Vol. 475 No. 1
269 Mr. J. Walsh asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if EU veterinary officials had expressed any view to him or officials at his Department in relation to the exclusion of specified risk material from animal feed before he made the order on Wednesday, 12 February 1997. [4388/97]
Ireland has consistently supported the exclusion of specified risk material from feeding stuffs having voted in favour of the EU Commission's proposal, which sought an EU wide approach on this issue, at the December 1996 meeting of the Council of Agriculture Ministers. The other countries who supported the proposal were the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg and Sweden. I indicated at that Council that in the event of the Commission proposal being rejected Ireland would introduce unilateral measures on specified risk material. This was done in the Diseases of Animals (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy) (Specified Risk Material) Order, 1997 (S.I. No. 80 of 1997).
Commission services support our position in this regard.
