David Sumberg MEP
Date:
03\06\2002
Fans Must Beware of Korea's FMD Epidemic
North West MEP
David Sumberg is calling for rigorous checks on football fans arriving back in
Europe from watching World Cup matches in South Korea - which is suffering
a foot and mouth epidemic.
"As England
aren't playing in South Korea this issue has been rather lost in the British
press but there is a very real danger here," he said.
"France and
Denmark are playing their group games in South Korea and I am worried about
what checks are being made to prevent the disease coming back into Europe. We
cannot escape the plain fact that Foot and Mouth Disease came into the UK from
abroad. We would never forgive ourselves if the disease was brought back into
Europe from South Korea. Every effort must be made to ensure the thousands of
fans returning from South Korea are clean of FMD."
Mr Sumberg said
he is supporting the European Parliament's Temporary Committee on Foot and Mouth
Disease resolution on the problem.
"The
resolution is asking the Member States to tighten up their import controls using
sniffer dogs and calls on the Member States to launch an information campaign on
the risks of bringing FMD into the EU.
"It proposes
that anyone coming to the EU from a country with FMD should only be allowed to
enter if they sign a document to confirm they are aware of the danger, have had
no contact with sources of infection and are not carrying food containing animal
products. Furthermore it wants the European Commission to devise a 'common
sense' strategy to combat the risk of tourists bringing in FMD. We cannot
afford to be caught off guard. If the FMD outbreak taught us anything it
was that complacency will be ruthlessly punished."