-12% of consumption, that exports may continue and the use of the intervention mechanism be limited.
The Council also took note of the Commission's undertaking to submit a proposal in December to the Standing Veterinary Committee in view of approving the resumption of beef exports by Portugal, as soon as the rapid screening tests on all cattle of over 30 months are in place, and at latest 1 July 2001.
Nicole Fontaine, European Parliament President, welcomed the Council's decision to place a temporary ban on meat and bone meal in the Union. She was delighted that the precautionary principle is making headway, and recalled that the EP had called for this ban in 1996. The President added that the EP would not accept the lifting of the ban until there is an absolute guarantee that existing legislation will be applied for BSE prevention.