European Animals May Soon Eat Only Non-Polluting Diet

BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 25, 2002 (ENS) - Animal feed additive manufacturers will have to prove their products do not harm the environment before being allowed market access, the European Commission proposed today.

In a draft regulation now to be considered by European Union governments and the European Parliament, the Commission recommends banning additives from feeds unless producers have "adequately and sufficiently demonstrated" that they present no risk to the environment or to animal and human health.

Each additive would have to fulfil at least one of four conditions of "usefulness." One is that the additive must "favorably affect the environmental consequences of animal production."

British cattle at feeding time (Photo courtesy Freefoto.com)

The law would be retroactive, giving producers seven years to get authorization for products currently on the market. Part of the package is a ban from 2006 on the four remaining antibiotics used as growth promoters.

The requirements are part of what the Commission calls a "major streamlining" of EU animal feed legislation, which has undergone upwards of a hundred amendments in recent years, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne said today. They are separate from EU rules agreed last year limiting certain contaminants in animal feeds.

"We have all learned the prime importance of safe animal feed during the food crises of the recent past," Byrne said, referring to the mad cow disease scare and the dioxin found in Belgian animal feed in 1999. "That is why I have embarked upon this major initiative to simplify and clarify the maze of rules and procedures on feed additives.

"Antibiotics used in feed as growth promoters will be phased out," Byrne said. "Additionally, the European Food Safety Authority will play a major role in the new authorization procedure for feed additives to make sure that no additives remain on the market which could pose a risk to human or animal health."

Though guidelines on the environmental impact of additives exist already, the rules will introduce a mandatory environmental risk assessment for the first time. The requirement represents a significant reversal of the burden of proof.

Commission officials questioned by reporters today could not say how extensive the assessment should be, nor how many additives might be posing a threat to the environment. However, they identified contamination of pig slurry with some additives as a potential risk area.

Alexander Doering of feed manufacturer lobby group Fefac said today the rules would most likely affect the use of trace elements such as copper and zinc, but that their impact would depend on how EFSA interprets them. "We can't see today how this will unfold in the future," he said.

{Published in cooperation with ENDS Environment Daily, Europe's choice for environmental news. Environmental Data Services Ltd, London. Email: envdaily@ends.co.uk}