HAMBURG - Germany on Friday announced an action plan to enforce higher standards in animal feed production after a health alert following the discovery of the highly toxic chemical dioxin in feed.

German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner displays the action plan of her ministry before addressing a news conference in Berlin January 14, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

German and European Union authorities are struggling to contain a health alert which began on January 3 when German officials said dioxin-tainted feed had been fed to hens and pigs, contaminating eggs and poultry meat at the affected farms.

There will be a new licensing system for producers of oils and fats for animal feed use plus a compulsory separation of oils and fats output for use in industrial and animal feed, German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said.

Animal feed producers will also be compelled to take out extra insurance as part of moves to raise standards in the industry, she said.

The plan also involves a new duty on animal feed producers to their ingredients themselves and to give all test results to the authorities, she said.

Private testing laboratories which discover suspect components in animal feed or food will also have a duty to report the findings.

Germany will also press at a European Union level for a list of ingredients permitted in feed, this could not be done by Germany alone, Aigner said.

The government will investigate expanding the criminal law to food and feed safety regulations, possibly making infringements of food safety law a criminal rather than civil offence.

An early warning system will also be created for dioxin testing by pooling test results in a data bank. Overall testing quality must be improved and local authorities must make dioxin finds public immediately, she said.

Prosecutors in Germany are investigating the cause of the contamination and specifically whether industrial fats and feeds company Harles and Jentzsch distributed fatty acids meant for industrial paper production to animal feed processors. The company has declared insolvency.

German sales of eggs, chicken and pork have slumped following the dioxin alert, the country's food industry association said on Thursday.

China on Wednesday suspended imports of pork and egg products from Germany because of dioxin fears, following an earlier move by South Korea.

Dioxins are toxins formed by burning waste and through other industrial processes, which have been shown to contribute to increased cancer rates and to affect pregnant women.