92001E0550

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0550/01

by Dirk Sterckx (ELDR) to the Commission

(19 February 2001)

Subject: Impounding of Belgian ham in Portugal in the wake of the dioxin crisis

In 1999, the Portuguese authorities impounded a number of deliveries of ham from a Flemish company which bore a date which gave grounds for suspecting that they might be contaminated with dioxin. Similar products held in stock from the same period were tested and analysed for dioxin contamination. Unlike the authorities in other countries, the Portuguese authorities have never adopted the method of testing samples. In the interim, the goods have been declared unfit for human consumption and actually had to be destroyed. The company involved is not eligible for the aid made available in Belgium for the destruction of products from the suspect period because the final date for applications for such aid has passed.

Is the Commission aware of the attitude of the Portuguese authorities to the Belgian method of testing and analysing samples? Is it acceptable that, because of the attitude of the Portuguese authorities, the products have now been declared unfit for human consumption and the company involved can no longer destroy them and claim the aid made available in Belgium for the destruction of products from the suspect period? How many complaints has the Commission received to date about measures taken by Member States against Belgian products in the wake of the dioxin crisis?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(2 March 2001)

The Commission is collecting the information it needs to answer the question. It will communicate its findings as soon as possible.