A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #356 - It's not the cows that need to be slaughtered, but the Capitalist virus and its vector, the State! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

We are republishing, with their permission, an article from the CNT-AIT 
---- The media keep repeating that, faced with Lumpfish Dermatosis 
(LDD), "there is no other alternative" and that the total culling 
measures are based on international standards founded on scientific 
studies. ---- This is both true and false. ---- It is true that this is 
what international standards recommend (World Organisation for Animal 
Health, WHOA, formerly OIE, Terrestrial Animal Health Code), standards 
which are incorporated into European Regulation, the sole authority on 
veterinary rules in the 27 member states of the European Union.
However, it is crucial to understand that these standards are not health 
standards but TRADE standards. The purpose of WHO standards (and 
therefore EU standards) is not to protect animal health but to guarantee 
the free international movement of animals and their products. These 
standards are defined in the "Terrestrial and Aquatic Animal Health 
Code," which the WHO website itself describes as "standards for safe 
international trade in terrestrial and aquatic animals and their products."
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is one of three "sister 
organizations" (along with the FAO's Codex Alimentarius and the FAO's 
International Plant Protection Convention) recognized by the WTO (World 
Trade Organization) to establish standards that limit the principle of 
completely free trade in products. These limits to international trade 
are defined in the WTO's SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) Agreement, 
which "establishes a multilateral framework of rules and disciplines to 
guide the development, adoption and enforcement of sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures to minimize their adverse effects on trade."
These sanitary standards, therefore, do not aim to protect animal (or 
human) health, but rather to ensure that international trade in 
agricultural or food products is conducted without distortion of 
competition for sanitary reasons. The crux of the problem with regard to 
the DNC (National Cattle Breeding System) lies in an economic, not a 
sanitary, issue: beef cattle farming in France is organized according to 
two completely different economic models. In times of "health peace," 
these models do not compete and coexist. The dominant model is that of 
raising young animals (weaned calves, animals aged 6 to 12 months) which 
are then sent to Italy where they are fattened before slaughter. This 
market represents over EUR1 billion in annual exports.
The second, less common, economic model is that of fattening in France 
for the local market.
The first model is primarily that of large farms, located mainly in 
Burgundy (Charolais cattle), Limousin (Limousin breed), and central 
France (Charollais and Limousin cattle). The president of the National 
Federation of Cattle Breeders (FNB, the beef branch of the FNSEA) is one 
of these large producers dependent on exporting their weaned calves to 
Italy.
The second model is more typical of small farms, particularly in the 
Southwest (Occitanie, Nouvelle-Aquitaine), and these farms are not 
dependent on calf exports.
The introduction of the DNC (Disease Control Directive) meant that calf 
exports to Italy were initially suspended and are now more or less 
restricted depending on the animals' area of origin (disease-free zone, 
restricted zone, or vaccination zone). Widespread vaccination would also 
hinder exports to Italy, as Italian regions not affected by the DNC 
refuse to import vaccinated animals or do so with very complex 
conditions. The two economic models that previously coexisted are now 
antagonistic, as their interests are no longer compatible.
This is exactly what happened with avian influenza in the poultry 
sector, where the interests of the chicken industry and those of the 
duck (foie gras) industry clashed on health issues. The authorities only 
gave credit and attention to the chicken industry (and in particular 
LDC, the leading French producer and one of the European leaders). It 
took 10 years of systematic culling and record compensation of EUR1 
billion in 2023 for the government to agree to consider changing its 
health paradigm by authorizing vaccination (even though the vaccines had 
been technically ready for several years and French vaccine companies 
had submitted production bids). However, it turned out that this 
paradigm shift was not accompanied by an outbreak of influenza; on the 
contrary... (even though there are more cases this year than in previous 
years, there is a scientific and professional consensus that without a 
vaccination campaign, the damage would be much greater).

The battle of standards being waged today is, in fact, a battle for the 
economic model. Either we prioritize international and cross-border 
trade, or we prioritize the localized economy.
The dominant economic model, that of liberal and globalized capitalism, 
compels us to adopt measures that involve total culling in the hope of 
halting the spread of the disease and confining it to certain localized 
areas. So when we hear scientists say, "We have no other alternative," 
it's true: in the liberal capitalist economic system, we have no other 
alternative.
But if we opt for a different economic system, widespread vaccination is 
also a scientifically feasible solution. (The argument that if we don't 
completely cull the population, we risk seeing 1.6 million animals die 
tomorrow from the disease is true if we don't vaccinate, but false if we 
do: vaccination reduces animal mortality. Some animals would certainly 
carry the virus, but not be so ill as to die from it.)
That being said, even if we were to vaccinate completely, we would still 
be operating within the framework of a localized and sovereign 
capitalism, which wouldn't change the situation of livestock farmers who 
would remain dependent on slaughterhouses (the Bigard group in 
particular) and food distribution companies (only 5 distributors in 
France: Carrefour, Auchan, Leclerc, Intermarché, Super U) that control 
the market and prices, strangling the farmers who are, after all, the 
ones who produce our food.
Even before the National Consumption Directive (NCD), the suicide rate 
among farmers, and especially beef cattle farmers, was very high. This 
clearly indicates a systemic problem, which the NCD is simply 
highlighting. It's not the cows that are sick, it's the capitalist 
system that's sick. Capitalism, through its relentless pursuit of 
profit, allows diseases to spread along trade routes, is the cause of 
global warming which leads to the spread of disease vectors, pits 
farmers against each other who cut corners on biosecurity to reduce 
production costs, organizes the relocation of vaccine and medicine 
production necessary for animal and human health and reserves it solely 
for the wealthiest, etc.
The vector of this deadly disease of Capitalism is the State, which 
serves as its instrument for imposing its power through laws and its 
entire repressive system. What happened in Les Bordes-sur-Arize was not 
a sanitary measure but a demonstration of the State's authority. It's 
obvious that the farmers of Les Bordes-sur-Arize weren't going to take 
to the hills with the 208 cows to be slaughtered. There was no need for 
such a deployment of military equipment, unless the State wanted to send 
a message: it holds a monopoly on violence and fully intends to use it 
if necessary.
If we truly want to protect the health of animals, plants, ecosystems, 
and humans, it's not the cows that should be slaughtered, but deadly 
capitalism and its instrument of power: the State.

A red and black veterinarian

P.S.
With their permission, we are republishing this article originally 
published by the CNT-AIT.
This text can be downloaded as a leaflet from their website 
https://cnt-ait.info/ .

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4610
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