EU Threatens Regulation to Assuage Dioxin Fears

The European Commission (EC) has reportedly threatened to regulate the
animal feed industry after dioxin-tainted eggs from Germany triggered
a widespread investigation involving poultry and pork farms across the
region. EC spokesperson Frederic Vincent apparently told reporters that a
meeting with industry leaders produced “no concrete proposals” to prevent
new contamination, although participants have been given one month to
suggest voluntary measures in lieu of legislation. “There will not be European
compensation because it is not up to the European Union to fix the damage,”
Vincent said.

Meanwhile, German MEP Peter Liese has called for “the dioxin crisis . . . to be
resolved on a European level,” possibly through use of a monitoring system,
as well as European Union (EU) compensation for farmers caught up in food
scandals. “Although EU directives regulate in principle we need better controls
throughout the EU. There is a lot of trade within the EU and imports are to a
large extent already processed products,” Liese was quoted as saying. “That
means that even labeling of eggs would in practice not be very helpful.
Unilateral restrictions would disturb the common market and would not bring
a lot of advancement for consumer protection.”

According to media sources, the latest round of testing has forced additional
farm closures and livestock culls, including hundred of pigs in Lower Saxony.
German officials have apparently traced the dioxin to an additive manufactured
by Uetersen-based Harles & Jentzsch GmbH, which distributed its
product to 25 feed producers and now faces allegations that it did not alert
authorities to the contamination for months. The event has since raised
questions about allowing companies to handle recycled fats destined for both
feed and industrial markets, as was the case in the German incident. See AFP,
Star-Tribune and Time, January 10, 2011; The Parliament, January 12, 2011.

Harles & Jentzsch “is a prime example of what happens when producers are
held to lax standards,” opines a January 10, 2011, Spiegel editorial on “the
criminal machinations” of feed suppliers. “[Harles & Jentzsch] inspected its
fatty acids three times last year. In each of these self-inspections, dioxins levels
were found to be substantial[sic] higher than the allowable maximum of 0.75
nanograms per kilo… But in none of these cases did the company inform the
authorities, nor did it ever notify customers or recall its products.”