000122 European Union Proposes Food Safety Agency

Brussels, Belgium - In the wake of food scandals in Belgium, France and Britain, the European Commission on Wednesday proposed the creation of a European food safety agency.

David Byrne, the European Union's health and consumer affairs commissioner, said he wants an EU-wide approach to food safety, but favors limiting the power of the proposed European Food Authority.

Any final decision to pull dubious foods from store shelves must rest, not with scientists, but with politicians “responsible to the people,” Byrne said.

The proposed agency, which would comprise scientists and experts, will be independent and provide advice on food safety. It will assess anything from animal feed content to the safety of genetically modified foods.

The agency would also have a “rapid alert system” to quickly notify the European Union and its 15 member nations “of urgent food safety problems,” Byrne said in a report.

“This is a major initiative designed to promote the health of Europe's consumers by the establishment of world-class food safety standards,” Byrne told a news conference.

Byrne also said the authority would have a “highly visible presence” to show it is serious about restoring consumer confidence in food quality.

Several food safety crises have hurt the perception of food quality in Europe.

In 1986, “mad cow” disease spread fear about the safety of British meat and led to a global ban on British beef exports that has yet to be lifted.

Last year's scandal over dioxin-tainted meat and contaminated cans of Coca Cola products in Belgium and other countries have raised food safety to the top of the political agenda.

Byrne proposed that the food safety agency, which would employ hundreds of scientists and experts, be in place by 2002.

Additionally, Byrne said he would shortly propose 80 food safety measures.

Before the food agency can be created and the other proposals implemented, they must face months, if not years, of comment by farmers, food industry representatives and consumers.

The European Parliament and EU national governments will also have their say.

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