Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-04-11-Speech-2-303"
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"en.20000411.11.2-303"2
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"Mr President, I wish to begin by saying that I welcome the report. A European Union-wide identification system for cattle is long overdue. The system is certainly very necessary, if nothing else than to achieve a level playing field within the European Union and to ensure that all countries reach the same standards.
I want to sound a note of caution. I come from an area in Northern Ireland that has a standard of identification and traceability which is as good as any ever will be. No system is a hundred per cent perfect, so do not think you can bring that about. There will always be people out to abuse the system. That has been the case for centuries – and will continue. You can only try to develop the best possible system of traceability.
I have a number of concerns. The first is: who pays? The problem to date has been, in my experience in Northern Ireland, that the consumer has borne the brunt of the cost of the extra traceability, and this has been substantial. It has not been borne by the retailer. The consumer will perhaps ultimately pay – but he or she may not. From that point of view it is expensive for those people.
I have one further question of the Commission. Is it wise to renationalise the beef market? Or even to regionalise it within countries. I seriously question that point. We have fought for years within the European Union to achieve a single market and now we are renationalising that market. I challenge the Commission tonight to answer that question. Is this a wise move? Let us not look to the short term, let us look to the long term, because the long term is the challenge – not five years but ten, fifteen years from now. What is going to be the situation on the beef market?
As I said, in Northern Ireland we have full traceability and our measures go beyond the regulations. I have to say to the Commission, and to producers in other Member States, that my producers have to date not seen any financial benefit from that which they have suffered."@en1
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