Newsletter April 2003

Major US study to analyse environmental impact on children’s health

A US National Children’s Study which will study 100,000 uterine children until they are 21 years old is planned to start in 2006. The study is being planned by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. The goal is to determine how environmental factors impact children’s health and which genes can (...)

Pet passport regulation approved

The so-called "pet passport" Regulation on health requirements of non-commercial movement of animals will enter into force on 3 July 2004. This Regulation aims to facilitate the free movement of pet animals and harmonise animal-health measures and controls, guaranteeing a high level of protection for human and animal health. It applies to pets such as: dogs, cats, ferrets, invertebrates (except bees and crustaceans), ornamental tropical fish, amphibia, reptiles, birds (except poultry), (...)

All time spent by a doctor on call in a hospital constitutes working time

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled in the ’Jaegar’ case on 9th September 2003 that the time a doctor spends at the hospital - on call but resting - counts as working time. The case, Landeshauptstadt Kiel v Norbert Jaeger, established the principle that a Community directive precludes national legislation which categorises on-call duty as rest time save for periods of actual activity. That interpretation is not altered by the fact that the employer makes available to (...)

Joint EPHA - Greenpeace Press Release: ’Protect the Public from Chemicals in Household Products’

Research shows that dust collected from homes across Europe contains substantial amounts of hazardous chemicals, some of them linked to cancer. The Greenpeace report ’Consuming Chemicals’ reveals that homes are contaminated by "hidden" toxic chemicals contained in everyday household consumer products including textiles, televisions, cosmetics and toys. At a press conference in Brussels the European Public Health Alliance and the European Consumers Organisation (BEUC) joined (...)

Annual Analysis of Pesticides in Fruit and Vegetables

Pesticide levels in fruit and vegetables across the EU remain constant. The European Commission annual survey published on 22 April 2003 notes that 59 % of samples have no detectable residue, but 37 % contained traces of pesticides at or below the Maximum Residue Level (MRL) and 3.7 % exceeded the MRL. However, one trend causes concern, 18 % of the samples showed more than one pesticide present. This is an increase from previous years. The products tested were apples, grapes, tomatoes, (...)

April 2003 newsletter

The EPHA Newsletter for April 2003 is now available online. You can download the newsletter below, as a PDF or as a RTF file, or consult the main articles online by clicking here. Here is the table of contents: EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS NEWS THE PARLIAMENT SARS outbreak and EU competence on health EP Approves Pet Passport Regulation European Patent Office confirms revocation of baby blood patent MEPs vote to ban stem cell research Debate on free movement in the EU Dangerous (...)

Accession Treaty Signed

The accession treaty was signed on 16 April 2003 at the informal European Council by the current 15 EU Member States and Cyprus, Czech republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia. The 5th enlargement of the EU will take place on 1 May 2004, although these government representatives will participate in Council and Parliament activites as observers between now and next May. More (...)

Next Candidates for Accession?

Bulgaria and Romania are expected to enter the EU in 2007 if they fulfil all the membership criteria. Turkey’s candidature will be reviewed at the end of 2004 and Ankara will be able to start accession negotiations if it fulfils the Copenhagen political criteria. On 14 April 2003, the Council asked the Commission to submit its opinion on Croatia’s formal application to join, submitted in February 2003. The Commission has also offered the possibility of closer cooperation and (...)

SARS Outbreak and EU Competence on Health

On 7 April 2003, MEP Proinsias DE ROSSA (PES, Ireland), urged an EU wide response to the recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). He also called for the EU to be given similar powers for the protection in human health as it has for the protection of animal health. More information

European Patent Office Confirms Revocation of Baby Blood Patent

The European Patent Office (EPO) confirmed on 8 April 2003 its decision made in 1999 to revoke all the PharmaStem (formerly Biocyte) patent claims on collecting, freezing and using blood from foetuses and umbilical cords for transplants and medical and therapeutic treatments. Greens/EFA press release