During the plenary session (13 - 16 March 2017) in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on the report by Karin KADENBACH (S&D, AT) concerning the Draft plans to tighten up official food inspections, from farm to fork,. The legislation, already informally agreed by MEPs and the Council, aims to improve food traceability, combat fraud and restore consumer trust in the integrity of the food chain. Statement by Karin KADENBACH (S&D, AT), rapporteur

statement

Strasbourg

food safety (T)

KADENBACH, Karin (S&D, AT)

farm to fork (T)

"Farm to Fork": statement by Karin KADENBACH (S&D, AT), rapporteur

SOUNDBITE (German), Karin KADENBACH (S&amp;D, AT), <p>The European citizens have a right to the highest standards of health, including for animals and plants and therefore we need strict controls in Europe so that people can be sure that what arrives on their plate is conform to those highest standards.</p>

SOUNDBITE (German), Karin KADENBACH (S&amp;D, AT), The goal of this directive is to create a fully chained control system, we called it in English &lsquo;farm to fork&rsquo;, so this means really from the production house, from the agriculture plot or from the animal stable to the commerce towards the consumer, the chain is being followed and therefore we need several steps of control, in the slaughterhouses but also in the commerce.

SOUNDBITE (German), Karin KADENBACH (S&amp;D, AT), What has been very essential to me while working on this directive was to include animal protection and animal wellbeing. It is clear that the slaughter house will end the life of an animal, but there are ways to take into consideration the wellbeing of animals and also the safety of our consumers. That implies that we have the veterinary on spot before and after the slaughter, so the role of the veterinary is now established.

SOUNDBITE (German), Karin KADENBACH (S&amp;D, AT), <p>I&rsquo;m convinced that with the stricter rules and more controls those areas that had been touched by fraud and risks, these areas will be more strictly controlled in the future and that is very positive. Also the aspect of transparency, Member states can now communicate on their results of control activities, publish them on the Internet. And on transparency, what we also demanded was more transparency on the selection of the control authorities.</p>