Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-05-16-Speech-2-130"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20000516.6.2-130"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
"Mr President, I welcome the opportunity of making a brief contribution to this debate and I congratulate the rapporteur on her excellent work. Parliament has certainly devoted considerable time on behalf of its citizens to addressing the important agenda of food safety, while at the same time ensuring that our farmers can operate within a production framework of traceability which is the only way to fully restore consumer confidence in the wide range of quality food products produced by European farmers. For this reason, the creation of a uniform legal basis for controlling and preventing the spread of BSE and scrapie is paramount and there is still, as other speakers have suggested, a lack of consistency in relation to the application of the regulations within individual Member States.
I would urge Commissioner Byrne to prioritise introduction of that level of consistency which is the only way that we can convince our consumers that we have a common policy in relation to ensuring public health. As I have said in previous debates, farmers are the victims of circumstances beyond their control and those responsible for the manufacture of animal feed which puts public health, our entire livestock sector and indeed farm incomes at risk, have much to answer for. This House must be vigilant in ensuring that it can never again be repeated.
I welcome the availability of rapid diagnostic testing for improved detection of TSEs in cattle and believe, Commissioner, that further consideration should be given to its use as a means of establishing the health status of animals in Member States.
For my country, Ireland, food exports and in particular beef are of paramount importance to our economy and the income of farmers. I can say that we have left no stone unturned in tackling this problem, including the removal of entire herds where an infected animal has in fact been diagnosed.
May I say in conclusion that farmers have always responded in a positive way to the introduction of regulations governing public health and the health status of animals raised for food production. Their task as guarantors of food security and quality is, as everyone in this House knows, becoming increasingly difficult. Far too often their contribution to society has been taken for granted and certainly not always adequately rewarded with a reasonable income."@en1
|
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples