The Commission of the European Union is mulling the imposition of a temporary ban on organic food from Germany in the wake of a major contamination incident involving the carcinogenic chemical nitrofen.
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The Belgian government today [Monday] imposed emergency laws stipulating that German cereals for food and animal feed, as well as food products of animal origin, would have to carry an official guarantee they had been tested and were nitrofen-free.
Regional farm ministers in Germany held emergency talks over the weekend to try to find a way to avoid the EU imposing a ban, which could take many months to reverse. The farm ministers have sent the EU Commission a schedule of steps they can take to help avert the crisis.
A spokeswoman for David Byrne, the EU health commissioner, said the Commission was waiting for additional information from Germany before deciding on any concrete steps. “Nothing has been decided yet,” she said. However, the EU has rebuked Germany for failing to keep it fully informed about the nitrofen scare.
Meanwhile Germany’s Deputy Farm Minister Alexander Mueller told a news conference that new information suggested that contrary to earlier fears, there was only one source of tainted grain and said Germany had the situation under control.
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