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1 May 2003
Euro-MPs Demand Compulsory
Foot & Mouth Vaccination
(Filed 1 May 2003)
www.land-care.org.uk
Land-Care is grateful to Janet Bayley
of the National Foot and Mouth Group (NFMG) for the following information.
References have been added by Land-Care.
Euro-MPs on the 29th April 2003 backed the proposal
put forward by Caroline Lucas MEP to force EU States to vaccinate
rather than slaughter healthy livestock in any future outbreak of
Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD).
The decision was taken by members of the European
Parliament's Agriculture Committee (1) considering
European Commission proposals for tough new rules for handling future
FMD outbreaks, following the European Parliament's inquiry into
the 2001 FMD epidemic (2).
The Committee of Inquiry, of which Green MEP Caroline
Lucas was Vice-President, published its final report in December
2002, criticising the Labour Government's mismanagement of the outbreak
and singling out the contiguous cull policy for particular criticism
(2).
Members of the Agriculture Committee voted to
adopt a proposal tabled by Dr Lucas, demanding emergency vaccination
be considered "the first choice in case an outbreak of FMD
is suspected or confirmed".
The committee also rejected Labour proposals to
weaken the Commission proposal by making vaccination simply an option
to consider. It has been apparent to observers that the UK labour
MEPs had been using their position to try and protect their party
from critisicm of their handling of the UK 2001 FMD epidemic, rather
than making a genuine attempt to understand and contribute to the
planning of any future outbreak.
Dr Lucas said the decision was a victory for farmers,
livestock and rural communities.
Speaking in Brussels after the vote, she said:
"More than 11 million healthy animals were needlessly slaughtered
during the 2001 epidemic thanks to the Government's decision to
prioritise protecting the UK's agricultural export market over making
a serious attempt to halt the spread of the disease.
"The European Parliament's inquiry into the
outbreak blamed the contiguous cull policy for bringing financial
ruin to much of rural England and recommended vaccination should
be the first response in any future outbreak. Today's vote takes
us one step closer to ensuring that this happens.
"Of course the welfare and livelihoods of
rural communities should come before the interests of the globalisation
agenda still being promoted by Labour's German Socialist allies."
The proposed directive will now be passed to the
full European Parliament for debate on June 3.
Land-Care Editorial Comment
It is a profound mistake to attempt to control
disease by political expediency, as the Chinese have found to their
cost regarding their handling of SARS (3).
References
1. European Parliament Committee
on Agriculture and Rural Development.
http://www.europarl.eu.int/committees/agri_home.htm
2. Final Report of the European
Parliament Temporary Committee on Foot and Mouth Disease.
(Filed 18 December 2002, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
3. SARS virus: Just look at the
speed of progress.
(Filed 16 April 2003, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
Further Reading Recommended by Land-Care
EU Proposal for a Revised Foot and Mouth Disease Control Directive.
(Filed 1 April 2003, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
Marshall, Mary (2003). Comments on DEFRA’s FMD Contingency
Plan, Version 2.5
(Filed 12 March 2003, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
DEFRA Consultation on FMD Contingency Plan. Response by National
Foot and Mouth Group (NFMG).
(Filed 11 March 2003, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
Irvine, James (2003). Commission proposes improved Directive to
control outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease.
(Filed 11 February 2003, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
Virus Research FMD Special.
(Filed 11 April 2003, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
Irvine, James (2003). Where has UK Biotechnology gone?
(Filed 21 March 2003, www.land-care.org.uk,
click
here to view).
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