Appendix APPENDIX
RESOLUTION on public health and free movement of manpowerNote
The Symposium,
1. Considering that the industrial development of certain European countries necessitates the large-scale employment of foreign manpower and consequently raises serious human problems ;
2. Considering that health implies not only the absence of illness but also a state of perfect physical, mental and social well-being ;
3. Considering that migrant workers and their families must be helped to adapt themselves satisfactorily to their new living conditions ;
4. Considering that medical examination at recruitment is designed to ensure that migrant workers are in good health and that their migration thus entails no risk of illness for themselves or the spread of disease in the receiving country ;
5. Considering that migrant workers must be selected according to their physical and mental abilities to prevent their being given employment unsuited to their capabilities ;
6. Considering that efforts should be made in the country of origin to prepare and educate the workers so as to facilitate their adjustment to their new surroundings ;
7. Considering that the well-being of the workers can be achieved only if their material living conditions are satisfactory and that it is essential that they should be provided with suitable living accommodation ;
8. Considering that certain diseases remain latent for a considerable time before becoming apparent ;
9. Considering that whilst workers should be given every opportunity for integration, they must be allowed to preserve their own culture and customs with a view to their possible return to their native country,
Agrees to submit the following proposals to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe :
a to generalise the setting up of selection boards in the country of origin to carry out medical examinations and aptitude tests prior to the departure of the workers ;
b to standardise health criteria with a view to facilitating the recruitment of the workers ;
c to introduce an international health card showing the results of the medical examinations carried out by the selection boards
Note ;
d to provide the workers - through the selection boards - with information covering all aspects of the social life of the receiving country (customs, food, climate, etc.) ;
e to generalise the setting up of social services to take charge of the reception of workers, facilitate administrative formalities and carry out the formalities connected with their employment ;
f to arrange for instruction in the language of the receiving country to be given by the competent administrations ;
g to see that workers obtain employment and are provided with suitable living accommodation ;
h to see that workers are examined regularly by industrial or any other competent medical services
Note ;
i to take all possible measures to prevent the unofficial entry of workers and their unauthorised employment ("travail noir") by firms and recommend that employers be required to declare to the competent authorities, for medical examination purposes, the foreign workers in their employment.
RESOLUTION
on food protectionNote
The Symposium,
1. Considering that food is indispensable for human life and that the prime responsibility of the member countries is to promote a policy which will ensure the production of sufficient food for mankind in future years ;
2. Considering that modern scientific and technical developments are being applied to the production, manufacture, transport, conservation and distribution of food ;
3. Considering that the consumer's health and economic interests must be protected by means of national legislation or international conventions or agreements laying down the highest possible standards,
Agrees to submit the following proposals to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe :
a Foodstuffs which are harmful to health because of toxic additives or contaminants, or pathogenic organisms, or because they have deteriorated and are therefore inedible must be prohibited ;
b Measures should be taken to prevent the consumer being misled by deceptive or unclear information ; he must, in particular, be protected against adulterated or deteriorated foodstuffs and the use of additives without proper indication ;
c Only those food additives should be authorised which are essential to production and protection against deterioration and do not endanger health or conceal inferior quality or careless preparation ; the quantity used should be the minimum necessary to obtain the result desired for the consumer's advantage ; Governments should be invited to establish European lists of authorised additives ; in this context should also be considered the direct and indirect use of oestrogenes and antibiotics ;
d Packing and other material which comes into direct contact with foodstuffs should be the subject of regulation and control ;
e In view of the possible danger to human health of feeding contamined foodstuffs to livestock, animal foodstuffs should be pasteurised and immunised against pathogenic organisms ;
f Foodstuffs should not be subjected to specific processes, especially irradiation, unless such processes are authorised because they have no harmful effects on health ;
g Lists of pesticides of proven effectiveness should be established and their use authorised only where it is necessary in order to ensure a plentiful supply of food ; pesticides which are not eliminated in a short time should not be listed ; these lists should indicate the minimum interval between treatment and harvest as well as admissible quantities of residues in foodstuffs ;
h General food supervision, including the supervision of animal foodstuffs in so far as they are liable to affect human health, should be established at national level in accordance with up-to-date scientific and technical knowledge ;
i Information concerning the existence of contaminated harmful foodstuffs or infringements of agreements or conventions on the subject should be exchanged directly between the various countries, particularly in the case of international trade ;
j International co-ordination in the field of research should also be promoted.
