COMMISSION DECISION
of 28 November 2008
authorising certain Member States to revise their annual BSE monitoring programme
(notified under document number C(2008) 7288)
(Only the texts in Spanish, Danish, German, Greek, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish and
Swedish are authentic)
(2008/908/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 laying downrules for the prevention, control and eradication of certaintransmissible spongiform encephalopathies (
1), and in particular
the second subparagraph of Article 6(1b) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 lays down rules for the
prevention, control and eradication of transmissiblespongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in animals. Itprovides that each Member State is to carry out anannual monitoring programme for TSEs based onactive and passive surveillance, in accordance withAnnex III to that Regulation.
(2) Article 6(1b) of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 providesthat Member States which can demonstrate theimprovement of the epidemiological situation of thecountry, according to certain criteria to be laid downin accordance with the procedure referred to in thatArticle, may apply for their annual monitoringprogrammes to be revised.
(3) Point 7 of Part I of Chapter A of Annex III to Regulation(EC) No 999/2001 lays down information that has to be
submitted to the Commission and epidemiological
criteria that have to be complied with by MembersStates wishing to revise their annual monitoringprogrammes.
(4) On 17 July 2008, the European Food Safety Authorityreleased two scientific opinions relating to the revision ofthe BSE monitoring regime in some Member States.Those opinions provide an assessment on the level ofadditional risk to human and animal health followingthe implementation of a revised BSE monitoring regimein the 15 Member States of the Community before1 May 2004, and conclude that less than one BSE case
would be missed annually in those Member States if theage of the bovine animal covered by the BSE monitoringwas increased from 24 months to 48 months.
(5) On 17 July 2008, Italy submitted to the Commission anapplication to revise its annual BSE monitoringprogramme.
(6) On 7 August 2008, Ireland submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(7) On 13 August 2008, Austria submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(8) On 13 August 2008, Denmark submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(9) On 15 August 2008, the United Kingdom submitted tothe Commission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(10) On 20 August 2008, Luxembourg submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSE
monitoring programme.
(11) On 28 August 2008, Germany submitted to the
Commission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(12) On 28 August 2008, the Netherlands submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(13) On 29 August 2008, Finland submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(14) On 29 August 2008, Sweden submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.EN L 327/24 Official Journal of the European Union 5.12.2008
(1) OJ L 147, 31.5.2001, p. 1.(15) On 4 September 2008, Portugal submitted to the
Commission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(16) On 8 September 2008, France submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(17) On 9 September 2008, Spain submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(18) On 11 September 2008, Belgium submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(19) On 17 September 2008, Greece submitted to theCommission an application to revise its annual BSEmonitoring programme.
(20) On 18 September 2008, applications submitted by those15 Member States were assessed by an ad-hoc workinggroup of experts which concluded that the risk analysesprovided by the Member States in support of their appli­cations were suitable and would ensure the protection ofhuman and animal health. All the requirements laid
down in the third subparagraph of Article 6(1b) and
all the epidemiological criteria set out in point 7 ofPart I of Chapter A of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No999/2001 that Member States have to comply with fordemonstrating the improvement of their epidemiologicalsituation were also checked and found to be met.
(21) It is therefore appropriate to authorise the 15 MemberStates whose applications have been favourably evaluatedto revise their annual monitoring programme and toretain 48 months as the new age limit for BSE testingin those Member States.
(22) Some Member States who joined the Community from1 May 2004 but started the compliance effort duringtheir pre-accession years also submitted to theCommission applications to revise their annual BSE
monitoring programmes. In addition to the scientific
assessment and in order to verify compliance with theepidemiological criteria, the Food and Veterinary Office(FVO) is expected to carry out an inspection in theseMember States and also in those who will apply for areview of their programme. The Commission hasreceived review requests from Slovenia and Cyprus.(23) For practical reasons, it is appropriate that thecommencement date of the revised annual monitoringprogrammes coincides with the Community budgetaryyear.
(24) The measures provided for in this Decision are inaccordance with the opinion of the StandingCommittee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
From 1 January 2009, the Member States listed in the Annex
hereto may revise their annual monitoring programme asprovided for in Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001(the revised annual monitoring programmes).
Article 2
The revised annual monitoring programmes shall apply only to
the national bovine population of the concerned Member Stateand shall cover at least all bovine animals above 48 months ofage belonging to the following subpopulations:
(a) animals as referred to in point 2.2 of Part I of Chapter A of
Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001;
(b) animals as referred to in point 2.1 of Part I of Chapter A of
Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001;
(c) animals as referred to in point 3.1 of Part I of Chapter A of
Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001.
Article 3
This Decision is addressed to the Kingdom of Belgium, the
Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany,Ireland, the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, theFrench Republic, the Italian Republic, the Grand Duchy ofLuxembourg, the Kingdom of Netherlands, the Republic ofAustria, the Portuguese Republic, the Republic of Finland, theKingdom of Sweden and the United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland.
Done at Brussels, 28 November 2008.
For the Commission
Androulla VASSILIOU
Member of the CommissionEN 5.12.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 327/25ANNEX
List of Member States
—Belgium
—Denmark
—Germany
—Ireland
—Greece
—Spain
—France
—Italy
—Luxembourg
—Netherlands
—Austria
—Portugal
—Finland
—Sweden
—United KingdomEN L 327/26 Official Journal of the European Union 5.12.2008