SPEECH/11/24
John DALLI
Member of the European Commission, responsible for Health and
Consumer Policy
Dioxin incident: what new measures
could we envisage?
European Parliament Plenary Session
Strasbourg, 17 January 2011, 17:30
Honourable Members of the European Parliament,
As you are well aware, the new year started with a serious incident of dioxin
contamination of animal feed in Germany.
The Commission services have been monitoring developments closely and in full
co-operation with the competent German authorities. I have already started
reflecting on possible measures, which will ensure that our high-level Food and
Feed Safety system will become even more efficient.
But let me start with the facts of the incident first:
The incident came to light when a compound feed manufacturer notified the
German competent authorities on 22 December 2010, after having received the
analytical result from a laboratory that a sample was found to be non-compliant with
EU-legislation after a self control test.
Between Middle of November and Middle of December of last year, a biodiesel
manufacturer delivered seven consignments of fatty acids intended for technical
purposes to a feed fat manufacturer who also produces fats for technical use. This
latter company was at the same time a registered feed fat manufacturer.
Apparently blending of feed grade fat and technical fat took place.
Four of these consignments, delivered in the second half of November, were later
found to be contaminated with dioxins. The other three, delivered to feed mills in
the first half of December 2010, were not contaminated. However, until this was
verified and for purely precautionary reasons, all consignments were regarded, and
treated as, potentially contaminated. A total of almost 2300 tons of potentially
contaminated feed fat was delivered to 25 feed manufacturers in Germany. No
deliveries of feed fat were made outside Germany.
Between 100,000 and 200,000 tons of feed, containing 2 to 10 % of the potentially
contaminated fat, were delivered to about 4800 farms in Germany. As a strictly
precautionary measure, all farms were blocked - their commercial activity
suspended. They were laying hen, fattening poultry, goose, pig, dairy cattle, bovine
and rabbit farms. Some deliveries of potentially contaminated feed for breeding
hens were also made to France and Denmark.
No food of animal origin from the blocked farms can be placed on the market until
the farms are unblocked. This can only happen after it is ensured, through
analytical results and investigations, that the farms are not contaminated at levels
above those provided by EU law. Currently, about 940 farms – mostly poultry and
pig establishments – remain blocked.
It appears that no contaminated food was traded or exported from Germany since
the incident was notified, with a few exceptions. In the end, analytical results
showed that the products were compliant with EU legislation. This is an example of
the effectiveness of the EU's traceability systems put in place. And we will continue
to be vigilant in this respect.
The fortunate element of this incident is that the observed levels of dioxins in food,
where EU limits were exceeded, have not been very high. Therefore, no immediate
health risk for the consumer is expected as a result of the consumption of
contaminated products during a short period of time.
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What has the Commission done to help manage the incident?
My services have been in constant contact with the German authorities and
immediately disseminated all information to Member States through the Rapid Alert
System for Food and Feed (RASFF). They have also been in touch with the
competent authorities in third countries providing a clear picture of the incident to
our trade partners.
Moreover, Commission officials met with stakeholders in the fats and oils industry to
explore ways of further strengthening the monitoring of dioxin in feed.
I personally contacted the German Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and
Consumer Protection, Mrs. Aigner, on the 6th of January and we exchanged views
on what needs to be done to avoid similar contamination incidents in the future.
Today I again contacted the German Federal Minister, Mrs. AIGNER, as I am
concerned by the recent news from last weekend, that a feed manufacturer did not
provide a full list of farms which have received potentially contaminated feed and
provided incorrect information as regards the use of contaminated feed fat in
compound feed, resulting in an additional blocking of several hundreds of farms.
This concerns a very serious infringement of EU food safety provisions.
Let me say it clearly: the German authorities are fully engaged in dealing with this
contamination and doing their best to deal with it urgently and decisively. I am
informed that they are making available additional capacity for testing so that this
could be finished in the shortest possible time. However, it is important that the
wider implications for the approach towards the safety of animal feed at the EU level
are also urgently addressed. For this reason a team from the Food and Veterinary
Office will visit Germany next week to assist the German authorities and to inform
our overall knowledge and understanding of how this contamination happened and
how it can be best avoided in the future. The German authorities are informed and
agreed to it and I know we can count on the full cooperation of our German
colleagues.
As additional information to you, Honourable Members of Parliament, we will
discuss this incident also during the Agriculture Council, which will take place in
Brussels next Monday, 24 January.
As I have already mentioned we are reflecting on measures, including legislative
ones!
This incident has highlighted the necessity to ensure the effectiveness of national
control systems which underpin the confidence of all EU Member states and third
countries in our Food and Feed safety measures.
In order to address these issues,
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I am exploring the possibility to establish a strict segregation of the production of
fats and oils intended for feed and food purposes from the production of fats
and oils for technical uses, and
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I am considering the possibility of legal requirements on reinforced controls on
dioxins at different stages of the feed chain.
I am confident that these measures, when endorsed and adopted, will bring the
necessary improvements to our already solid Food and Feed Safety system.
Thank you for your attention.
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