A number of families eat meat preparations only during this period.

The only way to do so would be to amend the Community legislation on meat preparations.

As the Commissioner has quite rightly pointed out, there are rules for the meat preparations in question.

Meat preparations in general are being looked at, but not just for Sweden and Finland.

Prominent among the meat preparations were the grilled meats, or kebabs.

Furthermore, I have decided that there is a need to improve the labelling requirements for chicken and other meat preparations.

You propose that the Commission should extend the additional salmonella guarantees to meat preparations.

This should contribute to decreasing the salmonella contamination in meat preparations throughout the whole Community.

It is also used in meat preparations because of the bright red colour that it imparts to the meat.

However, when meat preparations are imported from a country outside the EU, the Swedish guarantee applies.

The reason why the additional guarantees should not cover meat preparations, the existence of the salmonella criterion, applies also to mincemeat.

In November 2001, the Commission decided that the rule concerning compulsory salmonella testing does not apply to meat preparations.

Namibia's exports to Finland only valued €0,9 million, mainly consisting of meat and meat preparations.

However, it has to be noted that it is probably easier to control salmonella in meat preparations than in mincemeat.

It is good that the Commissioner is concerned over the high incidence of salmonella in meat preparations imported into Sweden.

In this context, it is my intention to propose improved sampling rules and a stricter limit for salmonella in meat preparations.

Turkish cuisine changed the Romanian table with appetizers made of eggplant, peppers or other vegetables, various meat preparations like spicy chiftele, and the famous mici.

Examples include Mettwurst and Teewurst which are meat preparations packed in sausage casing but squeezed out of it (just like any other spread from a tube).

What does the Commission intend to do to ensure that meat preparations are subject, as soon as possible, to compulsory salmonella testing before being exported to Sweden?

Beef and chicken are favorite meat dishes, but game meat preparations containing crocodile, monkey, antelope and warthog are also served occasionally.

During 2002, the Swedish Food Administration and five municipalities in Sweden are investigating the presence of salmonella in meat preparations imported from other Member States.

The tests conducted in Sweden show that meat preparations must be subject to compulsory salmonella testing if the salmonella guarantee is to be effective in that country.

I am concerned about the frequent incidence of salmonella in meat preparations imported into Sweden and about your worry that this could affect the salmonella status of Sweden.

In conjunction with five Swedish municipalities, the Swedish National Food Administration has taken some 40 samples of imported meat preparations, approximately one third of which tested positive for salmonella.

However, the directive on mincemeat and meat preparations already lays down a salmonella criterion for meat preparations. Any meat preparation produced within the Community must meet that criterion.