WRITTEN QUESTION E-1163/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. White Paper on Food Safety and the European Food Authority.
C 46 E/136 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 13. 2. 2001 (2001/C 46 E/155) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1163/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (12 April 2000) Subject: White Paper on Food Safety and the European Food Authority The White Paper on Food Safety (COM(1999) 719 final) was published in January 2000. Chapter 4 is concerned with establishing a European Food Authority (EFA). Chapter 5 considers legislation on food safety. The Commission is to draw up an action plan to develop a comprehensive and coherent nutritional policy (section 106). To what extent does the Commission seek to tailor this action plan to national and international (FAO and WHO) policy plans? (2001/C 46 E/156) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1164/00 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Commission (12 April 2000) Subject: White Paper on Food Safety and the European Food Authority The White Paper on Food Safety (COM(1999) 719 final) was published in January 2000. Chapter 4 is concerned with establishing a European Food Authority (EFA). Chapter 5 considers legislation on food safety. The Commission wants to collect information on food intake, diets and nutritional status (section 107). It is also working on promoting nutritional research and efficient and accurate consumer information. These activities are already being carried out at national or subnational level. 1. What does the Commission think is the added value of comparable activities at EU level? Is there not a risk with this approach of overlap and duplication? If so, is the Commission prepared 2. to restrict itself to a coordinating (pivotal) role? If not, what guarantees does the Commission have that there will not be any overlap or duplication? Joint answer to Written Questions E-1163/00 and E-1164/00 given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission (23 June 2000) In drawing up a nutritional policy, the Commission will use the results of two current projects that are financed by the Health Promotion Programme. Each of these projects mobilises numerous national experts involved in national policies and representatives of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The first project is designed to draw up European recommendations on nutrition and the second will produce a background document for the French Presidency, which intends to promote nutritional health. As far as health surveillance is concerned, most Member States have introduced a monitoring system, but it rarely includes monitoring of nutritional status. Although food consumption surveys are conducted, they are only the first stage in the evaluation of nutritional status. The rare data available on nutrition across the various Member States are not all of the same quality, and their comparability leaves something to be desired