Spanish canneries have requested that the European Union lifts the ban on fish meal.
The Spanish fish canning industries pushed earlier this week before the European Parliament the lifting of the prohibition on the use of fish meal to feed pork and cattle, which is at the moment effective in the European Union.
In a debate of the fishery commission of the Euro Chamber, the representative of the National Association of Canning Manufacturers (Anfaco), Carlos Ruiz Blanco, requested the EU to end that ruling which was put into force in December 2000 to avoid the further spread of the mad cow disease. The source of the disease has pointed continuously to the use of feed made from meat and bones for animal feeding.
Ruiz Blanco remarked that the prohibition has caused "multiple damages" to the communitarian industry of fish meal and oil, and that the ban lacks the necessary scientific endorsement since it is proven to be a safe and healthy product.