EU to 'Name and Shame' Unhygienic Food Firms, Farms
Date: 11-Mar-04
Country: FRANCE
Food safety became a top priority after Europe was struck by problems like foot-and-mouth disease, Britain's BSE or "mad cow" disease and Belgium's 1999 dioxin scandal.
"It would appear that we have finally learned our lesson from the food crises of the past," said European Parliament member Bart Staes after the chamber backed the new rules.
"Improved legislation can deliver better food safety only if its implementation is regularly controlled throughout the food sector," added Staes, a Green from Belgium's Flanders region.
The updated rules will not take effect until January 2006, but will empower veterinary experts in EU states to carry out systematic spot checks on businesses and farmers and take offenders to court, where they will face a fine.
Each member state will compile a public register and list all businesses that break the rules. Imported food and animal feed that do not meet EU standards will be seized and destroyed.
The tussle over the European Commission's proposals for revising food control rules has dragged on for months, focusing mainly on the penalties and how to find money to pay for stricter veterinary controls.
The Commission had wanted EU states to go as far as jailing people found guilty of certain offences, such as knowingly handling material at risk of infection by BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy).
National governments rejected this idea last year, ruling that penalties for the worst infringements should be financial.
