Brussels, 24/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - Speaking before the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture, Commissioner David Byrne insisted, on Tuesday evening, on the responsibility that falls on Member States for the latest developments of the mad cow crisis. He recalled that, on 4 January, he had sent a questionnaire to all Member States to allow the European Commission to analyse the national measures that had been taken for application of the Community legislation. Responses from the Member States are currently being discussed within the Standing Veterinary Committee and will be submitted to the scrutiny of national senior veterinary officials in Sweden at the end of the week. Mr Byrne deplored the fact that three Member States (ED.: Germany, Spain and Italy) had refused for so long to acknowledge the existence of BSE on their territory before having to back down before the evidence brought to light. He recalled that the latest German estimates predict no fewer than 500 cases this year. He also regretted that several Member States had not taken all the measures required for ensuring compliance with the ban on meat and bone meal for ruminants. The discovery of BSE cases in animals of under 30 months of age today raises the question of possibly lowering the age limit for compulsory tests.
Speaking of the opinion given last week by the Scientific Steering Committee (see EUROPE of 15 January, p.10), Mr Byrne said that the additional measures for meat separated mechanically from the bone are very important and that other proposals, such as extending the list of risk materials to the spine or the requirement of extracting all risk materials for animals over 12 months of age, must be studied. The Commission should make a proposal next week for a higher level of protection. During the Agriculture Council of 29 January, "the Commission will continue to insist on full application of Community measures", said Mr Byrne, adding that these are no doubt insufficient for eradicating BSE.
Commissioner Franz Fischler, who took part at the same meeting, mainly tackled the consequences that the crisis would have for farmers and agricultural policy. The consumption of beef and veal has fallen 30% on average in the EU, with strong differences from one Member State to the next, but the fall should stabilise around 10% in 2001 compared to the year 2000, he said. Since the beginning of the crisis, prices have fallen by 24.3% for cows, 17.3% for bull-calves, 3.2% for bulls and 8.9% for heifers. Sixty percent of the usual EU exports are currently blocked, notes Mr Fischler, who considers that around 350,000 tonnes of beef will not be exported in 2001. The Commission has taken measures to face up to the fall in prices (refunds, premiums, etc.), he recalled, while insisting on the impossibility of resuming intervention and storage. He went on to explain that: (1) "we risk reaching a stock of 1 million tonnes that we shall not be able to finance at this time", and (2) there would be no sense in storing meat that cannot be sold. The Commissioner also used the second argument with regard to critics who state that the destruction of meat is unethical. He said it would be even more unethical to export meat to third countries that we refuse to sell to our own consumers. A correcting budget will be needed to finance the tests, aid to private storage and destruction, said the Commissioner, who affirmed that, in the case of intervention in the context of the "security net", financing will only be possible through national measures or by releasing credits on other sectors of common agriculture policy. As far as the provisional ban on meat and bone meal is concerned, Mr Fischler said: "We have six months for studying the implications of a permanent ban", mainly in the context of our relations with third countries. He nonetheless specified that he did not see any justification for a ban on the use, for pigs and poultry, of meal produced from products authorised for human consumption.
Commissioner Fischler emphasised his determination to compile a "package" with the different revisions of common market organisations, foreseen in 2002 and 2003. While affirming that it is not a question of bringing the reform of Agenda 2000 into question, he hinted that such mid-term review could be more ambitious than planned. He insisted on strengthening extensive stock farming. He also raised the question of the existing imbalance between support to arable crops (45% of the agricultural budget) and other production (milk, meat, fruit and vegetables), which benefit from less sizeable aid even though they employ far more people. The Commissioner stated he was willing to study every possibility to develop the production of protein crops (to replace meat and bone meal), including an increase in the premium, in so far as the budget allows this. On the other hand, he considers that the use of fallow land, as the professional agricultural organisations recommend, would involve too many risks at the WTO. "The whole of our aid system could come out of the blue box", he said.