Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-04-Speech-3-041"
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"en.20001004.4.3-041"2
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"Commissioner Byrne, in this directive on the marketing of compound feed we find our old problem lurking, namely the question of open declarations. It is gratifying for me personally to be able to serve as rapporteur for the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, since this problem has been with us now for decades. As Mr Böge knows, in our time in the
the young farmers’ association in Germany, we used to discuss this, because there were open declarations at one time. They were then abolished to suit the interests of the feed industry. The computer put together the cheapest feed mix at current prices, and so that the consumers – in this case the farmers – were not irritated by the constant changes in ingredients, the required information was reduced to the basic components, which were the carbohydrate, protein and fat contents. That certainly covered the substance of the compound feed. The computer worked this out, but it was no longer clear which ingredients made up this substance. We always stressed the need for openness. Then we would hear the most specious of arguments – it was impossible to prove, it was too difficult, it would distort competition – all the things we are hearing again today.
Then, in the Committee of Inquiry on BSE, we demanded for the first time, and here I quote from a recommendation made by the Temporary Committee of Inquiry on 6 February 1997, "... the inclusion in labelling of a mandatory explicit declaration for feedingstuffs by their manufacturers, which should facilitate the clear identification of components and of the origin of ingredients, and on user instructions." This was our view, but the recommendation was not adopted by the Commission. We then pressed this point again in the temporary committee which was created with a view to following up the recommendations on BSE, but the Commission asserted in 1998 that declarations were already open. Not even the BSE scandal could compel it to subordinate the interests of the compound-feed industry to those of public health. Then we had the dioxin scandal on top of that, and it was fortuitous that the Commissioners had to introduce themselves to Parliament at that very time, as you will no doubt recall, Mr Byrne. And those who drafted your remarks on this point and the remarks of the other Commissioners were wise enough to include an indication that you were in favour of open declarations. We immediately started probing. We asked whether you really meant it. Yes, you did mean it, and now we have a draft on the table, a draft that is entirely in line with our wishes. We have tabled a few small amendments. I should also like to thank Mrs RothBehrendt, who drafted the opinion of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Policy. We accepted the bulk of your amendments in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, but the substance of the Commission draft is fine, and we shall support it in this form.
The compound-feed industry, however, has been trying yet again to exert influence through the Council and to overturn the principle of open declarations. I assume that they will not succeed this time. What is most clearly apparent is that components are no longer lumped together into categories. That has been the worst part of the present regime, because it meant, for example, that the term ‘fats’ could cover all sorts of fat and that there was no indication at all as to the origins of the fat content. The same applied to protein. In the Committee of Inquiry on BSE, we had always objected to the evident inclusion in feed mixes of animal protein, in the form of animal meal, not as a means of meeting the required percentage of protein but to reduce production costs and to increase the nutrient content as cheaply as possible. And we all know the results of that.
Commissioner Byrne, we are highly satisfied. This is a report and a regulatory procedure based on codecision. I hope that we shall reach agreement with the Council and that the final outcome in the form of our joint draft, which the Commission presented and to which we have added, will be upheld, so that we can say, "Yes, it took years, it took decades, but open declarations are now enshrined in the law of the European Union". I should find that particularly gratifying."@en1
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