Animal nutrition: official inspections, undesirable substances and products

The Commission can accept all the Council's amendments for the following reasons: - they merely concern the updating of a definition in another relevant animal nutrition directive; - they help clarify the definition of product; - on the contingency plans, the Council's reformulation respects the spirit of the Commission proposal, although it dispenses with the blind simulation requirement; - on checks at destination: this ensures better implementation of all necessary controls; - on the safeguard clause: this allows the Commission to adopt rapid interim protective measures in an emergency. The common position also addresses the Parliament's concern to restrict the possible use of dangerous products and its request for immediate notification; - on the information system: the Council's reformation also provides for official import inspection and control data and so expands the framework; - on inspection: the Commission proposal concerning interim reports and the alteration of the current legal form is not a fundamental control policy issue. The common position of the Council takes no account of Parliamentary amendments, which could be regarded, as linguistic amendments and which have been accepted by the Commission. Whilst the Commission would have welcomed the Council's acceptance of the Parliamentary amendments which it had itself endorsed, it believes that the main objectives of the proposal, particularly the provisions concerning contingency plans, the emergency safeguard clause and the rapid alert system, have been respected and improved. Lastly, the Commission accepts the unanimous common position of the Council because it respects both the spirit of the intial proposal and some of the essential amendments adopted by the European Parliament on first reading. �