Foot-and-mouth outbreak could change European ag policy

Consumer Comments, Spring, 2001 by Barbara Rippel

It could hardly have come at a worse time. After only slowly recovering from the mad cow crisis, British farmers and European agriculture faced yet another challenge, the highly contagious foot-and-mouth disease.

The disease was discovered in February on a farm in England, after which more than 1500 cases in the UK and a number of other European countries were confirmed. In order to prevent further spread, the UK government introduced drastic measures to contain the disease, including the slaughter of several hundred thousand animals. British authorities now believe the worst is over and that the outbreak is under control.

The outbreak has intensified the European debate about food safety and modern agricultural production. While segments of the public blame modern farming methods for the spread of the disease, foot-and-mouth disease is generally more prevalent in developing countries. The U.S. has not experienced an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease since 1929.

Although the outbreak does not relate to modern agricultural practices, several European politicians have used the crisis to demand that the European Union give greater support in agriculture policy toward local, "organic" production. German and UK ministers have asked for more subsidies for organically grown food and want less intensive farming methods introduced in Europe. The environmental minister for the UK, for example, suggested a less internationalized and more localized agricultural production as a result of the outbreak.

It remains to be seen how serious European governments will be about introducing major changes after the current crisis has faded. Changes that further restrict the imports of agricultural products into the European Union (EU) could be in conflict with the EU's commitment to open up its agricultural markets and could cause friction with its trading partners.