February 13, 2013

 

EU to meet on horse meat scandal

 

 

Ireland, as the holder of the EU presidency, has called for a meeting of ministers from European countries affected by the horse meat scandal.

 

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney wants the Brussels meeting to discuss "whatever steps may be necessary at EU level to comprehensively address this matter".

 

EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg and ministers from EU countries affected by the horse meat scandal will attend. The issue will also be on the agenda of the next formal meeting of EU agriculture ministers on February 25th.

 

Concern grew last week when the British unit of frozen foods group Findus began recalling its beef lasagne on advice from its French supplier, Comigel, after tests showed concentrations of horse meat in a range from 60-100%. Comigel said the questionable meat came from Romania.

 

Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, said yesterday it had found horse DNA exceeding 60% in some of its own-brand frozen spaghetti bolognese meals withdrawn from stores last week.

 

In Britain, farm minister Owen Paterson has said he suspects an "international criminal conspiracy" lies behind the affair. The French and British governments have vowed to punish those found responsible.

 

Adding to concerns are indications that some horse meat, perfectly edible in itself, may contain a drug known as bute - a common, anti-inflammatory painkiller for sporting horses but banned for animals intended for human consumption. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, has said it regards the horse meat scandal as a labelling issue rather than a health concern.

 

Romania's prime minister said Monday (Feb 11) any fraud over horse meat sold as beef had not happened in his country and he was angered by suggestions it might have been.

 

"From all the data we have at the moment, there is no breach of European rules committed by companies from Romania or on Romanian territory," Victor Ponta told a news conference. "I am very angry, to be honest."

 

An initial French investigation revealed that the horse meat ended up in Comigel's Luxembourg factory, supplied by a French firm, and that a Dutch and Cypriot trader had also been involved. However, the meat originally came from a Romanian abattoir.

 

At the planned EU meeting, France wants to raise the question of origin labelling for meat in processed products, French farm minister Stephane Le Foll said. French government inspectors are currently going through the sales records of Comigel to see if any products liable to contain mislabelled horsemeat are still on the market despite the withdrawal of products by six retail chains. Fianna Fail TD Thomas Byrne said there needed to be a pan-European response to the crisis either through the police or Departments of Agriculture.

 

Michale Silke of the Irish Farmers' Association today called for structures to be put in place that puts the same onus of traceability on meat processors and the retailers as on farmers. "Irish farmers are very angry over this whole business," Silke said.