Brussels, 19/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The latest developments regarding BSE, the situation of the beef market, as well as an exchange of views (over lunch) on agricultural negotiations within the WTO, are the main topics on the agenda of the Agriculture Council to be held in Luxembourg on Tuesday. Other than the formal adoption of a directive on measures to combat swine fever and a decision authorising the Commission to enter into negotiations to review the European Convention on the Protection of Animals, no major decision is expected. In addition, so that European Agriculture Ministers do not feel left out of decisions on genetically modified organisms, the European Commission will brief them on the latest proposals for a regulation relating to the traceability and labelling of GMOs.
Commissioner Franz Fischler will make his traditional report on the beef sector (developments n market price and implementation of the measures decided last June like public intervention purchasing and the special purchase arrangement or cattle aged over thirty months) which will be followed by comments from certain delegations on ways of tackling the crisis in the sector. At Germany's request, the Council will examine the issue of export refunds for cattle to be butchered. The German delegation considers it no longer acceptable to retain these refunds for live cattle as it is impossible to check if the rules concerning the welfare of the animal are respected once the animal has been delivered to third countries.
David Byrne will brief ministers of developments in the situation since the last Council session in July regarding the fight against BSE. The Netherlands will intervene to request an alignment of screening costs for BSE, pointing out that there are now problems of market distortions. Mr. Byrne will present proposals to the Council and reports in the following areas: - (1) prevention and control of zoonoses (see details in EUROPE of 2 August 2001, p. 4); - (2) phyto-pharmaceutical products (see EUROPE of 30 and 31 July, p.5); - (3) labelling and traceability of food containing GMOs (see EUROPE of 27 July, p.5 and 19 September, p.9).
Ministers may examine a Commission proposal (dated 25 July of this year) aimed at withdrawing the provisional authorisation granted to a certain number of additives present in animal feed for which scientific dossiers presented by the firms concerned, in view of a definitive authorisation, have been judged incompatible by the Commission. At the meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives on Friday, three countries (Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom) opposed the withdrawal of at least one of these two substances: nicarbazine and amprolium. The deadline for ruling on this proposal is 26 October.
Two other proposals may be formally adopted without debate. These are: - the directive on measures to combat classical swine fever (which was the subject of a political agreement at the 19 June Agriculture Council). There did, however, remain one problem to settle, as, for technical reasons, Germany and Austria asked for a postponement of a few months of the date for transposing the directive; - the decision allowing the European Commission, on behalf of the Community, to participate in negotiations within the Council of Europe relating to the review of the European Convention on the Protection of Animals in international transport. The Council will, moreover, be briefed by the Austrian delegation on the ministerial conclusions drawn from a dialogue-conference on the "European model of agriculture -a model for the enlarged EU" that was held in Ried, Austria, from 3 to 5 September. The United Kingdom should reassure the Council on developments in foot-and-mouth, confirming that there have been no new cases since 30 September. The Swedish delegation has asked to be able to speak of the World FAO Summit on food, which finally never took place.
Delay in publication of the conclusions of a British study on BSE among sheep
The Belgian Presidency had steeled itself to the Council discussing a "possible crisis" in the field of research into BSE, but fears ebbed after the British public authorities decided, Thursday, to postpone the publication date of the conclusions of a national study into the contamination of sheep by BSE. There is serious doubt regarding the sample of brains gathered by scientists for these studies. The British authorities asked for a counter-expertise on the origin of these encephales to ensure that the samples were not contaminated by the brains of cattle. This research was supposed to shed light on the nature of the epizootie which contaminated flocks of sheep in the early-90s. At the time, the veterinary authorities had diagnosed outbreaks of scrapie.