Prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)

The committee adopted the report (codecision procedure, first reading) by Dagmar ROTH-BEHRENDT (PES, D) which welcomed the approach laid down by the Commission in its proposal but adopted a number of amendments designed to secure substantive improvements and extensions to the scope of the regulation and to ensure that Parliament remained involved, under the codecision procedure, in all fundamental decisions on TSE prevention. Against the background of the debate on rapid diagnostic tests for improved detection of TSEs in cattle, the committee wanted to introduce the option of using such tests systematically. Rapid diagnostic tests had been welcomed by Parliament in response to the BSE follow-up report as an effective means of detecting BSE in cattle, and could also be used in determining BSE status. In addition, the report reintroduced Parliament's demand, in the wake of the BSE follow-up report, for entire herds to be removed from the food chain. The committee believed that the "geographical area" concept as presented in the proposal must be clearly defined at Community level and not be left to Member States' discretion. It also said that the proposal should include products excluded from the scope of the regulation as it currently stood, in particular cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other medicinal products. Lastly, the requirement to keep the Commission informed of any suspicion or detection of TSEs should be further strengthened.�