Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-04-Speech-3-033"
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"en.20001004.3.3-033"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, in the wake of numerous food scandals, consumer awareness has heightened very considerably. In the domain of EU consumer policy, I believe ‘from stable to table’ has few rival claimants to the title of Expression of the Year. If, however, we want to apply this principle of transparency consistently, our commitment must stretch from the farmer’s pitch fork to the consumer's table fork. Consumer safety begins with animal feed, with its ingredients, the declaration and, last but not least, the official inspections.
These three reports place us on the horns of a dilemma. As far as feed content is concerned, let me say that food safety is a highly sensitive issue. If scientific studies come out unequivocally against the use of certain substances, the precautionary principle must apply. I doubt, however, whether we shall succeed in introducing a zero-tolerance threshold. That would be dubious consumer protection and, what is more, it would surely be impracticable. I believe it would undermine the very legislation it was intended to reinforce.
As for the declaration of feed materials – the open versus the semi-open declaration – our dilemma is surely between consumer protection and economic viability. With today’s analytical methods, Commissioner Byrne, any recipe is as transparent as can be. Any manufacturers who therefore wish to discover precisely what a competing company is offering its customers have long been able to acquire this information.
I should like to conclude by dealing briefly with two problems relating to the declaration. The number of those who seek precise details on ingredients is relatively small, according to my research. This brings me to the other point. The full declaration certainly costs money, and the farmer ultimately has to foot the bill. The official feed inspections are the final link in the chain of transparency in the sphere of animal feed. Unfortunately, however, despite all our efforts, it will never be possible to completely eradicate criminal practices. For my own part, finally, the quality of our food concerns me less than the eating habits of our citizens in general."@en1
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