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For 1998, the Commission's work programme defines 5 priorities: Employment, Euro, Agenda 2000, The Union in the world, and, last but not least, enforced efforts for health and living quality of the citizens, in particular in relation to food safety. I will ensure that the implementation will focus on:
Already in Spring this year and following the well known events connected with BSE, the Commission decided to place consumer health and food safety at the centre of a new political initiative. Since then the Commission has initiated a series of actions to reinforce the protection of consumer health with special emphasis on food safety. These actions have all been developed in close collaboration with the European Parliament and I am personally very happy with the constructive engagement of the Temporary Committee of the European Parliament on the follow-up to the recommendations on BSE:
NEW APPROACH ON CONSUMER HEALTH
The first step the Commission took was to adopt a Communication on Consumer Health and Food Safety, at the same time as it published the Green Book on food legislation. This Communication defines a new approach built on three elements and whose fundamental underlying principle is the commitment to full transparency:
I will up-date you on the most recent progress we have made in relation to the implementation of the actions outlined in this Communication.
Firstly, the establishment of the new Scientific Committees, based on excellence, independence and transparency, has been achieved. This month, they will come into operation . The members of the specific committees have been selected under the guidance of the 8 members of the Scientific Steering Committee. The procedure for selecting the members was conducted in such a way as to obtain the most qualified scientists in the most transparent manner: A call for expression of interest was made widely known, including through the Internet. More than one thousand scientists expressed their interest, demonstrating the commitment of the scientific community to assist the Commission in protecting the consumer, for which I personally am very grateful.
All the scientific committees are geared towards protection of consumer health and deal with its various aspects, notably food safety, but also the environment and other elements. They will be consulted on any matters relating to consumer health in the framework of a compulsory consultation provided by some EU rules and on a voluntary basis where the current legal texts do not yet provide for compulsory consultation. However, my wish is that when legislation is modified, scientific advice should be built into the system. This is crucial to ensure that consumers can trust the EU does everything it can, and everything in its power, to protect their health.
The second element of the new approach reinforces a crucial dimension: legislative proposals or adoption of measures by the Commission will be based on a transparent risk analysis, which integrates risk assessment, risk management and risk communication. A risk analysis unit has been set up in DG XXIV. Its role is to identify the alternatives for risk management in relation to the desired level of protection and to act as the interface between the scientific community and society. In cases where the scientific basis is lacking, or uncertainty exists, the precautionary principle will guide the Commission in the decision-making process.
Risk assessment is not only necessary for risk management; it has become the basis on which we must justify our safety measures in international fora such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The panel on hormones in beef is a good example, where we are defending our decision to ban hormones on the basis of a sound risk assessment.
The third element of the new approach deals with the reform of inspections and control. It is obvious that the prime responsibility for implementation of food legislation rests with the Member States. However, the Commission has the important task of monitoring how the Member States undertake these responsibilities. In the future, this will rely more and more on auditing of national inspection services. Priorities will be based on a risk assessment to ensure that the areas most in need of control will be selected first for the Commission's mission programme. Prioritising in this way is indispensable as the human resources remain limited, despite the recent decision by the European Parliament and the Council to give 35 new posts, mainly for inspectors, for the Food and Veterinary Office.
Also, controls will progressively bear more and more on the whole food production chain, rather than being restricted to specific intermediary sectors. This is in line with our philosophy "from stable to table". I would like to stress that this is a significant new orientation, which will guide my services in the coming years.
I will also ensure that inspection activities become as transparent as possible. We should not forget, however, that certain elements must be approached with the necessary precautions in respect of the confidentiality of certain findings.
Finally I insist that the Food and Veterinary Office and the Risk Analysis Unit should play an important forward looking role to prevent outbreaks of food-borne diseases and that it may be necessary to associate food control laboratories in these activities.
COMMITMENT TO FULL TRANSPARENCY
Beyond all these changes there is one fundamental principle of the new approach that I consider crucial both in terms of underpinning our policy and in terms of its impact: transparency.
The Commission is committed to keep the public informed about all aspects of the process of decision-making which involves this vital issue of the production of safe food. Our new approach was conducted in close co-operation with the European Parliament, and the Council which have received regular reports on the implementation of the recommendations on BSE drawn up by the Parliament last February. I will continue to inform the EP twice a year about progress on food safety and consumer health, in particular in respect of the undertakings given, and my services will continue to work closely with the MEPs. There has been transparency in the selection of the members of the Scientific Committees. There is transparency in their advice to the Commission, and there is transparency in the results of inspections. The European Commission is conscious that only full transparency can help to win the confidence and trust of the public in its policies. We know also that an informed consumer is a better consumer. Besides, I believe it is crucial that consumers have obtained through the Treaty of Amsterdam a right to information and education in order to safeguard their interests.
A major step to translate the principle of transparency into concrete reality is constituted by the operation of DGXXIV's Internet site. With a few mouse clicks you can now access the mandates of the scientific committees, their composition, their agendas and the outcome of their discussions. Furthermore results of public debates, the results of inspection activities and the statistical elaboration of the co-ordinated food control programs of the past years are also made available.
The impact of transparency at the EU-level will, I hope, also stimulate public authorities, producers, transporters, retailers and all those who are involved in the food chain to promote their own consumer-awareness.
In fact the pressure from public opinion and interested bodies has often appeared to be the strongest driving force to guarantee that all necessary measures to protect public health are effectively taken.
CO-OPERATION INSIDE THE COMMISSION
A number of people - and I am sure also some of you here - are concerned about the future co-operation of the different services of the Commission, following the decision to separate scientific advice and control on the one hand from legislation on the other. An efficient and smooth co-ordination between my services and the services of other Directorates-General responsible for legislation is necessary to protect public health. I can assure you that this co-ordination has a high priority for myself and all colleagues concerned. Let me give you a few recent examples. We have been able to react rapidly on microbiological contamination of seafood and on the presence of genotoxic carcinogens in pistachio nuts. The risk analysis performed by my services, which involved also the consultation of the Scientific Committees, has identified the need for legislative measures in order to block imports of seafood and pistachio nuts which were not safe for public health. Such legislative measures were subsequently prepared jointly with the other Commission services responsible for legislation and rapidly adopted by the Commission. The Commission has also instructed several inspection teams to verify on the spot the hygienic conditions of food production and the ability of official control systems to guarantee the necessary hygienic standards in the third countries concerned.
The different Directors Generals have discussed the minutiae of the co-operation between services in-depth and have produced a guide, called Interservice Operations Manual.
The Commission's proposal to include primary agricultural production in the existing legislation on product liability constitutes a further step in the right direction of protecting the consumer interests. I hope that this proposal will be swiftly adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.
Furthermore, I will make every effort to ensure that the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and future proposals on food legislation take increasingly consumer interests and consumer concerns into account.
Community legislation does, however, not yet cover fully all foodstuffs, in particular with regard to imported foodstuffs: indeed, in respect of imports, whilst there is an extensive obligation to control foodstuffs and products of animal origin, the Community has no specific legislation on control of fruit and vegetables imported into the Union. The control of imported fruit and vegetables is limited to aspects related to plant health. Being aware that fruit and vegetables are considered as an important vector for transmission of diseases to human population I will insist that an additional legal basis is created in order to extend protection of consumer health to this area, in light of the coming amendment of Community legislation on hygiene of foodstuffs.
NEW PERSPECTIVES OF THE AMSTERDAM TREATY
Finally, let me briefly comment on the perspectives opened by the Amsterdam Treaty. It is particularly encouraging as regards consumer protection and public health.
The modification of Article 129 on Public Health allows the European Union to adopt legislation in the new areas of health and consumer protection. In addition, the law making process will involve all institutions of the European Union, which means that the Parliament will be fully involved in the decision-making process. This new competence shall be considered in conjunction with the existing competencies for Consumer Protection in Article 129A and on the Internal Market in Article 100A. It constitutes the missing corner stone for a better protection of consumer health.
I welcome in particular that veterinary and phytosanitary matters directly related to public health are included in the field of application of the new Article 129 on public health and will thus be co-decided by Parliament and Council.
I have already mentioned that the consumers have obtained through the new article 129A, the right to information, education and to organise themselves in order to safeguard their health, safety and economic interests. This, together with the obligation to take into account consumer protection requirements in all Community policies, adds a completely new dimension to consumer policy.
Ladies and Gentlemen, this Conference has been the opportunity of pursuing a debate which is of prime interest to Consumers and the Industry alike. It should not be an end, but the starting point of a fruitful co-operation between all actors in this area. The goals are ambitious, but I am confident that all together we will succeed in putting consumer health to the fore.