Kyprianou visits Norway

Markos Kyprianou, EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, will visit Vesterålen on June 4 and 5. Hosts to the Commissioner will be Terje Riis-Johansen, Minister of Agriculture and Food, Sylvia Brustad, Minister of Health and Care Services, and State Secretary Vidar Ulriksen of the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs.

Norway is at the forefront with regard to food safety, animal welfare and animal health, and EU Commissioner Kyprianou wishes to study the Norwegian system closer. The visit is also intended to provide ample opportunities for political discussions. 

Food safety
The EU Commissioner will be given a thorough introduction to how Norway reasons and works to secure safe food of high quality and what is being done to implement an efficient tracing system. In addition, the Commissioner will be informed on the new “smiley” arrangement which is being tested which in a simple way will inform of hygienic conditions in restaurants. “The “smiley” system has been successfully adopted in other countries, e.g. Denmark. It contributes to focusing on the fact that the establishments themselves are responsible for ensuring that food is safe,” says Sylvia Brustad, Minister of Health and Care Services. Another topic at the meeting is the follow-up of the E-coli evaluation and the establishment of a “food investigation unit”.

Kyprianou will be given a demonstration of the Norwegian system of hygiene standards and traceability for both fishing, individual farms, in the food industry and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. On Monday a visit to factory trawler at the fishing grounds is planned. There the EU commissioner will experience fishing and fish production at sea. Nordlaks will demonstrate how the company works in order to ensure high standards of hygiene and how the tracing system operates.

Animal welfare
The government will soon send out its proposal for a new animal welfare act for consultation. Because the EU is currently in the process of laying down regulations for animal welfare, this is a subject that concerns Kyprioanou. Minister of Agriculture and food, Terje Riis-Johansen, feels it is appropriate to call attention to Norwegian diary cattle and Norwegian pigs that have such a high standard of health that Norwegian livestock genes have become a commodity with high demand internationally. The reason is that the breeding associations have always taken health and welfare properties into consideration with regard to the animals they have bred. This is paying off in the sense that the health situation among Norwegian livestock is largely perceived as better than that in countries which have been more concerned with maximising production.

Elly and Dagfinn Hansen are among the farmers that have taken animal welfare seriously with regard to production of livestock. This has provided good results – both in the form of production economy and in the shape of the so-called Dagros award – a highly regarded prize to milk producers who make an extra effort to ensure that the animals they keep and make a living from are well taken care of.

The EU White Book
Kyprianou recently presented a “White Book on a strategy for Europe on nutrition, obesity and weight-related health problems”. Minister of Health and Care Services Sylvia Brustad wishes to discuss issues related to diet and health in her political discussions with the EU commissioner.

Beautiful surroundings
The reason that Vesterålen was chosen as the location for the visit is closely related to the fact that it is possible to study efforts on food safety and animal welfare both on land and at sea. The EU Commissioner and his party will also see a beautiful and fertile part of Norway. This will thus be a study of modern fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture and food management in “the land of the midnight sun”.

Programme:

Monday June 4
Morning: Departure from Sortland to Andenes in the morning where the party will board a Norwegian Coast Guard vessel which will transport them to a factory trawler at the fishing grounds. (The part of the visit is not open to the press).

Afternoon: Visit to Nordlaks in Stokmarknes. Information about and a demonstration of the operation both out at the fish pens and in the production facilities on land. The press is welcome to participate.

Evening: Following a walk from the hotel to the Sortland quay, the owners of Sjøblink Blokken AS and Sigerfjord Fisk will be awarded the plaque from KSL Matmerk proving that their “farmed Arctic char from Vesterålen” has been awarded the status of “protected designation of origin”. In the evening there will be an informal gathering on board MS Jekta where local specialities will be served.

Tuesday June 5
Morning: Minister of Health and Care Services Sylvia Brustad will discuss political issues with the EU commissioner during breakfast before the party visits the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. There, managing director Joachim Lystad will speak of work on food safety. He will also inform of the successful breeding work with Norwegian livestock – which has paid particular attention to animal welfare.

Morning: A visit to the farm of Elly and Dagfinn Hansen in Hadsel municipality. There will be a tour with the opportunity for interviews and photography. A press conference is not planned, but the media is invited to participate and perform their interviews during the 90 minutes the visit is planned to last.

The visit to the farm marks the conclusion of the EU Commissioners visit.

Press contacts:
Ministry of Agriculture and Food: Gunnar Syverud
Tel: 90 95 47 13, E-mail: gunnar.syverud@lmd.dep.no

Ministry of Health and Care Services: Ingrid Vigerust
Tel: 90 12 46 97, E-mail: inv@hod.dep.no

Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs: Yngve Torgersen
Tel:90 14 39 51, E-mail: yngve.torgersen@fkd.dep.no