G. whereas the current economic situation and the expected trends in world demand and the prices of agricultural produce and food make it imperative for the EU to avoid, as far as possible, dependence on imported livestock-farming products and animal feed and to secure a better balance between those products and, in particular, the traditional, protected products of sheep and goat farming, with which the European market was well supplied,

G. whereas the current economic situation and the expected trends in world demand and the prices of agricultural produce and food make it imperative for the EU to avoid, as far as possible, dependence on imported livestock-farming products and animal feed and to secure a better balance between those products and, in particular, the traditional, protected products of sheep and goat farming, with which the European market was well supplied,

G. whereas the current economic situation and the expected trends in world demand and the prices of agricultural produce and food make it imperative for the EU to avoid, as far as possible, dependence on imported stockfarming products and animal feed and to secure a better balance between those products and, in particular, the traditional, protected products of sheep and goat farming, with which the European market was well supplied,

On your question about the possibility to authenticate a GM-free designation in relation to livestock products, I would like to draw your attention to the statement of the European Food Safety Authority paper published recently on 20 July 2007, where EFSA noted that no technique is currently available to enable a valid and reliable tracing of animal products like meat, milk or eggs, when the animals have been fed a diet incorporating GM plants or, to put it another way, DNA fragments or proteins from GM plants have not been detected in edible products from farm animals using the existing available techniques.

For farmed products, the indication of the catch area consists of a reference to the Member State or third country in which the product undergoes the final development stage.

Whereas, the testing of veterinary medicinal products must regularly be adapted to scientific and technical progress in order to safeguard the health of consumers of livestock products and to ensure optimum protection of animal health in the Community;