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EU STILL IMPORTING 75% OF CHICKEN PRODUCTS FROM THAILAND
Wednesday 11th February 2004
David Byrne, the European Health Commissioner, has underlined the ban on the import of Thai chicken into the EU in a statement made today to the European Parliament. He argued that the Commission had taken adequate measures to ensure protection against the possible spread of the disease into the EU. However, this ban only applies to fresh poultry products - 75% of our chicken imports from Thailand are of cooked and canned meat.
In a meeting with Conservative MEPs, Commissioner Byrne admitted that the Thai authorities had covered up the existence of the virus for weeks and had been "less than transparent" in their dealings. Timothy Kirkhope, Conservative MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
"British consumers are having the wool pulled over their eyes. It is misleading to claim that the EU has banned the importation of all Thai chicken products when cooked and canned chicken meat is still being imported.
The Commission assures us that these products are safe because they are heat-treated, but given Thailand's deceit in denying the outbreak for so long, confirmed today by Mr Byrne, how can we trust these products? British consumers and British farmers have every right to be sceptical.
The system we have in place for country-of-origin labelling is simply not good enough. Manufacturers of composite products containing chicken are not required to indicate where the meat has come from. A consumer may think he is eating a chicken pie made in the EU, but in reality the chicken could have come from Thailand."
Conservative MEPs are seeking authorisation in the European Parliament to hold a full-scale public hearing on avian flu and the risks to human and animal health."
