Commission Midday Express, 1 September 2004
The European Commission has adopted a decision lifting the remaining 20% testing requirement on poultry meat from Brazil. Since October 2002, all consignments of poultry meat and poultry meat products from Brazil had to be tested for the presence of residues of nitrofurane, since this substance had been detected in imported products from this country (see IP/02/1351). On the basis of the guarantees offered by the Brazilian authorities, the results of the tests carried out by the Member States and the results of a mission of the Food and Veterinary Office, the requirement to test all consignments was reduced from 100% to 20% on 2 March 2004. No further notifications of nitrofurans in poultry from Brazil have been received through the EU rapid alert system since this reduction of testing. Therefore, the Commission considers that no further specific measures are necessary for imports of Brazilian poultry meat and adopted, with the agreement of the Member States through the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, the decision to return to normal routine testing.