Following a management committee on March 2 the European Commission presented its proposal to introduce special market measures for cattle older than 30 months.
Carcasses of animals which belong to categories not eligible for intervention purchases, which are more than 30 months of age and which have all been tested negatively for BSE shall be covered.
The scheme can only apply to Member States which have demonstrated full testing capacity for cattle older than 30 months.
In addition, the regime would only be applicable in those Member States which are faced with a weak market for cow meat.
Consequently purchases shall only be made in Member States where the price for beef is below the trigger price during a period of two weeks.
This trigger-price should be fixed for each Member State.
The financial compensation (70 per cent EU, 30 per cent Member States) paid to the farmers would be maintained.
The new measures presented will enter into force following a vote in the management committee and following formal adoption by the Commission .
The special measures under the new scheme shall apply until the end of 2001.
Commenting on the proposal, Commissioner Franz Fischler stated, "There will not be any pre-determined quantity per Member State or for the EU.
The decision to slaughter his cow is up to the farmer.
We just make an offer to buy his unsellable meat.
According to our proposal, Member States will now have the choice.
They can decide either to store the beef purchased or to provide for its destruction, with or without prior storage…To be clear.
There are beef mountains building up.
We need short-term emergency measures to help EU farmers.
Obviously, storing unsellable beef is not my farm policy vision for the future."