WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
G/SPS/GEN/1161 
2 July 2012 
 (12-3533) 
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
RESTRICTION TO TRADE ADOPTED IN RELATION TO THE OCCURRENCE OF THE 
SCHMALLENBERG VIRUS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION  
 
Communication from the European Union 
 
 
 The following communication, received on 29 June 2012, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the European Union. 
_______________ 
Summary 
The European Union continues to act in full transp arency and share regular information with all WTO 
Members on the Schmallenberg virus situation.  New scientific findings, the evolution of the 
epidemiological situation, reports published by  EFSA and ECDC and the conclusions of the 80th OIE 
General Session provide sufficient justification to  request that all WTO Members imposing trade 
restrictions related to Schmallenberg  virus remove them without delay.  
Such restrictions are untenable and do not corres pond to the basic principles enshrined in the SPS 
Agreement, namely of scientific justifica tion, proportionality and non-discrimination. 
The current situation represents a crucial test for th e international community to demonstrate that any 
WTO Member that follows international standards and acts within the spirit of the SPS Agreement – 
particularly by respecting the principle of transparency - will not be unduly penalised.  
 
1. Following information shared during the pr evious SPS Committee meeting, the European 
Union is pleased to provide an update on the evol ution of the situation as regards the Schmallenberg 
virus (SBV) infection.  
2. Since the appearance and detection of the SBV in fection in the European Union, the European 
Commission, working in close cooperation with th e EU member States, has closely followed the 
issue, coordinated the EU response and ensured that  the European Union and its member States apply 
a policy of full transparency towards stak eholders and third country partners.  
3. This included several initiatives:  
(i) the immediate notifications to the OIE ma de by the affected EU member States1 in the 
context of the procedure foreseen for emerging diseases; 
                                                      
 1 Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain G/SPS/GEN/1161 
Page 2  
 
  (ii) the creation of a specific website with all the relevant information on SBV
2;  
(iii) the organisation of a one-day scientific seminar on the "Management of the 
Schmallenberg Virus"3; 
(iv) numerous bilateral discussions with EU trading partners; 
(v) sharing the latest scientific findings with the OIE; 
(vi) the issuance of three scientific reports by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA);  
and 
(vii) the risk assessment issued by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC). 
4. It should be underlined that, in the past few months, additional substantial evidence has been 
gathered confirming that SBV has a very minor impact on livestock production (around four thousand 
cases in newborn ruminants which counts for less th an 0,002 per cent of the susceptible ruminant 
population in the European Union).  The EFSA reports on the epidemiology4 of this virus and its 
impact5 show a clear decline in the number of malformed SBV-positive newborn animals after 
February 2012.  From the conclusions of the reports, the impact on the 2012-2013 calving season 
should be even lower in the regions already affected by this virus.  
5. The ECDC latest assessment, based on scientif ic studies performed in Germany and in the 
Netherlands, concludes that the risk of infection of humans exposed to SBV is absent or extremely 
low and that it is very unlikely that SBV poses a risk to humans.6 
6. In the light of the scientific information made available by the European Union, the OIE has 
developed and updated a technical factsheet7 which was the basis for a constructive discussion at the 
80th OIE General Session on 20-26 May 2012 in Paris.  On this issue, the World Assembly of 
Delegates concluded that:  
(i) the risk posed by commoditi es such as meat, milk, semen and embryos is negligible; 
(ii) the conditions to consider this infection as an emerging disease are no longer met;  and 
(iii) the disease does not meet the criteria for listing by the OIE. 
7. The conclusions of the OIE, based on scientific evidence, clearly support the EU's view with 
respect to the management of the risk that the trade in animals an d products may represent and that 
the SBV virus deserves the same approach as for ot her viruses of the Simbu serogroup (e.g. Sathuperi, 
Shamonda, Douglas and Akabane). 
8. In the light of these developments, in early June 2012, the eight EU member States that 
notified the occurrence of SBV to the OIE in their territory informed the OIE and its members, via 
World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS), that the SBV would no longer be considered as 
an emerging disease in the EU and that events were resolved.  
9. Nevertheless, appropriate inves tigations and scientific research continue in the affected 
countries with the financial support of the Euro pean Union.  EFSA will continue to monitor 
                                                      
 2 http://ec.europa.eu/food/sbv   
 3 http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/diseases/sch mallenberg_virus/scientific_seminar_en.htm   
 4 http://www.efsa.europa.eu/ en/supporting/doc/277e.pdf   
 5 http://www.efsa.europa.eu/ en/efsajournal/pub/2768.htm   
 6 http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/healthtopics/s chmallenberg-virus/Pages/index.aspx   
 7 http://www.oie.int/fileadmin/Home/eng/Our_scientif ic_expertise/docs/pdf/A_Schmallenberg_virus.pdf    G/SPS/GEN/1161 
 Page 3 
 
 
  developments and update its reports. The European Union remains committed to inform third country 
partners of new significant scientific or epid emiological developments in a timely manner. 
10. Given all the scientific knowledge that has been accumulated and made available  
to the scientific community and following the positi on adopted by the OIE, the European Union urges 
third countries that have adopted restrictive meas ures on imports of meat, milk, semen and embryos 
from the European Union to remove those restricti ons.  These restrictions are neither scientifically 
justified nor proportionate due to the neg ligible risk posed by these commodities. 
11. The European Union also considers that any me asures adopted should be  taken in compliance 
with the SPS Agreement, namely the basic principles  of scientific justification, proportionality and 
non-discrimination.  This implies that third countries applying those measures should be able to 
demonstrate that they are free from SBV and that similar measures are also applied against other 
viruses of the Simbu serogroup in their own territory and when dealing with other trading partners.  
12. The elements, data, and arguments presented in this communication are fully and 
unanimously backed by all EU Chief Veterinary Officers meeting in June 2012, in Denmark, as 
detailed in their statement of 8 June 2012.8  Apart from re-iterating the points highlighted above, this 
statement demonstrates the strong political will that  exists for a coordinated and unified approach 
towards this issue by the European Union.  
13. In the next few years, newly available techniqu es, such as the metagenomic analysis that was 
applied by the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Germany, to detect SBV9, will likely lead to the detection of 
previously unknown viruses and disease agents all over the world, which may or may not have a 
significant impact on animal or human health.  Th is situation represents a crucial test for the 
international community to demonstrate that any member of our community that follows international 
standards and acts within the spirit of the SPS Agreement will not be unduly penalised.  
14. It is of paramount importance that transparen cy be encouraged to ensure timely disease 
notification and adequate early response for any, an d all, future emerging diseases that might occur.  
15. The European Union is ready to work with others to ensure such transpar ency but it is equally 
ready to raise any unjustified trade restrictions in  both the SPS Committee and the OIE as appropriate.  
16. In conclusion, the European Union requests that, in light of the in-depth information provided 
above, all restrictions imposed as a result of th e occurrence of Schmallenberg on EU exports are 
unequivocally withdrawn.  
17. In that context, the European Union is willi ng to maintain an open and constructive dialogue 
with the aim of improving animal health in all corners of the globe. 
 
__________  
                                                      
 8 http://ec.europa.eu/food/anima l/diseases/schmallenberg_virus/docs/statement_cvo_june_en.pdf   
 9 http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/3/11-1905_article.htm