Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-06-05-Speech-4-041"
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"en.20030605.2.4-041"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, the draft regulation before us today is an indispensable and highly important element in, as well as a logical consequence of, the endeavours to improve food safety undertaken in the wake of the various crises which have, I regret to say, affected us in the European food sector
Although, as I am keen to remind you, the European food chain is one of the world’s safest, we deemed it necessary to take steps to improve traceability and labelling. Admittedly, all the decisions taken testify to the European Parliament’s political will, but they will bring no benefits if they are not correctly applied. What is often lacking in terms of food safety, as in many other areas, is effective control over how existing legislation or regulations are applied.
I congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Schnellhardt, on the quality of his work in this area, which seeks to set up a rigorous monitoring system for both European and imported products. We will not reap the full benefits of the new concept developed by the European Commission and often discussed in this field, ‘from farm to table’, without continuous, adequate monitoring of the food on the market, from when it is produced to when it is consumed.
If we are to restore consumer confidence, consumers must be able to say to themselves, when they buy meat or any other food, that they need have no qualms about believing the information provided on the product label. Consumers must be able to feel sure that the products they are about to consume are healthy. To achieve this, as the rapporteur has explained, it is essential to develop independent official inspections and also to increase the responsibility of operators in the sector. I would highlight here the role of vets and the vital importance of independent inspections. It is also helpful to show common sense by adopting rules which take into account the size of businesses and do not penalise smallholdings, since this problem occurs with SMEs. I am pleased, therefore, that some such amendments have been adopted, just as I am pleased that the Commissioner has mentioned the flexibility required.
Obviously, these changes should not be to the detriment of consumer safety. Effective communication of information and regular updating of lists of accredited establishments will make inspection and coordination between Member States much easier. I believe that the aim of all this is to restore consumer confidence, and the system should ensure that safer products are placed on the market for each and everyone one of us consumers."@en1
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