MEPs endorse new animal health laws
Swedish liberal MEP Marit Paulsen – an environmental and food quality expert – piloted the legislation through the Parliament, amending the text originally proposed by the European Commission to put more emphasis on the prevention and control of animal diseases.
She also added commitments to protect biodiversity within the sector, notably working to preserve rare animal breeds, and on fighting antimicrobial resistance. MEPs also added additional actions on promoting animal husbandry and abiding by EU rules on animal transport.
The new amended regulation confirms the Commission’s role in introducing "urgent measures" to tackle diseases that have a major impact on public health and which can cross national borders in the EU. "We know that animal health is crucial and many citizens write to the [parliament] about it", Paulsen said, adding: "This is about the protection from disease – that needs to be made crystal clear."
The parliament’s intergroup (an informal committee) on the welfare and conservation of animals has welcomed the vote, releasing a statement saying the new law will greatly "minimise transmissible diseases and animal suffering".
Meanwhile, ministers are also considering another regulation backed by MEPs that aims to harmonise food and feed control systems in Europe, again simplifying EU legislation and eliminating overlapping rules, especially when it comes to disease crises. "It is only by harmonising the rate and rhythm of controls, that we will be able to establish consumer trust," said socialist Italian MEP Mario Pirillo, who coordinated parliamentary votes on this piece of legislation.
Recalling the 2013 horsemeat scandal, he noted that MEPs had backed insisting on a "minimum frequency of checks in various sectors of the food industry [including meat and livestock] to avoid any discrepancy between one member state and another", thereby preventing weak checks in one country damaging sales in another. With more than 48 million people working in the EU food sector, from production to retail, Pirillo said it was "essential" to protect consumer health and ensure EU food laws were followed.
