Public health: monitoring of zoonoses and zoonotic agents (amend. Decision 90/424/EEC, repeal. Directive 92/117/EEC)

The committee adopted the report by Marit PAULSEN (ELDR, S) amending the proposal under the codecision procedure (1st reading). Some of the amendments were aimed at emphasising the importance of monitoring antimicrobial resistance, by spelling out more clearly that this was one of the specific aims of the directive. The committee also sought to ensure that the directive included the monitoring of plant products, arguing that the number of people infected through such products was increasing. MEPs stressed the need for greater cooperation among the relevant authorities, including those with responsibility for animal feed, and for more rapid reporting and publishing of information by both the Member States and the European Food Safety Authority. The committee also restructured the proposal slightly so as to include parts of the annex in the substantive part of the text. For example, it included in one of the articles the criteria for the addition or deletion of zoonoses from the list in Annex I, on the grounds that these were of fundamental importance. Finally, the committee stressed the need for comparability of the data compiled by the Member States. �