Blog Categories: Europe

Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Europe

Brussels – The results are in, and Italian citizens came out en masse this weekend and have overwhelmingly opted to overturn the laws promoting water privatisation in Italy. It is the first time since 1995 that a referendum managed to reach a quorum in Italy and of the 57% of the electorate that voted (about 26 million), 96% voted to keep their water services public.

“The success of the referendum in Italy is a true display of the power and potential of grassroots activism. The Italian Forum of Water Movements and Italian citizens managed to mobilize an entire nation and raise awareness around the human right to water and defending water as a common good,” declared Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Europe.

One of the laws on water privatization that was overturned is article 15 of the “Ronchi Decree,” named after Andrea Ronchi, Minister of Community Policy from 2008-2010. It stipulated that by 2011, private companies that wished to participate in the public water services sector could do so with “equal treatment and no discrimination” and they were encouraged to buy up to 70% of any listed public water company.

The second law that was overturned is article 154 of the “Environmental Code” which states that the price of water services will be decided on the basis of a guaranteed return on investment. This meant that the private water companies could then charge as much as they wanted to guarantee a higher profit and further their view of water as an economic good instead of a common good.

“Even when all the odds were against them, Italian citizens, associations and networks managed to come together and make their voices heard.”

“The success of the referendum is seen as a blow to the Berlusconi government, but we must not forget that this referendum was born out of a water movement that refused to put its precious resource into the hands of profit seeking private companies,” said Hauter.

Contact:

Gabriella Zanzanaini, gzanzanaini(at)fweurope.org, +32 (0)488 409 662

Statement of Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Europe

“We are disappointed that no one commenting on the drought currently afflicting England has mentioned the role that privatization and industrialization play in the management of public water resources. Private water companies have not been accountable for infrastructure management or the responsible use of this vital resource.

“One of the best ways to ensure that water is managed as a common resource, and that both farmers and householders get what they need in dry spells, is to look at water use holistically through public management. Water should not be commoditized for private gain, but stewarded for the long-term public good, in good times and bad.

“The idea that consumers are largely responsible for water use is a myth. In fact, consumer use accounts for only 10 percent of our global water supply. In reality, the problem lies in aging infrastructure systems whose pipes leak water, and unsustainable agricultural practices that squander precious water resources. Urbanization is also contributing to water scarcity problems because paved surfaces create run-off, rather than letting water absorb back into the earth.

“The solution to our collective water woes lies in adopting an integrated approach to the management of our watersheds, as well as using earth-friendly building materials such as water permeable pavements in our public works projects.

“While climate change is indeed a vexing problem, we cannot simply use it as the scapegoat for all of our water challenges, especially when modernizing and better maintaining the country’s water infrastructure systems could address many of the water scarcity issues from which England suffers. In failing to address the health of these water systems, the private companies that currently oversee these essential systems are granting their customers and the nation’s water resources a grave disservice.”

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Food & Water Europe is a program of Food & Water Watch, Inc., a non-profit consumer NGO based in Washington, D.C., working to ensure clean water and safe food in Europe and around the world. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

Contact:

Gabriella Zanzanaini, Food & Water Europe, gzanzanaini(at)fweurope.org, +32 488 409 662

Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch, kfried(at)fwwatch.org, +1 202-683-4905

Statement by Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Europe

Brussels, Belgium – “It is deeply disturbing that McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich will soon carry the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) eco-label at the fast food chain’s European locations. Filet-O-Fish sandwiches are made from a controversial fish, the New Zealand hoki — a species that we and many experts believe should not have been certified by the MSC to begin with.”

“We have documented in detail the many problems associated with private eco-labeling programs, including the Marine Stewardship Council’s. In particular, we are disappointed that the MSC continues to certify fisheries such as New Zealand hoki — fisheries that have committed to environmental reforms in name only. In fact, the New Zealand hoki fishery has been found to violate the country’s Fisheries Act, which requires adverse effects on the aquatic environment – such as the fishery’s troubled history of deadly interactions with seabirds – be addressed and avoided.

“Despite numerous objections to the hoki’s certification over the past decade – including concerns about seabird and seal deaths associated with the fishery – this fish inexplicably remains certified by MSC. Because of this, it is unlikely that MSC-certified fisheries meet European consumers’ high standards for sustainability.”

“The pressing concern we have with eco-labeling programs is the ‘pay-to-play’ aspect built into certification. Smaller and more sustainable fishing operations often cannot afford to certify, frequently leaving the label accessible only to the largest multinational fishing companies and ‘foodservice operations’ like McDonald’s. An MSC label appearing on a mass-produced fast food item like the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish is an indication that these types of labels may be less focused on sustainability than profits.”

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Food & Water Europe is a program of Food & Water Watch, Inc., a non-profit consumer NGO based in Washington, D.C., working to ensure clean water and safe food in Europe and around the world. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

Contact:
Eve Mitchell, Food & Water Europe, emitchell(at)fweurope.org, +44 (0)1381 610 740

Darcey Rakestraw, Food & Water Watch, drakestraw(at)fwwatch.org, +1 202-2683-2467

For more information, read our report, De-Coding Seafood Eco-Labels: How the European Commission Can Help Consumers Access Sustainable Seafood and Food & Water Watch’s fact sheet, About the Marie Stewardship Council

Washington, D.C. The Utility Workers Union of America and Food & Water Watch today filed a petition under an international convention criticizing the labor and environmental practices of United Water, a U.S. water utility and a subsidiary of French multinational Suez Environnement.

The petition – which the two organizations submitted pursuant to the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises adopted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – raises both labor and environmental concerns with United Water activities in the U.S. The OECD Guidelines are designed to promote responsible conduct by multinational corporations in all countries in which they operate.

“Utility workers have been astonished at the bad faith conduct of United Water in labor negotiations in the U.S.,” stated Michael Langford, UWUA National President.

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board has authorized complaints against United Water in two separate locations charging the company with illegal bargaining tactics. UWUA members are working under expired labor agreements in four states – Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania – because of United Water demands for steep cuts in employee retirement benefits.

“Food & Water Watch believes strongly that water should be managed in the public interest, not for private profit,” stated Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch.  “When water services are privatized, the environment and workers lose out, as some of the examples in this petition to the OECD illustrate. Consumers are on the losing end as well, often seeing worse service at a higher cost with private water management. Communities, workers and the environment in the U.S. take a back seat to shareholders in Europe and elsewhere when water services are privatized.”

The OECD petition filed by the two organizations raises the following concerns:

-On May 31, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint charging that United Water Pennsylvania illegally refused to provide information necessary for the UWUA to negotiate over the company’s demands for concessions in retirement benefits for workers. The NLRB has authorized a similar complaint against United Water in New Jersey.

-In December 2010, a federal grand jury issued a criminal indictment charging that United Water intentionally manipulated E. coli bacteria monitoring tests at a wastewater treatment plant in Gary, Ind. between 2003 and 2008. The company has pleaded not guilty in the case.

-The indictment charges that United Water manipulated the monitoring results as part of a scheme to reduce its costs for purchasing chlorine, which is used as a disinfectant before the plant discharges treated sewage into a public waterway near Chicago. United Water’s President has publicly dismissed the seriousness of the charges, claiming the indictment involves a “disagreement about operating and monitoring methods.”

UWUA and Food & Water Watch filed the OECD petition today with officials of the U.S. and French governments. Under OECD procedures, the governments are obligated to forward the submission to officials of the French parent company and the U.S. subsidiary for a formal reply.

Contact: Kate Fried, Food & Water Watch, (202) 683-2500, kfried(at)fwwatch(dot)org; Mark Brooks, Utility Workers of America, (615) 259-1186, mbrooks(at)uwau.net.

Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO, represents working men and women in the utility and related industries throughout the U.S., including United Water employees in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

New Report: China’s Food Exports to the United States Triple in 10 Years

Washington, D.C. – While Europe suffers from a “super toxic” E. coli outbreak, a national advocacy group warns that potentially unsafe food from China could provide the next food safety scare in the United States. Whether it’s frozen or canned produce, seafood, candy, vitamins, or any type of processed food, these products or their ingredients increasingly come from China, where food manufacturers are legendary for cutting corners, substituting dangerous ingredients, and compromising safety in order to boost sales. Officials there have publically acknowledged their inability to regulate the country’s sprawling food production sector and last week China’s highest court even recommended stiffer penalties—including death—for those found violating food safety regulations.

The new report A Decade of Dangerous Food Imports from China, released today by Food & Water Watch, analyzes how many common foods (many of which children eat on a daily basis, including apple juice, candy, and canned fruit) come from China.

“Our next safety scare could come compliments of China,” says Food & Water Watch executive director Wenonah Hauter. “Given the scale of the distribution of poorly regulated Chinese food exports, it’s just a matter of time before a problem with one unscrupulous facility gets exported around the world and causes another major health threat.”

China’s food exports to the U.S. have tripled over the past decade to nearly 4 billion pounds of food in 2010, worth nearly $5 billion. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prevented over 9,000 unsafe products from entering the country between 2006 and 2010, but with a less than 2 percent inspection rate on imported food, countless other unsafe products no doubt entered the U.S. food system, the group warns. According to the report:

• Two-thirds of apple juice that Americans consume—more than 400 million gallons annually—come from China.
• By 2007, 90 percent of America’s vitamin C supplements came from China.
• By 2010, China supplied the United States with 88 million pounds of candy.
• Around 85 percent of U.S. imports of artificial vanilla along with many vitamins frequently added to food products like folic acid and thiamine come from China.
• In 2009, more than three-quarters of the tilapia Americans consumed (287.5 million pounds) came from China, an increase of 200,000 percent from 2000 levels.
• One in 11 canned peaches consumed in the U.S. comes from China; 20 percent of frozen spinach and half the cod consumed in the U.S. come from China.

U.S. food safety oversight of Chinese food processors has not remotely kept pace with the exploding number of imports. In fact, when the melamine-tainted pet food crisis began, it took the FDA nearly a month to even identify its counterpart in China.

Melamine contamination continues to be a problem, with U.S. regulators finding high levels of melamine in a dog food shipment as recently as January 2011. The group also warns of a new milk adulterant being found in Chinese-made processed dairy products: hydrolyzed leather protein, made from scraps of animal skin.

“The FDA prevents thousands of unsafe Chinese products from entering the country every year, but it’s not because of vigilant inspection,” says Hauter. “The agency’s low inspection rate—less than two percent of imported produce, processed food and seafood—virtually guarantees that unsafe Chinese products are making their way into American grocery stores. And while some chemical adulteration in food might not manifest itself as acutely harmful, low levels of contamination can have long-term health risks that haven’t been clearly studied.”

The FDA has even more limited capacity and authority within China. Between 2001 and 2008, it inspected 46 food firms there—less than six a year. “And, to compound this problem, the Agriculture Appropriations bill passed by the House Appropriations Committee on May 31st cuts the FDA funding by more than $280 million compared to FY2011 levels,” says Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro.

Commercial and trade interests deter U.S. leaders from being tough on imported food standards. “As Congress considers funding for food safety and implementation of trade agreements, it is critical that we have a complete understanding of the problem that we face. This report by Food & Water Watch is a valuable part of our understanding and this information should not be overlooked as protecting the public health must be a top priority in our trade agreements,” said Rep. DeLauro.

The explosive growth in China’s food exports to the U.S. is due to China entering the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2000. The WTO limits the ability of member countries to establish health, safety or environmental rules that hamper global commerce.

“The WTO’s structure promotes commerce at the expense of other goals like food safety,” says Hauter. “Congress and the Obama Administration must revisit the current trade agenda and make public health, environmental standards and consumer safety the first priority. Unfortunately, it looks like they will pursue more broken deals with South Korea, Columbia and Panama instead.”

Contact: Darcey Rakestraw, Food & Water Watch, 202-683-2467; drakestraw(at)fwwatch(dot)org

Brussels—The discovery of a new strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in cattle in the UK and in people in the UK, Denmark, Germany and Ireland is another reason why the current food chain model, based on maximum pressure on farmers from supermarkets and processors to produce as cheaply as possible, is wrong and needs urgent attention, said Brussels-based advocacy group Food & Water Europe today.

The model has been imported to Europe from the U.S., where livestock are routinely subjected to non-therapeutic antibiotic treatments in order to promote growth and ward off potential health problems from crowded, unsanitary conditions, a notable feature of high output factory farming in particular. In 2009, nearly 80 percent of antibiotics sold were reserved for use in livestock and poultry, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Dr. Mark Holmes, the veterinarian who led the University of Cambridge study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, documented the new strain and noted that dairy farmers are under “relentless financial pressure” from supermarkets – driving cows to produce more and more milk as cheaply as possible results in inevitable health problems, which leads to overuse of antibiotics either to treat them or to try to prevent them. Such misuse of antibiotics helps drug resistant strains of bacteria to emerge, with unknown consequences for human or veterinary health.

A U.S. study published in the journal Clinical Infections Diseases in April confirmed that drug resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus are in meat in the U.S., and it’s likely coming from the way livestock are produced on crowded factory farms.

“A growing amount of scientific consensus shows that routine feeding livestock antibiotics is the wrong model to follow,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. “U.S.-style factory farm methods like the overuse of antibiotics are increasingly being used around the world, and hopefully European regulators will heed this discovery as more reason to promote policies that create more local and small-scale regional farming methods.”

“The new Garcia-Alvarez study corroborates the signals we’ve received from earlier studies in the US and abroad,” said Robert Lawrence, Professor of Health Policy and Management, and Professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and founding director of Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF). “The findings of the authors underscore the urgent need to protect the effectiveness of a critical medical and public health resource – and this unambiguously translates to the obvious step of eliminating the irresponsible administration of antibiotics to food animals.”

The group has been campaigning against a proposed megadairy in Linconshire because these types of dairy operations routinely administer antibiotics to address diseases related to crowding.

Livestock farms in the U.S. are consolidating, bringing more and more animals under the care of fewer and fewer factory farms. According to the most recent U.S. Department of Agriculture Census data for beef and dairy cattle, hogs, broiler meat chickens and egg-laying operations in the U.S., the total number of livestock on the largest factory farms rose by more than 20 percent between 2002 and 2007.

“Europe is playing follow the leader on factory farms,” said Hauter. “The detection of MRSA should be a wake-up call for regulators in Europe that this dangerous model of food production shouldn’t be expanded. It also highlights the need for screening programs for antibiotic residues in milk and beef.

“But ultimately it’s the pressure supermarkets and processors put on dairy farmers that drives these problems and others – farmers don’t want to treat their cows this way. It’s past time for the oft-promised Ombudsman to be given the powers to hear and resolve anonymous complaints from farmers in their dealings with supermarkets so we can get to the more ethical farming people want,” said Hauter.

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Food & Water Europe is a program of Food & Water Watch, Inc., a non-profit consumer NGO based in Washington, D.C., working to ensure clean water and safe food in Europe and around the world. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.

Contact:

Eve Mitchell, Food & Water Europe, emitchell(at)fweurope.org, +44 (0)1381 610 740

Darcey Rakestraw, Food & Water Watch, drakestraw(at)fwwatch.org, +1 202-2683-2467