COMMISSION DECISION of 25 November 1998 amending Decision 98/256/EC as regards certain emergency measures to protect against bovine spongiform encephalopathy (notified under document number C(1998) 3773) (Text with EEA relevance) (98/692/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra-Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market (1), as last amended by Directive 92/118/EEC (2), and in particular Article 9(4) thereof,
(1) Whereas Council Decision 98/256/EC of 16 March 1998 concerning emergency measures to protect against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, amending Decision 94/474/EC and repealing Decision 96/239/EC (3), as amended by Commission Decision 98/564/EC (4), provided for a step-by-step approach to the lifting of the ban on the dispatch to other Member States and third countries of products from bovine animals slaughtered in the United Kingdom; whereas the first step was the lifting of the prohibitions on the dispatch of products from bovine animals slaughtered, cut, processed and stored in establishments exclusively used for products destined for dispatch to other Member States and third countries, and located in Northern Ireland; whereas subsequent steps will include the lifting of the prohibition on the processing of eligible meat from Northern Ireland in Great Britain, under conditions which will be laid down at a later stage; whereas the Commission will immediately start investigating, with the authorities of the United Kingdom, by what means and under what conditions those restrictions may be further relaxed;
(2) Whereas the date on which the dispatch of products under the Export Certified Herds Scheme (ECHS) could commence was set at 1 June 1998 by Commission Decision 98/351/EC (5);
(3) Whereas the United Kingdom put forward a first proposal for a Date-Based Export Scheme (DBES) with a view to permitting, subject to certain conditions, the dispatch of products from animals born after a certain date to the Commission on 2 October 1997; whereas the Scientific Steering Committee concluded at its meetings of 8 and 9 December 1997 and 22 and 23 January 1998 that that proposal was not adequate; whereas the United Kingdom put forward a modified proposal dated 27 January 1998; whereas the Scientific Steering Committee issued an opinion on that revised proposal on 20 February 1998 stating that the revised proposal responded to the suggestions and questions formulated by the Scientific Steering Committee;
(4) Whereas the feeding of ruminant protein to ruminants has been illegal in the United Kingdom since January 1989; whereas a total ban on the feeding of mammalian meat-and-bone meal was introduced in 1994; whereas the feeding of any mammalian meat-and-bone meal to all farmed livestock was banned on 4 April 1996; whereas by 1 August 1996 all feed containing mammalian meat-and-bone meal in the United Kingdom had been recalled and premises in which it had been stored were required to be cleansed and disinfected; whereas from that date it became a legal offence to sell or supply any mammalian meat-and-bone meal for incorporation into livestock feed or to feed livestock any feed containing mammalian meat-and-bone meal or to possess mammalian meat-and-bone meal wherever farm feed was stored or prepared; whereas the monitoring programme, in existence since 1 February 1996, to check that no mammalian meat-and-bone meal was being incorporated in livestock feed after 1 August 1996 has been extended; whereas the results of that programme demonstrated adequate compliance with the prohibition on incorporating mammalian meat-and-bone meal or protein in ruminant feedingstuffs from 1 August 1996; whereas therefore, adequate guarantees have been given that cattle born after 1 August 1996 have not been exposed to a risk of infection in feed;
(5) Whereas a mission of the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection and Control Office of the Commission to the United Kingdom from 22 to 26 July 1996 assessing the effectiveness of the feed ban and the feed recall scheme confirmed that adequate guarantees on compliance were given;
(6) Whereas the United Kingdom is required to ensure that all offspring born after 1 August 1996 of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) cases are slaughtered and destroyed with a view to subsequent incineration before dispatch under the DBES can commence; whereas the United Kingdom is also required to ensure that the dams of eligible animals have not contracted BSE at the time of slaughter of the eligible animal and have been alive for six months after the birth of the eligible animal; whereas those measures adequately address the risk of maternal transmission of BSE to an eligible animal;
(7) Whereas the United Kingdom has introduced a bovine passport system in Great Britain for bovine animals born on or after 1 July 1996; whereas that system allows accurate verification of the identity of eligible animals, their date of birth and their dam; whereas the veterinary inspection services of the Commission assessed the effective implementation of that passport system during a mission from 30 September to 4 October 1996; whereas the United Kingdom intends to introduce a system of official controls and evidence provided by farmers to verify the survival of dams for six months;
(8) Whereas this Decision should lay down a system of special approval of meat plants participating in the DBES; whereas an establishment approved under the DBES should not be allowed to slaughter bovine animals and process and handle meat ineligible for dispatch to the other Member States or third countries under the rules concerning the DBES, the ECHS and the redispatch of meat from animals slaughtered outside the United Kingdom; whereas cold-stores approved under the DBES should store meat eligible for dispatch in dedicated chambers;
(9) Whereas the strict control provisions, including the additional health mark laid down in Decision 98/256/EC for the processing and dispatch of imported meat and for the ECHS should also apply to meat and meat products eligible under the DBES;
(10) Whereas the United Kingdom has guaranteed that at least one official veterinarian will be permanently present in slaughterhouses approved under the DBES throughout ante-mortem and post-mortem examinations; whereas the United Kingdom has undertaken to ensure the daily presence of an official veterinarian in cutting-plants approved under the DBES;
(11) Whereas the Food and Veterinary Office of the Commission conducted a mission to the United Kingdom from 20 to 24 July to assess the DBES; whereas the mission report recommended that the United Kingdom clarify the method of verification of the survival of the dam for six months, and the information becoming available after slaughter which would render the meat and products thereof ineligible; whereas the United Kingdom has agreed to further improvements to comply with those recommendations; whereas it was also recommended that the conditions of the proposal be clarified with respect to the offspring cull in order to take into account both the intention of the UK to directly incinerate the animals and the foreseeable fact that not all offspring (100 %) will be traceable; whereas minor amendments have been made to the proposal to comply with those recommendations;
(12) Whereas the measures for implementation of the DBES and the offspring cull will be examined by a mission of the Food and Veterinary Office of the Commission before the dispatch of meat and meat products may commence; whereas if that examination is satisfactory the Commission will set the date on which dispatch may commence;
(13) Whereas animals presented for slaughter under the ECHS or the DBES must meet all of the relevant conditions laid down in this Decision; whereas, if it it discovered after slaughter of an animal under one of those schemes that it should have been considered ineligible, the competent authority must take the necessary measures to prevent the dispatch of products from that animal; whereas if any product from an animal subsequently found to be ineligible has been dispatched, the measures laid down in Article 9 of Directive 89/662/EEC must be applied;
(14) Whereas it is therefore appropriate to lay down the rules for the DBES as a step to lifting the prohibition on the dispatch of fresh deboned meat and certain products made from that fresh deboned meat, from bovine animals slaughtered in the United Kingdom;
(15) Whereas a revision of the Animal Health Code of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) on BSE (OIE Code on BSE) was adopted in the general assembly of the OIE in Paris on 29 May 1998; whereas Article 3.2.13.9. of that Code recommends conditions for the import of deboned meat and meat products from cattle from a country or zone with a high incidence of BSE; whereas the conditions laid down in this Decision are in conformity with that Article of the OIE Code on BSE;
(16) Whereas Article 3.2.13.9. of the OIE Code on BSE requires Veterinary Administrations, when goods are imported from a country or zone with a high incidence of BSE, to require the presentation of an international certificate attesting that the conditions of that Article are complied with; whereas adequate guarantees should be provided on re-entry into the Community of meat originating from bovine animals slaughtered in the United Kingdom that when the corresponding consignments were exported, the Community requirements were met; whereas, therefore, the certificate referred to in Article 3.2.13.9. of the OIE Code on BSE should accompany the consignment on exportation;
(17) Whereas, in view of the low level of risk, it is appropriate to authorise, subject to certain conditions, the dispatch of food for domestic carnivores;
(18) Whereas the scope of the provisions relating to cold store chambers, to the separation requirements for eligible animals and products during slaughter, cutting, processing and cold storage, and to identification of serial numbers should be clarified;
(19) Whereas Decision 98/256/EC should therefore be amended accordingly;
(20) Whereas the Standing Veterinary Committee has not given a favourable opinion; whereas the Commission has therefore proposed these measures to the Council on 13 November 1998 in accordance with Article 17 of Directive 89/662/EEC, the Council being required to act within 15 days;
(21) Whereas, however, the Council has not acted within the required time limit; whereas the Council has not decided against the proposed measures by simple majority within the same time limit; whereas these measures should now be adopted by the Commission,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
Decision 98/256/EC is amended as follows:
(1) Article 6 is replaced by the following:
'Article 6
1. By way of derogation from Article 3, the United Kingdom may authorise the dispatch to other Member States or to third countries of the following products derived from bovine animals born and reared in the United Kingdom which have been slaughtered in the United Kingdom in slaughterhouses which are not used for the slaughter of any ineligible bovine animal, in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Article, Article 7, Articles 9 to 12 and Annex II or, as appropriate, Annex III:
(a) "fresh meat" as defined by Directive 64/433/EEC;
(b) "minced meat" and "meat preparations" as defined by Council Directive 94/65/EC (*);
(c) "meat products" as defined by Council Directive 77/99/EEC (**);
(d) food which is destined for domestic carnivores.
2. The fresh meat referred to in paragraph 1(a) shall be deboned and all adherent tissues, including obvious nervous and lymphatic tissues, shall be removed in cutting plants in the United Kingdom which are not used for cutting any ineligible bovine products. Cold storage shall take place in the United Kingdom in chambers which are not used for storing any ineligible bovine products and are kept locked under the seal of the competent authority when the latter is not present. Cutting, storage and transport shall be carried out in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 7, Articles 9 to 12 and Annex II or, as appropriate, Annex III.
3. The fresh meat referred to in paragraph 1(a) may be used for the production of products referred to in paragraph 1(b), (c) and (d) in establishments in the United Kingdom which are not used for the production of any ineligible bovine products, in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Article, in Article 7, Articles 9 to 12 and Annex II or, as appropriate, Annex III.
4. For the purposes of this Article, eligible products means products referred to in paragraph 1 and products derived from bovine animals not slaughtered in the United Kingdom which comply with the conditions laid down in Articles 9 to 13.
5. The Commission, after having verified the application of all the provisions of this Decision on the basis of Community inspections and after having informed the Member States, shall set the date on which dispatch of the products referred to in Annex III may commence.
6. The Commission shall review the provisions of this Article at least every three months and shall take appropriate measures in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Directive 89/662/EEC.
7. For the purpose of this Decision "chamber" shall mean a room or any other structure within a room which provides a secure lockable physical barrier.
(*) OJ L 368, 31.12.1994, p. 10.
(**) OJ L 26, 31.1.1977, p. 85.`
(2) Article 10 is amended as follows:
(a) In point (b) of paragraph 1 the words 'Articles 9, 11, 12 and 13` are replaced by the words 'Articles 6, 9, 11, 12 and 13`;
(b) Paragraph 3 is amended as follows:
(i) In the second subparagraph the words 'their serial numbers in the consignment` are replaced by the words 'the relevant numbers in the consignment ensuring traceability of each individual unit`;
(ii) In the third subparagraph the words 'their serial numbers in the consignment` are replaced by the words 'the relevant numbers in the consignment ensuring traceability of each individual unit`;
(iii) The following subparagraph is added:
'Where those products are dispatched to third countries, they shall be accompanied by a health certificate, issued by an official veterinarian, stating that the conditions laid down in Decision 98/256/EC have been complied with`.
(3) Annex II is replaced by the text in Annex I to this Decision.
(4) Annex III, as set out in Annex II to this Decision, is added.
Article 2
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 25 November 1998.