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Verbatim report of proceedings
Tuesday, 16 May 2006 - Strasbourg OJ edition

Rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (debate)
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  Mojca Drčar Murko, on behalf of the ALDE Group. (SL) The new case of TSE, confirmed yesterday in Austria, has illustrated the soundness of the long–term precautionary policy of the European Union to prevent, control and eradicate certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Mrs Roth–Behrendt had clearly taken good note of the views of Member States when, during an exchange of views before the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, she referred to the draft amendment to the 2001 regulation, and her comments also sparked active engagement on the parts of the British and Austrian presidencies.

The outcome of that commendable work is a text on which MEPs agree in principle. We are unanimous both in our overall opinion that the transitional period should be extended by a reasonable amount of time and in our adherence to the principle of a consistent ban on the feeding of animal protein to ruminants. We support the Commission in bringing the existing legislation into line with new international requirements. Draft amendments, proposed jointly by several political groups, have highlighted inconsistencies and in certain parts they constitute a compromise which is not otherwise ideal, but which is practical at this stage.

An example of this is the issue of feeding fishmeal to cattle. Fish are, in fact, not a risk factor, as fishmeal is not a vector for TSE. The problems with fishmeal lie elsewhere. Fishmeal is unnecessary to the physiological development of ruminants, whether old or young, and, as they are the only animals which can produce protein from grass, they satisfy their protein needs in other ways. Notwithstanding ethical reservations, this issue is also connected to questions of the medium-term orientation of the common agricultural policy and, amongst other things, the advisability of the prevention of protein aggregation in milk.

We have opted for the solution of feeding fishmeal to young cattle under Commission supervision, for practical control reasons, as a compromise solution, with the aim of ensuring that there is not even a theoretical chance of instances arising on farms where fishmeal can be mixed with bonemeal. This is the reason for our support for the compromise solution, even though the unanimous view, backed up by expert opinion, is that there is absolutely no justification for feeding fish protein to young animals.

 
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