Philip Tod Quotes (19 Quotes)

The European Commission has so far received no information which suggests the UK authorities have breached the requirements. The UK authorities are still investigating the circumstances in this case and the Commission will wait for the outcome of that investigation to properly assess the situation.

The samples are now expected to arrive at the Community Reference Laboratory late on Friday and so results can only be expected by Saturday afternoon, not before.

The key to this problem is early detection and rapid action.

There was an extensive discussion on the possibility of the disease spreading into the EU via migratory birds that might pose a risk of spreading the virus. The group concluded that the immediate risk is probably remote or low.

The establishment of these risk areas will help to define a disaster-free part of the country, which is obviously good for trade purposes.

There will be a discussion on international coordination.

We don't have avian influenza in commercial poultry in the European Union and we consider that poultry meat and eggs, especially when properly cooked, pose no risk to human health.

Veterinary controls on the farm and at slaughter, and the flow of information from stable to table, protect EU consumers against any potential risk.

That aid is yet to be agreed by the ACP countries. We certainly expect Nigeria to benefit from part of these funds, to help them in their fight of this disease.

There are disadvantages if vaccination is not done in a controlled way. Animals that are inadequately vaccinated may contract the virus anyway and continue to spread it.

Some member states don't share the view that it is necessary at the moment to adopt this measure at the European level.

We are concerned enough that we have instituted this ban to avoid risking importing the disease into the EU from an infected country. But we are not able to say what type of virus we are talking about - or how pathogenic it is.

The Finnish chief veterinary officer said this is not the H5N1 virus. This is a mild, low-pathogenic strain of avian influenza that is commonly found in wild birds.

The Commission has been informed by the European Union reference laboratory ... that the virus isolated in wild birds in Croatia is indeed the H5N1 virus.

The main conclusion of the report is that there appears to be no justification at this time for EU-wide legislation.

A number of samples have to be taken from both wild and domestic birds in each member state, and the type of tests that will be done.

Coexistence measures are designed to ensure that GM crops can be grown alongside non-GM crops without negative economic consequences caused by accidental mixing of the two.

We hope this will rally member states around the authorization process. We want practical improvements in the system.

The aim of these national surveillance programs is to provide early detection of cases of avian influenza, particularly in wild birds and poultry in the European Union.