Food law reform overshadowed by BSE

Date: 01/08/1996

EUROPEAN Commission efforts to streamline the complex raft of EU food legislation have fallen victim to the BSE crisis.

After an embarrassing public dispute between Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann and Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler over what approach to take in a planned Green Paper, the collapse of the EU's beef market intervened to divert attention away from the issue.

The Commission veterinary division's limited personnel resources have been busy keeping track of the myriad of technical committees charged with finding solutions to the 'mad cow' crisis.

“Quite simply, things are not progressing at all at the moment. Hopefully, things will start coming together by the end of September,” said one official.

A working group from DGVI (agriculture) and DGIII (industry) is currently working on a first draft encompassing the Commission's latest thinking on EU food laws.

“The principles we will follow are transparency, coherence, simplicity, ease of application, a high level of consumer protection and avoiding an over-heavy burden on industry,” explained an official.

But BSE will return to haunt them once the UK presents its proposals for the gradual lifting of the beef export ban. The effects of the crisis will also influence their thinking on a more philosophical level. “We must draw lessons from the crisis,” said the official, adding that any move towards simplification could not be allowed to endanger human health.