| Home | Committees | Membership | Publications | Legislation | Chronology | Commission | Tour | Search |
COMMITTEE FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT Interim Report on Report: 01/02R (Continued)
DEPARTMENTAL COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION Summary of the assessment of the communications processes by DARD There were criticisms of the communications processes in the review by PwC which states that: ‘It would appear that during the crisis, DARD’s ability to keep not only the public and stakeholders involved, but also its own staff, was limited by the failure of DARD to have adequately planned and provided for the channels of communication which would be necessary during such an outbreak’ (5.52 of PwC report). Specifically these included: n Insufficiently detailed or accurate maps being provided to DARD field staff n Up-to-date databases of farmers and details of their holdings were not available. The report points out this is seen as a prerequisite to commencing culling procedure. n Staff at the Local Epizootic Disease Control Centre (LEDCC) were sometimes not informed of changes in policy or made aware of updates on developments until Press Releases were issued or were informed by farmers making enquiries. n DARD portal staff were also sometime informed of developments by television or the press. n Information updates on the website took up to four days when the aim was to do this within 1 to 2 hours of policy change. n Ad hoc nature of press conferences meant that events were reported as they happened and not all media outlets could attend. During the course of the outbreak the Department hosted 32 press conferences, officials gave 490 interviews, and 140 press releases were issued. The majority of the press releases (99) were issued between March and May 2002. The Press Office is applauded in the review for maintaining a good working relationship with the media, and the Chief Veterinary Officer and the Minister have been acknowledged for their personal leadership and communication skills throughout the outbreak.
[i] The Committee will, for the purposes of this Inquiry, define agri-business as businesses concerned with agricultural produce and services, together with rural tourism accommodation and activity products
[ii] The advice has also been sent to sheep and goat farmers who produce milk. The postal dispute may delay the distribution of this information. Full copies are available from www.foodstandards.gov.uk.
[iii] Cumbria, Devon, Northumberland.
[iv] Pharo, HJ (2002).Foot and Mouth disease: an assessment of risks facing New Zealand. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 50(2), 46-55.
[v] The Future of the European Meat Industry, 27th-28th September 2001
[vi] European Commission. Directorate-General for Agriculture. Prospects for Agricultural Markets 2001-2008. July 2001.
[vii]
Reuters (Health) German Mad cow scare leads to halt in burger sales
[viii] Morgan, Nancy (2001). Repercussions of BSE on International Meat Trade. Global Market Analysis. Commodities and Trade Division. Food and Agriculture Organisation.
[xii] The Olsson Report on BSE.
[xiv] Referred to as Specified Risk Material and includes (in cattle in the UK): the entire head excluding the tongue, including the brains, eyes, trigeminal ganglia and tonsils; the thymus; the spleen and spinal cord of animals aged over six months; and the vertebral column, including dorsal root ganglia, of animals aged over thirty months.
[xv] European Community of Consumer Co-operatives whose members are the national organisations of consumer co-operatives in 11 of the 15 Member States of the EU and in 4 Central and Eastern European countries. Membership of these organisations accounts for approximately 21 million consumers.
[xvi] Steve Murrells, Tesco Stores Ltd. Retailers catering to the consumer. Future of the European Meat Industry, Brussels 27th/28th September.
[xvii] FT.Com. Japan’s Snow Brand to close operations. 22/02/02
[xx] Hormones in Bovine Meat http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/health_consumer/library/press/press57_en.pdf
[xxi] EU Press Release. EU Standing Veterinary Committee agrees on suspension of imports of products of animal origin from China, 28/01/2002.
[xxvi] DARD. Vision for the future of the agri-food industry.
[xxvii] Minister Brid Rogers. Foreword: DARD Business Strategy Document-2002.
[xxviii] Fostering Consumer Protection Worldwide. 1985 The United Nations General Assembly Guidelines for Consumer Protection.
[xxix] Preface to Understanding the Codex Alimentarius. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations/World Health Organisation
[xxx] European Commission Press Release IP/01/1424. Commission approves 155m euro to fight animal diseases. Brussels 16 October 2001.
[xxxi] Commission of the European Communities. White Paper on Food Safety. Brussels 12th January 2000.
[xxxii] Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General. Fishcler and Byrne launch broad debate on food quality, safety and production. Brussels, 5th March 2001.
[xxxiii] The Commission adopted an amended proposal on 7th August 2001.
[xxxiv] Official Journal of the European Communities L31/1 Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28th January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority an laying down procedures in matters of food safety.
[xxxv] The European Food Authority – Its tasks (http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/food/fs/efa/index_en.html)
[xxxvi] "Food Safety First set of farm-to-table food safety measures take effect. European Commission Press Release, Brussels 21st February 2002.
[xxxvii] Fischler and Byrne Final Round Table on Agriculture and Food. European Commission Press Release IP/02/700 ON 13/05/02.
[xxxviii] Dr. Franz FISCHLER Member of the European Commission responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries. Quality matters: A new focus for agricultural policy CIAA - European Food Summit 2002 Brussels, 12 April 2002
[xxxix] Animal welfare: Commission supports research into better conditions for animal breeding and better food quality. Eurpoean Commission Press Release DN: IP/02/612 Date: 24/04/2002
[xl]
Consumers being misled by low standards of the National Farmers Union’s
‘red tractor’ quality mark By Joanna Blythman.
[xli] European Commission: Health and Consumer Protection Directorate- General. The welfare of animals during transport (details of horses, pigs, sheep and cattle). Report of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare. Adopted 11 March 2002.
[xlii]
AGRANET. Irish fears over
live cattle trade. Friday
June 14th 2002. See
[xliii] First Open Meeting of Food Safety Consultative Council. Consumers and Industry Attitudes to Food Safety Revealed. Press Release, July 1st 2002.
[xlviii] UK experience spur to better FMD preparedness. Biosecurity Issue 35, May 1st 2002.
[lii] http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200001/cmhansrd/vo010508/text/10508w34.htm
[liii] McKenzie, J.S., Morris, R.S., Tutty, C.J., Pfeiffer, D.U. EpiMAN-TB, a Decision Support System using Spatial Information for the Management of Tuberculosis in Cattle and Deer in New Zealand
[lvii] Donaldson, A.I (1983). Quantitative data on airborne FMD virus: its production, carriage and deposition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London (Series B), 302:529-33.
[lviii] Donaldson, A.I (1987). Foot and Mouth Disease: the Principal Features. Irish Veterinary Journal, 41: 325-327.
[lix] The Animal Health Safeguarding Review. Results and Recommendations October 2001.
[lx] Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Food and Mouth Strategy: Chapter 2
[lxi] Essentially this is any inanimate object that can carry disease-causing organisms
[lxii] See 2.10 of the review report.
[lxiii] Obtained form DARD 2/09/02
[lxiv] Obtained from the PwC review
[lxv] Personal imports of animal products from Great Britain, the Channel Islands, other Member States and Third Countries, including advice to football fans travelling to the World Cup. Press Release 173/02 June 7 2002 External Link Disclaimer: The Northern Ireland Assembly does not exercise any editorial control over the websites listed above and therefore cannot be held responsible for the information, products or services contained therein. |