Luxembourg, 24/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - At the Agriculture Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Commissioner David Byrne said that new measures were needed to step up the epidemiological monitoring of scrapie in small ruminants (sheep and goats), even though there is not yet proof that they can be infected with BSE. Mr Byrne pointed out that rapid scrapie tests would be introduced on 1 January 2002 in order to discover the extent of scrapie infection in sheep, a disease that can mask the presence of BSE. EUROPE points out that cases of scrapie have been detected recently in most Member States (apart from Luxembourg, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Portugal which have not notified any cases in the past five years).
Mr Byrne said that the Standing Veterinary Committee (SVC) was in the process of assessing the utility of taking additional measures such as improving the identification of sheep to make it possible to trace them right back to their origin (as for cattle); developing tests that can determine which animals (or genotypes) are resistant to scrapie prions; extending the list of Specified Risk Materials (SRMs) that have to be removed and destroyed; and stepping up research into implementing test programmes that can distinguish between BSE and scrapie prions. The Commission "hopes" to be able to present formal proposals in the near future, working on the basis of the outcome of the SVC discussions and the Steering Scientific Committee.
Mr Byrne was very concerned at the mix-up in brain tissue committed by the team of British scientists researching whether sheep diagnosed as suffering from scrapie at the beginning of the 1990s were in fact really suffering from BSE. Without any tangible scientific proof of BSE in sheep, he said it was very difficult to decide what measures should be taken to assess a theoretical risk.
The BSE situation
Mr Byrne informed Ministers of the latest developments in fighting BSE: between January and August for example, Member States carried out 4.6 million BSE tests on cattle, 381 of which were positive. Unsurprisingly, the greatest incidence of BSE is in at-risk cattle along with those found dead on farms or those culled in emergency culls and the Commission is therefore calling on Member States to remain vigilant particularly in terms of the most at-risk categories. The figures also reveal that most of the cases of BSE discovered in young cattle being taken to the abattoir (and therefore thought to be healthy) have been found in countries where the disease had only recently shown up (Spain, Germany and Italy), whereas in countries that have been suffering from BSE for some time (the United Kingdom, France and Portugal), the new cases have been detected in older animals. If this trend is maintained, it would be possible to assume that the stricter implementation of the ban on meat and bone meal for ruminants in countries with a long experience of the disease is showing results. Mr Byrne also draws another conclusions - since the youngest cow to have contracted the disease was 42 months old, the review of BSE measures could start by relaxing measures on banning use of the spinal column which currently applies to cattle over 12 months old.
Mr Byrne also gave information about the preliminary results of a report into capacity and costs of storing and destroying animal meal. Member States' answers to the questionnaires that were sent out showed that incineration capacity is over 1,000,000 tonnes (46% less than what is required); and there are differences from one Member State to the next in terms of the cost of collecting SRMs and animal meal.
Delegations raised the following miscellaneous points at the Council:
- Foot and mouth disease: Supported by the Commission, the British delegation hoped that the changes in the situation would make it possible to continue gradually lifting the restrictions while maintaining a suitable level of vigilance. The Belgian Presidency noted that a conference is being organised on foot and mouth disease on 12/13 December by the Dutch, British and Belgian delegations and the Commission.
- European model of agriculture: Austria told the Council about a conference on the European model of agriculture in an enlarged Europe that it organised on 3/5 September.
- Vegetable protein: the Italian delegation raised the issue of special measures for producing vegetable protein and called for work to start up again as soon as possible to design a programme for promoting the production of vegetable protein in the EU including oil-bearing plants, pulses, dried green fodder and other protein plants.
- Suckler cow premium: Supported by other countries, Ireland raised the issue of how to interpret the obligation to hold a minimum of 15% of heifers in a herd to be able to receive the suckler cow premium. The Commission said that the question would be considered by the EAGGF (European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund) Committee in the very near future.
- FAO - World Food Summit: Sweden stressed the importance for the EU to be aware of the impact its agricultural policies were having on living standards in developing countries. The Council took note that the Summit would probably be put off to some date in the future (still in Rome) and the fact that the issue raised by Sweden is likely to be added to the agenda of the FAO conference.
- Animal feed: the British and Italian delegations drew attention to the impact of a withdrawal of the provisional authorisation for a number of additives (amprolium and nicarbazine) for animal feed (see EUROPE of 20 October, p.9). The Commission highlighted that it was impossible to consider selective processing the six additives for which the scientific dossiers presented by the manufacturers (with a view to granting definitive authorisation) had been found incomplete. In the absence of a simple majority against this proposal and a qualified majority in favour of it at Friday's COREPER meeting, the Commission will have the power to decide whether or not to adopt it.