A call for action to ensure "shocking" scandals such as BSE never happen again was made today by Irishman David Byrne, the EU’s Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner.
Underlining the enormous pressure placed on farmers, and the food production and distribution sectors, Mr Byrne said the situation had repeated itself in almost all European countries.
This was true not just with BSE, but also dioxins, sewage sludge in animal feed, and contamination of olive residue oil, "to mention just a few of the scandals that have been to the fore".
He said: "They have been shocking and must not be repeated.
"And we must put systems in place to ensure as far as humanly possible that we are not confronted with similar, or worse, episodes in the years ahead."
Mr Byrne who was speaking at a meeting in London of consumer chiefs, farm leaders and top retailers, said the impact in the UK of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak had been profound. It had left "a gaping wound" in the agricultural sector and in the rural economy that would take generations to heal.
The pain and hurt for individual farmers and their families may never heal, he said, adding that four million animals had been slaughtered, with large tracts of the countryside affected, particularly in northern England.
"In this area alone some 25,000 jobs are in jeopardy in agriculture, hotels, restaurants, retail distribution and in the food and drink sector.
"It is essential that the foot-and-mouth crisis be effectively put behind us, if the decline in the UK's agriculture sector is to be adequately addressed," he said.
PA