Lifting of the feed ban

The Environment Committee of the European Parliament has voted by a majority in favor of the feeding of animal by-products.

The European Commission had proposed to allow the feeding of animal by-products from pigs to poultry and poultry to pigs. Likewise, animal by-products from poultry should be allowed to be fed to pigs.

PAP (processed animal protein), which is currently left over when animals are slaughtered, is currently incinerated or exported to other EU countries, he said. To meet the protein needs of pigs and poultry, soy is imported from overseas, he said.

"While the valuable animal proteins are exported, we import tons of soy. That can't be in the spirit of a sustainable circular economy," said Jens Gieseke (CDU), a member of the Environment Committee, for example.
Cross-contamination virtually ruled out

The argument that the approval of PAP could lead to cross-contamination or contamination in cattle feed and thus to a new outbreak of BSE is not valid, he said. "We are only allowing the feeding of pigs to poultry and poultry to pigs here. But BSE is purely a ruminant disease," Gieseke said. Therefore, cross-contamination or contamination in cattle feed can be effectively ruled out.

In addition, he said, there are a wide variety of reliable test methods for detecting PAP in animal feed, and contaminated feed would have to be disposed of. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) also sees no risk to human or animal health in the event of a re-approval.