Two German Ministers quit over BSE crisis

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, JAN. 10. Germany's centre-left Government of the Chancellor, Mr. Gerhard Schroeder suffered a major political setback last night when two prominent Cabinet Ministers in charge of policy on the mad cow disease, Ms. Andrea Fischer and Mr. Karl-heinz Funke resigned following allegations that they had mishandled the beef crisis. The resignations came even as three new cases of mad cow disease were detected. This brings the number of affected animals to 10 since the first case was detected six weeks ago.

Mr. Schroeder named two new Ministers today to take over Health and Agriculture. In the most visible change, Mr. Schroeder tapped Greens party co-leader, Ms. Renate Kuenast to lead the fight against the crisis, putting her in charge of a revamped Agriculture Ministry that will focus consumer safety efforts, previously spread among several departments. Ms. Ulla Schmidt, a Social Democrat, was named to replace Ms. Fischer as Health Minister.

Germany is the European Union's largest and most populous country and prides itself on maintaining high standards in livestock rearing. The German consumer's confidence in meat food products has plummeted with even the ever popular beef sausages now on the suspect list. For many years now, since the mad cow disease was first discovered in Britain about five years ago, Germany has insisted that its livestock was free from the disease.

The crisis is more than embarrassing for the administration and according to political observers, the Schroeder Government seems to be suffering from a little instability. The Government lost two Ministers in November when the Cultural and Transport Ministers resigned in a corruption scandal. The Foreign Minister, Mr. Joschka Fischer is under a cloud after media revelations about his involvement with the radical Left and a scuffle with the police in the 1970s. But he is now considered a pragmatic politician and is held in regard both at home and abroad. The German Defence Minister is handling criticism over the army's use of depleted uranium in the NATO bombing campaign in Serbia.

The beef crisis has driven farmers in Germany, France and Britain to the brink. Even poultry and fish products are suspect in some quarters. According to estimates, the number of BSE infected cattle may be around 3000. Beef prices have declined and many European cattle farmers are facing bankruptcy. The Italian Government this week approved a decree allocating euro 77 million to destroy animal parts and feed at risk from mad-cow disease. Denmark has discovered a new case of mad cow disease and in Belgium authorities claim 14 suspected cases of BSE.

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Section  : International
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