Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-13-Speech-1-186"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"1999-12-13"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Labelling of foodstuffs produced using GMOs2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.19991213.11.1-186"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:1999-12-13-Speech-1-1872
lpv:speaker	lp:Philip Bushill-matthews2
lpv:spoken text	"Mr President, this is obviously a very important issue that needs to be addressed with some urgency. Not only do consumers need to be reassured, but the industry also needs a climate of certainty within which to operate. May I say that I speak with a background in the industry, though since joining this House I have of course severed all ties with it. In my previous life I was managing director of a snack food company that made tortilla chips. It also made an excellent British delicacy called pork scratchings – which I just toss in so as to keep the interpreters on their toes. Tortilla chips are made of 100% American maize; and certainly when our customers asked for guaranteed GM-free identity-preserved maize, we had very great difficulty in securing that. All the tests we did, in testing that was widely and commercially available, showed even such maize occasionally contained between 1 and 2% adventitious GM material. So to those such as Mr Bowe who say 1% is a target that can easily be met, I say from experience that it cannot easily be met. It is a very challenging target. I believe that the industry has accepted that target, but with some trepidation. If that target is reduced, what is quite likely to happen – because industry will not meet it – is that increasingly it will just label everything 'May contain GM material' – which completely undermines the purpose of this labelling. That is the first point I would make: the target is already tough. The second point regarding a review is that the industry needs certainty: so constant changes every 12 months are no good for the industry, and indeed confusing for the consumer. The final point, going back to a point that Mrs Jackson made to begin with, is that we must ensure, when labelling comes in, that equal rules are applied with certainty across the EU. As we approach a new millennium, maybe we can start a new trend towards ensuring that such laws will be universally enforced and applied."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	member; Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries and the Gulf (1999-10-06--2002-01-14)3 member; EMPL (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 member; EPP-ED (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy (1999-07-21--2002-01-14)3 unknown; Conservative and Unionist Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Bushill-Matthews (PPE-DE )."1

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