The German delegation, supported by the French delegation, drew the attention of the Council and the Commission to the need to re-examine as soon as possible the criteria used in the EU to assess the effectiveness of the systems of residue checks applied by third countries, in the light of the alarming increase in cases of imported foodstuffs, from the Far East in particular, containing residues harmful to health.
It emphasised the difficulties in ensuring third-country compliance with guarantees regarding checks and wanted an alignment of standards for Community products and imported products.
Commissioner Byrne reported, concerning the cases mentioned by the German delegation in its statement (imports into the Community of foodstuffs from China, Vietnam and Indonesia containing residue traces), that a list of third countries that complied with guarantees regarding checks had been updated since 1999 by the Commission. He noted that Community checks on residues had three components, namely: