Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-05-Speech-4-011"
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"en.20090205.3.4-011"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, as I have already done in the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, I would firstly like to congratulate the rapporteur, the shadow rapporteurs from the other political groups and also the Council for the work carried out.
That said, I must remind you that the competent authority will have access to the precise composition at all times and, as established in the compromise reached, any emergency related to human or animal health or the environment will mean that the purchasers will have access to precise information on the composition of the feed in question once the legitimate interests of both the manufacturers and the purchasers have been considered.
With regard to the list of good labelling practices, this remains voluntary for the professionals in the sector without at any time becoming a positive list of raw materials for the manufacture of compound feeds, as this is something that has not been requested.
The legislation will include, at the European Parliament’s request, a new annex comprising a list of raw materials for animal feed of which the placing on the market or use is prohibited or restricted. This is information, whether an annex or a list, that the Commission can update.
The Socialist Group in the European Parliament, whom I represent, supports the compromise reached and has not tabled any amendments for the plenary. We are fully in favour of the position as presented today in this House and, as such, we will vote in favour of it.
This work has allowed us to reach agreement at first reading and furthermore, has been an excellent running-in process for the codecision procedure that will be standard practice in our committee in the near future.
Ladies and gentlemen, at present, legislation on the movement of raw materials for feed and compound feed for animals, including pets – a sector that represents some EUR 50 billion in trade at Community level – is regulated by several directives and some 50 amendments and implementing acts.
The simplification of the legislation and its harmonised application are the main objectives that will doubtless be achieved by this Regulation.
Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has already debated the placing on the market of animal feed, back in 2006. We will all recall that we unanimously asked the European Commission, in future review, to endeavour to find a fair balance between the interests of farmers in obtaining detailed information on feed ingredients and the interests of the industry in ensuring sufficient protection of its know-how.
The compromise reached on the main sensitive points of the Commission’s proposal, the open declaration of raw materials and the creation of a Community list of raw materials, is a good reflection, in my opinion, of this balance. Proof of this is the welcome the compromise has received from all those involved.
In fact, by means of the open declaration, the compromise protects the rights of purchasers to be informed and of manufacturers to retain ownership of their know-how by indicating that information should be provided without prejudice to the 2004 Directive on intellectual property rights.
There is no question, ladies and gentlemen, that in a relationship of trust between supplier and user, the formulae should be known, but it would not be logical to be obliged to give the recipe to the first client who came through the door. Many of us have drunk Coca-Cola for many years. Although we do not know its recipe, this does not mean that we doubt that the product’s characteristics are observed and that health standards are respected.
The Court of Justice judgment previously mentioned strictly establishes that the obligation to inform customers of the exact composition of feed, if they so request, is not justified by a desired aim to protect health."@en1
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