Sir, - The current outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the UK highlights the fact that disease outbreaks do not respect political borders. The concept of unimpeded trade within the EU has been the goal of successive European Commissions since the Treaty of Rome, culminating in the Maastrict Treaty.
Unfortunately, the reality that biological entities are more complex than inanimate goods and services has been overlooked in the rush to institute the concepts of "free trade" and "competitive market forces" worldwide.
Most of the disease outbreaks that have occurred since the 1994 deregulation of internal EU national border checks have gone unnoticed in the public media, but the records held by the EU Commission and by the Office Of International Epizootics (OIE) make stark reading.
Since animals in different areas have different disease organisms (and so different diseases), it is logical that these bacteria, viruses and parasites will travel with those animals wherever they go and infect a new and more susceptible population. The same is true of diseases that can be transmitted via animal products.
The active promotion of "free trade" has facilitated the movement of animal diseases given the distances that modern transport can move animals and products over a short time. Many EU inspection missions within Europe have expressed dissatisfaction with transit monitoring measures to protect animal and human health, but to date no effective action has been taken to strengthen procedures.
The dangers now apparent were predicted in 1994 by the then Irish Veterinary Association (in common with all European veterinary organisations). It held a joint conference with the agricultural committee of the RDS and produced a voluntary code of safe practice for farmers wishing to buy in stock. In reality, however, market forces dictated that standards set by the lowest common denominator were enshrined in legislation.
In July 2000, a report commissioned by the pigmeat producers' sub-committee of IBEC and the IFA summarised the dangers posed by untraceable imported pigmeat products in terms of animal health, human health, and compliance with labelling legislation. This report is under review by the Department of Agriculture and Food, and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
"Free trade" definitely benefits those who wish to sell produce, and in the short term may appear to save consumers money. However, the current crisis should redirect our efforts to ensure that safe trade should take precedence over "free trade", which has been found to have a cost after all. - Yours, etc.,
William Cashman, MVB, MRCVS, Riverstown Cross, Glanmire, Co Cork.