Plans for a new European food authority and a programme of EU food law reforms in the interests of better food safety, have received a strong endorsement from consumer and environmental interests.
The body which represents consumer groups throughout the EU and the Green group in the European Parliament welcomed the package unveiled by the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne, after yesterday's European Commission meeting.
The food industry may have been looking for a body that would put an end to arguments about particular foods by providing blanket approvals of safety, but such an authority was never going to happen and such declarations were not possible, said Mr Jim Murray, secretary general of BEUC, a European federation which represents consumer groups.
"Nobody is going to make the French eat British beef this week."
The reality was that consumers would trust their national food safety agencies most, but if there was co-operation between these and the European food authority, it could forestall a lot of problems, if not defuse disputes.
If there had been more information in circulation in the past about BSE, for example, "the situation might have been different".
The new authority would be geared to providing such information. BEUC agreed with the restructuring of EU food safety legislation and accepted the authority could not be more powerful than the Commission.
Mr Murray welcomed proposals to strengthen the role of the EU Food and Veterinary Office in Dublin, which checks the effectiveness of member-state food safety controls.
When food safety crises arose there was a need for it to be able to deploy its inspection powers more promptly, he said.
Frontline responsibility for food safety had to reside with memberstates and food producers, and when problems arose at national level "an inspector from Brussels" was not necessarily the best way of dealing with them.
The Green MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said securing an adequate budget for the authority was crucial to ensuring new measures were more than window dressing "and not used to lull the public into a false sense of security".
She agreed with a balanced distribution of responsibilities between the authority and the Commission, but said the division could cause "decision-making delays" which could jeopardise public health.
It was appropriate that the new authority, "though being independent in action, will stay under the political control of the Commission", said Green MEP Mr Alexander de Roo, vice-president of the parliament's environment committee.
This committee will be responsible for vetting the 84 food safety reforms envisaged, and have a major bearing on the parliament's response to the proposed structure for the authority.
EU farmer leaders are due to meet Mr Byrne tomorrow, when the implications for farmers have become clearer.
