Government slammed over foot-and-mouth - FOE research reveals lack of action after official warnings23 April 2001
New research published by Friends of the Earth revealed that the Government failed to act after authoritative warnings over the danger of foot-and-mouth disease.
Key bodies, including the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare, warned the Government repeatedly that intensive farming and large-scale animal movements would seriously increase the risk of foot-and-mouth disease and other transmittable diseases. But the Government failed to take action to reduce animal movements, reduce the density of animals on farms or even warn farmers of the need to take out adequate insurance cover.
FOE wants to know whether Agriculture Secretary Nick Brown was told of these warnings and, if so, whether he warned his Cabinet colleagues. FOE is also challenging the Government to give details of any action it took to reduce the risk of foot-and-mouth and to ensure that farmers had adequate insurance cover.
Warnings the Government has received since May 1997:
In 1998, The United Nations FAO warned that Europe was especially vulnerable to livestock diseases because of the large-scale animal movements within the EU as well as the high density, even overcrowding, of animals on European farms.
In 1999, the EU Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare stated that the EU was at "extraordinary high" risk of foot-and-mouth because of the presence of the disease in countries on the edge of the EU.
In 1999, the Italian Public Health Ministry said that "changes in the livestock industry, such as the rapid transportation of animals over long distances, and the concentration of livestock in large intensive units, are conductive to outbreaks of exotic diseases which can occur unexpectedly".
Charles Secrett, Executive Director at Friends of the Earth, said: "Spin doctors and news managers have offered us many scapegoats for the foot-and-mouth crisis, from individual farmers to Chinese restaurants. But it is now becoming clear that the Government itself must face criticism. It has repeatedly ignored warnings about the way we farm and the consequent risks of epidemics. Small farmers, the tourism industry and tax-payers are now paying a very heavy price for MAFF's incompetence and the Government's love affair with intensive farming. Once foot-and-mouth is under control, we must have a fundamental review of how we farm in this country. We need a sustainable future for farming and food production, not a subsidy bonanza for giant agri-businesses."
FOE is writing to Tony Blair asking why warnings were ignored, and to urge him to hold a public inquiry into the causes of the current outbreak of foot-and-mouth and the effectiveness of the responses to it. FOE will also be asking Ben Gill, President of the National Farmers Union, why farmers were not warned about the increased risks.
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