EU ministers reject mass vaccinations to combat disease

The EU will review its approach to foot-and-mouth once the crisis is over, but there was little support yesterday among EU agriculture ministers meeting in the Swedish town of Ostersund for mass vaccinations. Ireland, Denmark and Finland were the only member-states to oppose a review of the present policy, although Austria and Spain are also reluctant to change the EU's approach. The Food Safety Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, ruled out the introduction of mass vaccination to combat the crisis but said the policy could be reviewed in the future.

"The Commission's preferred option in dealing with this crisis is a policy of stamping it out.

"This is the option adopted in both France and Ireland. It has been painful, but I firmly believe that it has proven its worth," he said.

Germany's Agriculture Minister, Ms Renate Kunast, has been pressing for a relaxation of the present policy to allow preventive vaccination along the border with the Netherlands.

She expressed confidence yesterday that the EU's vaccination policy would be changed once the crisis had passed. And she received support from her French counterpart, Mr Jean Glavany.

"We would be irresponsible if we came out of this crisis without learning any lessons. Vaccination was abandoned in 1991 for economic and sanitary reasons, but things have changed since then," he said.

Ms Kunast hopes proposals put forward by the Commission this week to improve conditions for animals being transported will put an end to the long journeys that many blame for the rapid spread of the disease.

If the proposals are accepted, journeys of longer than eight hours would only be permitted with special authorisation.

"These transports must go. The sheep belong on the meadow and then in the nearest slaughterhouse," she said.

But the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, warned that the proposals would seriously damage Ireland's livestock trade.

He promised to do all he could to prevent them being adopted in their present form. "We need a live trade because of our extra dependence on exports and to create the necessary competition with the meat factories.

"We can find a formula for Ireland with adequate water, density and rest periods," he said.

Mr Byrne said EU member-states that had no confirmed cases of foot-and-mouth had "grounds to consider that they have succeeded in avoiding any outbreaks".

However, he warned that the disease had already made a serious impact on the EU's budget.

"The present outbreak has a full potential cost to the Community budget of up to 250 million euros, a figure which continues to rise," he said.