Almost all eastern European countries applying to join the European Union have applied for special transitional periods averaging three years to raise health standards at some of their food processing plants to meet EU regulations.
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A memorandum on how applicant countries are being forced to review food industry health standards says that the European Commission has required countries wanting extra time to submit “a binding plan for upgrading.” Brussels is “evaluating the material with some of the candidates whereas others have still not provided this information.”
Products from plants where improvements are still being made will not be able to circulate the EU and be clearly marked.
At present, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia may join in 2004, along with the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus and Malta. Estonia and Cyprus recently withdrew their bids for transitional periods.
The memorandum also warns that accession will lead to wholesale closures of small slaughterhouses in applicant countries. Said the note: “Most candidate countries have many small slaughterhouses that may not fulfill all the detailed requirements of EU legislation governing the infrastructure and organisation of the slaughter chain. For example, they may not have a
separate space for ante-mortem inspection.”
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