Council Meeting Press Release, 24 January 2011
The following is taken from the minutes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting held in Brussels, 24 January 2011
The German delegation briefed the Council about the present situation in Germany following the dioxin contamination of animal feed affecting the egg, poultry and pig sectors (5512/11). Precautionary measures have been implemented for suspected farms (eggs, poultry and pig production) which were blocked until analytical results proved that there was no contamination by dioxin. Several measures were decided by the German government in order to avoid that such contamination would occur again in the food chain.
The Commission noted that the current food safety framework allowed prompt information and reaction: only adjustments are needed. An harmonised reaction from the EU is favoured when discussing with third countries ready to take potential restrictive measures against pig meat from Germany or other member states. The Commission will propose four specific actions: a better registration of the establishments treating fats animal feed, an improved separation between areas treating fat for animal feed and other fats, a stronger monitoring and an obligation or report from the private laboratories performing dioxin analyses. Most of the member states supported the measures proposed.