Byrne's reach as EU commissioner is far wider than BSE crisis

David Byrne is synonymous with BSE, bonemeal, mechanically recovered meat and other gristly gore in the minds of the Irish consumer. But the reach of Ireland's European Union commissioner for consumer affairs is far wider - spanning ecommerce, public health, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, the euro and even toy safety.

When he was appointed in 1999 he identified four priorities: food safety, GMOs, Internet transactions and public health. He now has a stack of regulations and legislation in the offing.

On public health he is particularly anxious about tobacco. "I have brought forward legislation reducing the levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide and providing a method for consumers to obtain information on additives in cigarettes. I am hoping this will reach the final stage of the legislative ladder on February 28th."

His view that tobacco should not be included in the Consumer Price Index is controversial but he argues that Ministers for Finance are reluctant to increase prices if it will affect inflation. Putting cigarettes up 50p in the second last budget added 0.8 per cent to inflation, he says.

"Well over 80 per cent of people begin smoking before they are 18. The higher the price the less likely they are to buy." He says smoking is not a consumer choice issue but an addiction.

Back with the awful offal: "The European Food Safety Authority may be my most important baby. It will not make national food authorities defunct but will draw on the scientific excellence of the member-states and will reduce the risk of conflicting situations," he says.

"It should be up and running by early 2002 but it will be a task, getting the management as well as the legislative aspects sorted out. I believe that this will be the single most important legacy of my five years in office . . . more than BSE. It will have a long-lasting effect establishing consumer confidence in food."

On GMOs, he states: "At the moment we are drafting legislation for the regulation of GMO technology in the areas of food, feed, seed and the release of GMOs to the environment. The first three areas are my responsibility. We are amending existing legislation and drafting new legislation.

"All GMO food will have to be labelled. What I'm trying to achieve is a situation where consumers can choose to eat GMO or not. There is no scientific evidence of any danger from GMO food. If there was, I would not authorise putting it on the market and labelling it." Mr Byrne expects the new and amended legislation to be published in March or April.

Shopping in the virtual world may soon be a safer experience as work is progressing on new protective measures. Mr Byrne has "established a stakeholders' group between industry, consumer organisations and the Commission to discuss and come forward with guidelines on how to protect consumers, including trust marks that could be used on traders' websites. We are hoping to put a charge-back system in place so that if a consumer buys a product which is defective or not provided, the card company will reimburse the consumer."

The biggest consumer issue in the next year will be the euro, he predicts. "It will give people a tangible contact with the EU."