Schippers and Van Dam defend NVWA

Edith Schippers (Public Health) and Martijn van Dam (Economic Affairs) believe that the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has not taken unnecessary measures in the fipronil crisis. The sector also has its own responsibility. "Not all responsibility for food safety rests with the NVWA."

In the emergency debate about the fipronil crisis, the ministers Schippers and Van Dam defend the NVWA. They do agree that the NVWA's communication was very messy. Schippers: "That has to be improved in the future." Schippers confirms that the statements of the NVWA CEO in Nieuwsuur reinforced the messy picture. "A messy communication is part of a crisis. Still, this should have been better."

Schippers and Van Dam are of the opinion that the NVWA acted correctly with the knowledge gained at the time. "The NVWA has not taken any unnecessary measures." They emphasize that the government and also the NVWA can never provide complete certainty about food safety. 

Set up workgroup
For a long time it was about the division of responsibility between the government and the poultry farmers. Control is not only a matter for the NVWA, both ministers believe. Schippers: "Poultry farmers should have checked the substances used in their barns." Van Dam repeated in his speech: "Farmers must monitor everything that happens on their farm." He wants a working group with the government and the interest groups, that group should strengthen the sector's self-monitoring. He also wants to investigate whether it is possible for the NVWA to pass on signals directly to the sector in the event of reports. 

Trust damaged
Van Dam says that the confidence of the poultry farmers has been damaged. "ChickFriend was recommended by other farmers, feed suppliers and even a vet. The IKB logo on the bus also inspired a lot of confidence among farmers." 

Package of measures
Van Dam is coming up with a package of measures that should help the affected poultry farmers to reduce the financial pressure. They get a 1-year deferment of payment for taxes, the animal health fund and the repayment of credits for companies. 

Banks can make use of the 'working capital' guarantee, but they do not consider this necessary. It should be made easier for the group of poultry companies to obtain new credit via a guarantee fund. This fund reduces the risk for banks. Van Dam expects that there are poultry farms that will not recover from the fipronil crisis.

A campaign is also being launched to regain confidence in the Dutch egg. Money is won for this in Brussels. "If this is not enough, the Ministry of Economic Affairs will also allocate money to support exports," said Van Dam.

© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.