NETHERLANDS/FRANCE: British minister calls for closer coordination of horsemeat probes
Record ID:
860431
NETHERLANDS/FRANCE: British minister calls for closer coordination of horsemeat probes
- Title: NETHERLANDS/FRANCE: British minister calls for closer coordination of horsemeat probes
- Date: 14th February 2013
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (FEBRUARY 14, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF INTERIOR OF LE PARISIEN NEWSPAPER WITH HEADLINE READING (French): "Embarrassing bills in the lasagne affair."
- Embargoed: 1st March 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Netherlands, France
- City:
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Crime,Business,Health,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA49APGMURHVIY01Q4YVDOKSH8Y
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: On a visit to Europol in The Hague, British Environment Minister Owen Paterson calls for closer cooordination of Europe-wide horsemeat investigations.
Owen Paterson, the British environment secretary, said on Thursday (February 14) that European ministers had agreed to make Europol the "co-ordinating agency" for dealing with the growing scandal surrounding mislabelled horse meat.
"Yesterday, Stephane Le Foll, the French agriculture minister, and I both agreed, we thought this would be the appropriate agency if other member states agreed, and he's quite clear that Europol could be really, really helpful, co-ordinating information and bringing together the various sources of data right across the member states," he said.
Europol is typically the European body which deals with serious cross-border crime and terrorism.
Paterson added that he intended to contact his counterparts across Europe to encourage them to surrender information to a lead investigator who could take responsibility for the inquiry.
He also said that the European judicial cooperation agency Eurojust would play a role in co-ordinating prosecutions.
The horsemeat scandal first broke on January 15 when routine tests by Irish authorities discovered horsemeat in beefburgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain but it has since broadened to involve several European countries.
In France on Thursday, 'Le Parisien' newspaper reported that it had had access to bills which allegedly showed French meat processing firm Spanghero purchasing horse ore from Cypriot trader Draap.
Elsewhere, Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) said six horses slaughtered in the UK that tested positive for the drug phenylbutazone were exported to France and may have entered the human food chain.
Phenylbutazone, commonly known as bute, is an anti-inflammatory painkiller for sporting horses but banned for animals intended for eventual human consumption as it is potentially harmful.
The revelations, affecting a growing number of countries, processors and retailers, have raised uncomfortable questions about the safety of the European food supply chain and prompted governments to send out a European Union-wide alert. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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