Brussels, 20/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - The foot-and-mouth epizootic and the question of prolonging the ban on meat and bone meal after 30 June this year will be the main issues covered at the Agriculture Council meeting which begins at 10h00 on Tuesday. The Agriculture Ministers will also seek to come out of the impasse on the controversial proposals for reform in the sugar sector, the regime of which expires on 30 June, and the common market organisation (CMO) for beef and veal (series of measures presented by Franz Fischler, on 16 February, in order to remedy market imbalance). The Swedish Presidency hopes to reach political agreements on two subjects: the use of set-aside land for the organic production of fodder plants and the adjustment of the aid system in the cotton sector.
Commissioner David Byrne should inform ministers of latest developments in the foot-and-mouth epizootic. French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany will seek to convince his partners that they should adopt conclusions so that: - the EU engages along the road to overall reflection on the fight against certain so-called "exotic" diseases (as they are not endemic to the EU and may be linked to certain imports, such as foot-and-mouth but also classical swine fever and African swine fever, and the Newcastle disease …); - the Commission takes up in its next proposals the recommendations of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) (banning swill for feeding animals, destroying food waste in ports and airports, improving the workings of the veterinary services, introducing complete marking and individual registration of sheep). Taking such recommendations into account would allow a political message to be sent to the public and to livestock farmers.
Furthermore, Austria, supported by the French, Portuguese, German, Danish, Spanish and Belgian delegations, will discuss the problem of controls carried out by the market regulator bodies, in connection with the recommendations made by the veterinary services. If we are to believe the British authorities, it would appear that the application of drastic measures in the United Kingdom over the past two months is beginning to bear fruit: the epidemic is now "fully under control" stated Professor David King, the government's chief scientific expert, on Thursday. The number of new cases of infection per day has fallen from 43 at the end of March to 27 last Sunday and to 23 at the present time.
Will animal meat and bone meal be definitively banned?
As agreed during the last Agriculture Council on 19 March, ministers will discuss the matter of prolonging the provisions of the decision taken in December 2000 on the ban on meat and bone meal. The decision came into effect for six months as of 1 January 2001. Ministers are expected to adopt conclusions on this subject. In a working document that will serve as a base for discussion, the European Commission considers that the suspended use of meat and bone meal in the feed of all farm animals should be extended beyond 30 June, but that it would be necessary to envisage authorising such meal again for pigs, poultry and fish once the regulation on animal by-products not intended for human consumption is adopted by the Council and implemented by the Member States. This proposal of regulation, presented on 19 October last, will also be discussed by the ministers because of its link with the question of banning bone meal. We recall that this proposal is mainly intended to consolidate and simplify Community legislation on the ban on recycling dead animals and downgraded animal by-products in the food chain (see details in EUROPE of 21 October, p.12).
In the report, the Commission considers, moreover, that it would be premature to lift this suspension on the use of meat and bone meal (pending new results from the inspection task force of the Food and Veterinary Office and BSE screening tests). It also considers that total and permanent prohibition would be tantamount to recognising the inability of Member States and of operators to implement Community legislation while raising the question of equivalent measures for imports of animal products from third countries. Without scientific proof, the EU would be exposed to complaints before the WTO.
According to the Commission, such a ban (which implies the destruction of 16 million tonnes of animal by-products annually) would have a considerable financial impact: - loss of revenue linked to the non-marketing of animal by-products by way of EUR 1.5 billion for farmers; - cost of substitutes for meat and bone meal EUR 700 million; - elimination of animal by-products estimated at EUR 3 billion.
As far as Member States are concerned, it would seem that Austria, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal are in favour of renewal after 30 June, while some countries such as Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands recommend relaxation of these provisions in order to allow their farmers to use bone meal for feeding pigs, poultry and fish at an earlier date.
The other issues, which come under Franz Fischler, are:
Sugar. The Fifteen will seek to find common ground with the Commission concerning the recasting of the regulation on the sugar regime, but for now ten countries do not agree on renewal of the aid regime for less than five years (2006). We recall that the Commission is willing to accept renewal of institutional prices for more than two years but only on condition that the Member States approve the other aspects of the reform such as abolition of the compensation system for storage costs, reduction in quotas and the end of the Community contribution for the funding of "sugar" refunds for the chemicals industry (see EUROPE of 7 April, pages 10 and 11).
Cotton. The Commission will negotiate a compromise text with the Spanish delegation on changes to the system for aid to cotton production, and more specifically on sanctions to be envisaged should national quotas be exceeded (see EUROPE of 7 April, p.11). The Swedish Presidency hopes to reach a political agreement on the two proposals of regulation adopted in December 1999 (on adaptation of the cotton regime established by a protocol annexed to Greece's act of accession, which does not pose a problem, and on aid to cotton production).
Wine. The French and Portuguese delegations will present requests for the authorisation of national aid to distillation of certain products in the wine-making sector.
Beef and veal market. The ministers will hold a debate on the proposals for amending the 1999 regulation concerning the CMO for beef and veal. Some of the measures from this package come up against opposition from many Member States, as, for example, modification of the special premium for young male cattle. Also, many of them recommend alternative measures: - reduction of average weight at slaughter of veal (Portugal, Austria); - reintroduction of the premium for veal processing; former Herod premium (Spain, France, Ireland and Sweden); - unlinking the premium from production (Denmark, followed by Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and the United Kingdom); - a greater reduction than that proposed by the Commission for the density factor currently fixed at 2 livestock units (LU) (Portugal); - encouraging the production of beef cattle instead of bulls (France, whose idea seems to interest many countries as well as the Commission).
Fodder plants. A political agreement is expected on this proposal, which was presented simultaneously in the package of measures concerning the CMO for beef and veal but which was disassociated from it in order to take into account the close harvest/marketing dates (see EUROPE of 6 April, p.12).
Environmental requirements. With a view to the next European Council in Gothenburg in June, the Council must adopt conclusions on the integration of environmental requirements and sustainable development in Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
CMO "bananas". Commissioner Fischler asked for this issue to be registered under miscellaneous, after the compromise reached between the EU and the United States on the attribution of licenses on the basis of historic references.