Food safety fears linger over new EU states
Food safety was, and remains, a major concern surrounding the 10 newcomers. EU experts warn that concerns about dodgy sanitary conditions remain and say insufficient regulations are in place to tackle mad cow disease.
Back in November, the European Commission listed failings that included substandard hygiene in slaughterhouses and dairies as well as lax surveillance of veterinary practices.
To a significant degree, the new states responded fairly dramatically to the deficits in this area and started a crack down.
In the Czech Republic, 586 businesses have been closed, with 217 going by the way in Slovakia.
Despite this, the EU commission says 8% of food firms do not meet the EU’s exacting sanitary standards.
The figures only cover industrial-sized firms and do not touch on smaller businesses, which are given more lenient standards. (This was also the case in the old, 15-member EU.) The commission has given firms which do not meet standards a grace period to improve conditions. But these businesses will only be allowed to sell their products nationally and must put a label on their goods indicating this.
It comes as no surprise to learn that the arrival of the new members has aroused suspicion among MEPs. While the commission diplomatically suggests good progress in food safety, some parliamentarians are reported to be under-whelmed.
German MEP Dagmar Roth-Behrendt gave vent to her concerns warning, “the candidate states have not made food security a priority, even though they knew this was expected of them.”
It is not surprising that one of the key targets is Poland. The major agricultural country, once admiringly dubbed the breadbasket of Europe, is one of the biggest culprits when it comes to failure to deliver on the food safety question.
Firms there account for 721 of the 1,006 businesses still on the Commission’s list in mid-April for not meeting safety standards.
These companies are mainly slaughterhouses. Many of do not have refrigerated rooms, increasing the risk of contamination by dangerous bacteria such as salmonella. Dairies too have shown themselves to be problematic, despite strong efforts to improve the sector with a major inflow of foreign investment.
Monitoring of Polish milk from the start of 2004 showed that 18% of firms failed to meet EU demands, Polish veterinary officials confirmed.
Some argue that monitoring has been inadequate in the run up to accession. It has been suggested microbiological analysis was ignored in too many instances due to the cost involved and because to do so would have exposed grains, fruits and vegetables containing too many traces of pesticides.
Ms Roth-Behrendt is also critical of BSE safeguards. “We do not have guarantees that the monitoring for BSE in the Czech Republic and Poland is done as it should be”, she warned.
Daniel Hach, a Commission expert based in Bratislava, added: “Many inspectors work as they did under communism, not paying attention to details. But in this field, details are important.”
As a result of these concerns, the old EU members have reserved the right to put up barriers to protect themselves. One measure would be to ban the sale of potentially dangerous products from either a specific region or a specific state, although this has not yet been deemed necessary.
So far, officials remain positive. “The situation is not perfect but it is good”, said Jaana Huso-Kallio, deputy director of the commission’s consumer protection division.
Those tempted to scoff would do well to remember mad cow and foot-and-mouth disease. These were much closer to home than any of the new members hoping the EU will be as generous to them as it has been to us.
