Brussels, 24/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - On Monday evening in Brussels, the Agriculture Ministers of the Member States adopted the new regulation on animal by-products, despite the opposition of the Swedish and Dutch delegations that drafted a declaration as a sign of protest against the eventual dispensations that could be granted to Germany and Austria so that they may continue to use kitchen waste in animal feed (see EUROPE of 14 September, p.12 on the agreement reached in conciliation between Parliament and Council). Commissioner David Byrne welcomed the positive outcome of this dossier and acknowledged that the adoption of this text, which is essential for ensuring security of collection, transport and procession of the products, was one of the conditions for possibly relaxing the Community embargo on meat and bone meal. Furthermore, Mr Byrne also informed the Council of the latest developments relating to BSE and welcomed the opinion of the "Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments" (AFSSA) in the affair of the embargo on British beef. (See EUROPE of 21 September, p.7).
Mr Byrne stated that some expressed the fear the regulation (on animal by-products) would be aimed at preparing the ground for resuming authorisation of meat and bone meal. He repeated that this is not the intention. The current embargo, he added, must stay in place as a transitional measure until 30 June 2003 at the latest. The relaxing or maintenance of the ban will be decided depending on a series of factors, one of which is implementation of the regulation on animal by-products, he said.
The Commissioner also gave indications regarding: 1) The results of BSE testing: around two thirds of the cases detected were discovered through screening, and one eighth of the cases found to be BSE positive affected animals ready to go to slaughter; 2) Sheep intestines and the list of SRM. Mr Bryne recalled that, contrary to all expectations, the Scientific Committee recommended that these organs should not be included on the list of specified risk material (SRM), considering that there was one chance out of a hundred, if not a thousand, that intestines become infected by BSE during the production process. He admitted that this sensitive scientific opinion had been discussed the same day by a Council working group and said he would wait the results of these discussions before adopting a formal position.
Furthermore, the Council noted the report by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States of the EU (Coreper) on the state of progress of the dossier on genetically modified foodstuffs and animal feed. The Council entrusted Coreper with the task of pursuing work with a view to settling the two main problems still outstanding, namely the authorisation procedure for these products and the fixing of a threshold of tolerance on accidental contamination of GMO that are unauthorised but considered without risk. The Danish Presidency declared that the Council could reach a common position on this proposal during its October meeting.
In "miscellaneous points", the Council tackled the following:
Flooding in France: The French Minister specified that floods had especially hit orchards and vineyards (in the agricultural sector) everywhere, and Mr Fischler pointed out that aid could possibly be made available from the European Natural Disaster Fund.
Johannesburg Summit: Mr Fischler recalled the Commission had reaffirmed during the Summit that the EU fully complied with its WTO commitments regarding export refunds. In this context, the Swedish delegation called for Community regulations on organic products to be relaxed in order to reduce the fastidious control procedures (on inspection certificates) which prevent developing countries from exporting fresh organic products.
"Wine" agreement with the United States: Spain, supported by France, Portugal and Italy, called on Mr Fischler to inform the Council of the state of progress of negotiations between the EU and the United States on concluding a wine agreement. Mr Fischler pointed out that discussions were still in progress at expert level, and that the United States did not wish to establish additional links with the International Vine and Wine Office (IWO). He recognised that there were difficulties over the traditional British, French and Spanish names and announced that the Commission was going to inform third countries of the advantages of the new labelling rules for European wine (which have caused concern for the Americans).
Cotton: Greece called on the Council to approve the granting of national aid in favour of cotton producers for the 2001-2002 harvest year.