25/04/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Committee on Fisheries held a public hearing on 23 April on the subject of "The fishmeal and fish oils industry- an international perspective", allowing the sector to defend its position on the European Commission's proposal to renew for two years special measures against BSE (see EUROPE of 7 March, p.15). The message was loud and clear: the industry wants the European Parliament's support when it asks the European Commission to lift measures banning use of fishmeal in feed for ruminants. Peruvian Production Minister Eduardo Iriarte, and the Chilean Fisheries Under-Secretary (Chile and Peru produce half of the world's fishmeal and fish oils), said they wanted the European embargo on their fishmeal exports, brought in by the EU as a special protection measure, to be lifted. Mr Iriarte added that the ban had "no scientific basis", and that it came down to a purely political decision that could not be justified at this moment in time.