Netherlands Probes Animal Feed Threats
Date: 03-Feb-05
Country: NETHERLANDS
Author: Anna Mudeva
Minister Piet Hein Donner sent a letter to parliament which demanded an explanation after a Dutch animal rights group published a confidential government report, showing the use of dangerous substances in animal feed.
Donner said the report on the Wakker Dier group website was a draft and the start of a series of analysis and investigation into what he called a "heavy, grey environmental crime in the Netherlands".
He said the report was based on a broad police investigation following a 2002 food scandal, when banned hormones were discovered in pig feed.
"The report studies the nature, seriousness and scope of a heavy environmental crime from 2001 to 2003," Donner said.
The report should not be made public so as not to hinder further investigation and possible criminal prosecution, he said.
The Netherlands -- one of the world's biggest meat exporters -- has been hit by several feed scandals in the past few years, including the 2002 pig-feed hormone scare and last November's case of cancer-causing dioxin in feed.
Donner said authorities carried out two probes into chemicals in animal feed last year, which unearthed information that could allow another investigation this year.
Police are also checking several other cases of banned substances mixed with feed, he said, adding that authorities would provide more details in the first half of this year.
The Dutch government has repeatedly tightened hygiene measures for animal feed and approved a new law, enabling a fast tracking system and allowing it to seal off affected farms and block the sale of contaminated products.
But animal welfare and consumer groups say the government efforts were not enough to fully prevent new cases of contaminated feed.
Donner argued that the measures worked well and cited this week's seizure of some 3,700 tonnes of feed, destined for use on Dutch farms and for export to Britain, over suspicions it contained cancer-causing dioxin.
Food authorities said earlier on Wednesday they had blocked the contaminated shipment before it reached dairy farms.