Following an initiative from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats this week, Parliament's group leaders approved this morning an addition to the agenda next week in Strasbourg to allow for a debate with the European Commission on the state of play regarding the dioxin scare that is affecting animal feed stocks and consumer products in a number of Member States following an incident at a German processing plant at the end of December.

The contamination of vegetable feed fat that occurred on 27th December led to the closure of almost 5000 farms in Germany alone but may have affected Dutch and British markets as well.  Affected farms showed up to four times the maximum acceptable levels of dioxin that is safe for human consumption without posing a risk to the immune system.

The Parliament will be asking the Commission to outline what action it has taken to ensure consumer protection and food safety and clarify the extent to which contaminated products can be traced and identified.

Parliament will also be enquiring into the economic impact of the crisis on internal trade and the export market as well as the potential for compensation to farmers facing losses as a result of the contamination.

A copy of the ALDE oral question is attached.
For more information, please contact:
Corlett Neil - Tel: +32 2 284 20 77 Mob: +32 478 78 22 84
Web: http://www.alde.eu