Visit the all-creatures.org Home Page.
Write us with your comments: [email protected]
EU (June 4 2008) - National experts from the EU's member states have thrown out Commission plans to lift a ban on imports of chicken treated with chemicals, reviving trade tensions between the EU and the US ahead of a major summit next week.
A vote in the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health (SCoFCAH) on 2 June saw 26 national experts reject the proposal to allow the use of four currently banned anti-microbal substances for the decontamination of poultry carcasses.
Only the UK abstained from voting. The others were not convinced by the Commission's arguments that the chemicals have been cleared by the European Food Safety Agency; that the carcasses would be rinsed with potable water after treatment, thereby removing any possible residues on the final product; or that consumers would be fully informed via clear labeling.
The vote comes as a blow to EU Enterprise Commissioner G�nter Verheugen, who last month promised his American counterparts that he would find an agreement in favor of lifting the 11-year ban on US poultry, which is generally treated with these processes, before an EU-US Summit on 10 June.
The issue is seen as a major test case for the new "Transatlantic Economic Council" (TEC) process, which aims to remove remaining regulatory obstacles hampering trade and investment between the two economic giants.
According to the American co-chair of the TEC, Daniel Price, failure to resolve this issue, which is the top priority for the US administration, would put into question the very purpose of the TEC.
But members of the European Parliament welcomed the decision. "Member states made this decision in tune with the opinion of European consumers, who don't want to bow to American commercial pressure and sacrifice their food production standards and rules," said Monica Frassoni, co-president of the Greens/EFA Group.
The dossier will now be handed over to European agriculture ministers, who are expected to confirm their experts' position within the next three months.
Return to Animal Rights Articles
The calf photo on these pages is from Farm Sanctuary with our thanks.We welcome your comments:
Fair Use Notice: This document may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
All Creatures Animal Rights Article: justice, peace, love, compassion, ethics, organizations, Bible, God, Lord, Jesus, Christ, Holy Spirit, grass roots, animals, cruelty free, lifestyle, hunting, fishing, traping, farm, farming, factory, fur, meat, slaughter, cattle, beef, pork, chicken, poultry, hens, battery, debeaking. Thee is also a similarity to the human aspects of prolife, pro life, pro-life, abortion, capital punishment, and war.
| Home Page | Animal Issues | Archive | Art and Photos | Articles | Bible | Books | Church and Religion | Discussions | Health | Humor | Letters | Links | Nature Studies | Poetry and Stories | Quotations | Recipes | What's New? |
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org.
Since
