WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3936/97 by Anita POLLACK to the Commission. Food hygiene
C 187/96 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 6. 98 (98/C 187/144) WRITTEN QUESTION P-3934/97 by Reimer Bo¤ge (PPE) to the Commission (4 December 1997) Subject: BSE › classification of Member States into differing risk areas Can the Commission indicate how, in its opinion, the Member States of the European Union should be classified, on the basis of the IOE criteria, into BSE-free regions, low risk regions and high risk regions? In the Commissionís view, what shortcomings are there in those Member States which, on the basis of the IOE standards, are classified as low risk areas and could therefore be viewed by the Commission as zero risk areas? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (19 January 1998) Chapter 3. 2. 13 of the International office of epizootics (IOE) code, dealing with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), refers to three categories of countries: those free from BSE, those with a high incidence of the disease and those with a low incidence. It does not classify countries on the basis of risk. The incidence of BSE in a country is not synonymous with the risk of BSE. The incidence is determined by the accuracy of detecting and reporting disease, whereas the risk of becoming infected or of transmitting BSE is determined by measures taken to prevent or eliminate infection. Thus, a country in which inadequate measures have been taken to prevent the use of infected feed and which has no effective surveillance for BSE may have reported no cases, but may present a greater risk than a country which has reported a few cases but has taken effective measures to deal with them. The scientific veterinary committee, in its opinion of 21 October 1996, stated that it áconsiders any risk from BSE to be much lower in other Member States than in the UK, but it is not zeroí. All Member States are at liberty to submit evidence to the Commission if they seek to demonstrate that they have a particularly favourable position in regard to risk from BSE. Several have already done so and their submissions will be examined by the appropriate scientific committee. The Commission cannot take a position with respect to the situation in any individual Member State until it has received the scientific advice. As a first step, the Scientific steering committee is presently preparing a harmonised list of criteria against which all submissions will be evaluated. (98/C 187/145) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3936/97 by Anita Pollack (PSE) to the Commission (12 December 1997) Subject: Food hygiene Now that the Commission has reorganized responsibility for food safety in response to Parliamentís pressure after the BSE crisis, does it not agree that it is time for the long-awaited proposal for a Framework Directive on Food Hygiene to be drawn up? If so, when does the Commission intend to submit it? Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (27 January 1998) The Commission wishes to remind the Honourable Member of the existence of Council Directive 93/43/EEC of 14 June 1993 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (1). Article 1(1) of this Directive álays down the general rules of hygiene for foodstuffsí