Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-25-Speech-3-049"
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"en.20001025.2.3-049"2
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"Mr President, while the European food chain is one of the safest in the world, poor practice, and indeed recent scandals, have set an agenda to which our Commissioner, Mr Byrne, has responded admirably. My compliments to him and indeed to our rapporteur, Mr Bowis, for a very logical and rational approach to the problem before us today.
The EU must have the highest possible standards of food safety for its citizens. Food safety and public health are key political priorities. We must be able to trust those who set out to advise us – farmers, food manufacturers, processors, retailers, government, consumer advisory groups, scientists, an endless list. It is essential that we have a body of science as a reference point, whether we are consumers or policy-makers or even contributors to the food chain, and that we know what is an acceptable balance between risk prevention and informed consumer choice – it is all about balance.
Safety and security does not mean sacrificing choice, or indeed cultural diversity, and one of the most interesting amendments of the Committee on the Environment, which supplements and strengthens the report, is on the preservation of the European cultural heritage with regard to local food specialities.
Risks therefore need to be identified early, assessed scientifically and nipped in the bud. European action is appropriate because in a single market risk does not stop at national borders. The EFSA should play an important role in the existing Rapid Alert System, which should be improved and extended to cover all areas of food safety, including animal feed. I welcome the fact that there is broad agreement on the main principles: that a new scientific body responsible for food safety risk assessment should be established, that it should be independent, accountable, transparent and subject to the needs of objective research and of commercial confidentiality and that it should provide the public with accessible and comprehensible information. Most important of all, it should gain the respect of its peers, the confidence of the public and the willingness of Member State governments to accept its conclusions."@en1
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