This should be interesting - the EU at last admitting that BSE is not
simply a 'British disease'...
>
>The Green Group
>in the European Parliament
>
>Press release
>
>Brussels, 28.10.98
>
>BSE in Portugal:
>
>Ban on Portuguese Beef Should Be A Signal
>
>
>*The export ban on Portuguese beef proposed today by the European Commission
>is a step in the right direction. With regard to the steep rise of BSE cases
>in this country, the EU could not tolerate any longer the inactivity of the
>Portuguese Government. Although the number of cases notified is lower than
>in the U.K., there are strong concerns that the situation may bear similar
>risks,* said F.W. Graefe zu Baringdorf, Vice-President of the Committee on
>Agriculture and Rural Development in the European Parliament, who had called
>for this ban since mid-september.
>
>*There is no evidence that the EU ban of meat and bone meal for feeding
>ruminants is effectively implemented by the Portuguese authorities. The
>community*s rules for safer production of these feedstuffs have only been
>applied recently. Furthermore, Portugal refuses to remove specified BSE-risk
>materials, which is done in similarly concerned countries like Switzerland
>and Great Britain. Therefore, the risk of spreading the disease via the food
>chain is extremely high in Portugal, * said Graefe zu Baringdorf,
>agriculture spokesman of the Green Group.
>
>*The ban on beef export should show the Portuguese authorities, who until
>now did not react sufficiently to the infringement procedures, that the
>problem is taken seriously by the EU. But furthermore, the Ministers for
>Agriculture have to stop blocking the Commission*s proposals for an EU-wide
>removal of risk materials from the food chain in order to guarantee a higher
>level of consumer protection,* F.W. Graefe zu Baringdorf added.
>
>
>Further information:
>Hannes Lorenzen / Oliver Emmes
>Green Group in the European Parliament
>Tel +322-284-3362 / 5154, Fax: +322-2849154
>
>******************************
>Press Service
>of the Green Group
>in the European Parliament
>*******************************
>Helmut WEIXLER
>phone:+32-2-284 4683
>fax: +32-2-284 4944
>e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>Peter Merry
>International Co-ordinator - Green Party of England and Wales
>Trainer and Consultant - Beyond the Mask : Training and Drama for
>Intercultural Learning
>Fellow - Centre for Human Ecology
>
>12 St. Olave's Mews, Exeter, EX4 3BH, England, UK
>Tel / fax: +44 (0)1392 426234
>
>*evoke power-within*
>*subvert power-over*
>
>*** Green Party - http://www.greenparty.org.uk
>*** Federation of European Green Parties - http://www.europeangreens.org
>*** Green Group in European Parliament - http://www.axl.be/green
>*** Centre for Human Ecology - http://www.clan.com/environment/che
>
David Wood
PhD Student ('The Rural Peace Dividend')
Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Tel: 0191 222 5305
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