Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-21-Speech-3-472"
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".
I should also like to thank the rapporteur for the enthusiasm he has put into his work. I think that, with increasing globalisation, we shall need to take more account of outbreaks of infectious animal diseases. People travel more and carry products that they are not supposed to and that can cause outbreaks. Everyone has already said that better border controls are needed, because prevention is better than cure. It always strikes me, when I arrive in the United States or Australia for example, that the border controls there are much stricter than in Europe. I wonder why the European Union does not have a similar system to the United States, with everyone being asked to state whether or not they are carrying animal products. Only then can we check properly.
What should happen when infectious animal diseases break out? I think everyone at the moment is already convinced that mass slaughter, as has happened in the past, is no longer acceptable. We are going to have to vaccinate and then it has to be possible for the products from vaccinated animals to be sold on the European market and also outside it. That is where the problem lies. I am not impressed by the attempts the Commission is making to convince supermarkets, consumer organisations and so on that products from vaccinated animals are just as good as those from non-vaccinated animals. Products from animals vaccinated against foot-and-mouth disease still have to be marked so that consumers know. That seems to be completely unnecessary. Therefore an active stand by the Commission is needed.
Every year up to now, and again this year, we have been used to having a large surplus in the agriculture budget. So far we have been able to meet the cost of all outbreaks of infectious animal diseases from the agriculture budget. In future the situation could very well be different. The new countries are being phased in and the margin in the agriculture budget is steadily becoming smaller. Even so, an outbreak will have to be paid for. Under European law, that has to be done. I therefore think that as soon as possible there must be a scheme for European animal insurance, animal health funds for each country or at European level, and so on. I got a pilot project on that in the budget in 2004. All the plans are ready and the Commission must set to work and do something about it as quickly as possible.
My final point is the transport of animals. I am not one of those people who say ‘if you transport the animal for so many hours, that is by definition good’. Being transported for two hours might be worse than for nine. What matters is the conditions in which animals are transported and the Commission must take account of the conditions and not just of the length of time."@en1
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