Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-03-Speech-3-026"
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"en.19991103.5.3-026"2
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"Madam President, I am pleased to have the opportunity today to update Parliament on the developments over the past few days in relation to BSE.
“there is clear evidence of the continuing progressive decline in 1999 of BSE in the UK. There is no justification at present to infer any new route of infection”;
“the SSC concludes that there are currently no grounds for revising the overall conclusions of the SSC opinions directly related to the rationale of the DBES”; and, finally:
“the SSC considers that the measures taken by the UK make any risk to human health from the UK DBES at least comparable to that in other European Member States”.
This followed a very thorough examination which focused on the concerns raised by the French authorities. I was greatly encouraged by the unanimous view of the Committee. It has provided the reassurance necessary that the DBES is sufficient to ensure that British beef exports are safe.
And let me be very clear: I have always insisted that the opinion of the committee would be instrumental in determining the Commission’s handling of this dispute. I have gone on record several times, including in my hearings before Parliament, that my decisions on food safety will be science-based. My priority is to ensure that there is no threat to public health. Sound, independent and excellent scientific advice is essential in this respect.
In this particular case, we now have scientific backing for the existing systems of controls.
It is on this basis that I have called on the French and German authorities to take the committee’s opinion into account and lift their national restrictions on imports of British beef. As I said on Friday, these restrictions are no longer necessary in the light of the safeguards in place.
However, we have to accept that this is a highly charged issue where we need to proceed cautiously. This is why I also insisted on Friday that everybody needs a few days to reflect on the full implications of the scientific committee’s opinion. My meeting last night with my French and British counterparts was held in this spirit: we need to discuss the best way forward to resolve this dispute.
The French authorities have now requested clarification on five key points. Very briefly, they want further information on traceability, testing, derived products, controls and labelling. I do not consider this request for clarification to be unreasonable. Accordingly, a meeting of officials will take place this Friday to discuss the issues in question.
Let me quote the very short communiqué agreed by all participants last night which agreed this strategy:
To begin with, I would like to update you on the opinion adopted unanimously by the Scientific Steering Committee last Friday. This opinion was on the scientific grounds of the advice of the French Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) regarding the measures applicable to British beef exports.
“We have drawn up a method to emerge from the crisis as quickly as possible by identifying five points
worthy of being looked at by our experts over the next few days. Our experts will begin this work on Friday. We undertake this work in a constructive spirit and a common will to assure public health of our citizens”.
I am very surprised at the reaction in the press to last night’s developments. It is not a setback. It is not a victory for France or a defeat for the UK. It is simply a further necessary stage in resolving this difficult issue. A few extra days in discussions is a very small price to pay for a successful conclusion. I need not add that the alternative – legal proceedings – would be a far longer and more painful process.
Some additional reassurances or clarifications may be necessary to allow the French authorities to lift their restrictions on UK beef. However, that should not prove to be an insurmountable problem and it is in that spirit that discussions should continue. It is the clear implication of these discussions that the ban will be lifted.
However, I would like to make very clear that there is no question of re-writing the date-based export scheme. It has been upheld by the scientific steering committee as a set of reliable safeguards to ensure that British beef exported under the scheme is safe. It does not need to be changed.
Finally, I will continue to insist on a very quick solution. Let me remind you that today is the very first working day since the adoption of the scientific committee’s opinion. We have all worked long and hard over the past several days and these efforts will continue until we have found a solution. I will, of course, continue to keep Parliament fully informed of developments.
I arranged for the summary recommendations of the committee’s opinion to be issued to Parliament on Friday together with a copy of my statement to the press. Yesterday, I also arranged for the full copy of the report to be issued to you. However, you may not all have had time to digest their contents and I will, therefore, briefly summarise the main issues.
The opinion addressed in particular three questions from the Commission. These questions can be summarised as follows:
Is there any new evidence in the documentation provided by AFSSA?
Is there a need to re-examine any of the four Scientific Steering Committee opinions directly related to the scientific rationale of the date-based export scheme?
Is the date-based export scheme satisfactory with regard to the safety of meat and meat products concerned?
In its opinion, the scientific steering committee confirmed that there is no need to review the decision to lift the ban on UK beef exports.
Allow me to quote three of the more important conclusions of the committee:"@en1
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"which I have already mentioned"1
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