Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-21-Speech-3-480"
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"en.20080521.31.3-480"2
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"Mr President, congratulations to the rapporteur for an excellent report. Animal health is important, not just because it is closely linked to human health and environmental biodiversity balance but also because it has a huge farming trade and economic significance, not to mention the social and sports importance of animals, so it would not be an exaggeration to say that animal health is almost synonymous with human health and well-being. With this in mind, it is not surprising that a new Animal Health Strategy for the European Union for 2007-2013 is very much needed.
The report before us tonight is well thought out and balanced in my view and will form a good but rather synoptic basis on which to build our future legislative and non-legislative directives relating to this important matter. Let me just take this opportunity to point to a couple of important areas where the Commission needs to clear things up somewhat.
The report strongly supports vaccination as a fundamental means of preventing disease. This is, as far as I know, contrary to current practice with respect to at least one major animal illness, foot-and-mouth disease. In the case of foot-and-mouth disease, vaccination in the EU Member States is prohibited as a preventive measure because of the consequent difficulty in identifying infected animals from vaccinated animals when using screening tests for the presence of disease antibodies. Is the Commission intending to change its vaccination policy for foot-and-mouth disease in the near future?
Furthermore, what is the position of the Commission with respect to the fact that in most third countries animal vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease is not only allowed but encouraged? Will importation of animals from such countries be prohibited if the vaccination policy for foot-and-mouth disease in the EU is not changed?
The second area is the lack of necessary implementation of adequate health checks in the increasing international trade of live birds, especially parrots from third countries. This is an area which needs tidying up."@en1
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