Commission Decision
of 15 February 2001
amending Decision 97/252/EC drawing up provisional lists of third country establishments from which the Member States authorise imports of milk and milk products for human consumption
(notified under document number C(2001) 378)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2001/177/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Decision 95/408/EC of 22 June 1995 on the conditions for drawing up, for an interim period, provisional lists of third country establishments from which Member States are authorised to import certain products of animal origin, fishery products or live bivalve molluscs(1), as last amended by Council Decision 98/603/EC(2), and in particular Article 5 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Decision 95/340/EC(3), as last amended by Decision 96/584/EC(4), draws up a list of non-member countries from which the Member States authorise imports of milk and milk products.
(2) The health and veterinary importation conditions and certification requirements for imports of milk and milk products intended for human consumption from the countries appearing on that list have been laid down respectively in Commission Decisions 95/342/EC(5) and 95/343/EC(6), as last amended by Decision 97/115/EC(7).
(3) The Commission has received from certain non-member countries lists of establishments, with guarantees that they fully meet the appropriate Community health requirements and that should an establishment fail to do so its export activities to the European Community will be suspended.
(4) The Commission has received from certain non-member countries the relevant residue monitoring plan and programme for milk and milk products intended for human consumption, as required by Directive 96/23/EC(8).
(5) Commission Decision 97/252/EC(9), as last amended by Decision 1999/52/EC(10) has drawn up provisional lists of non-member country establishments from which the Member States authorise imports of milk and milk-based products for human consumption.
(6) Certain non-member countries have notified modifications to the lists of establishments appearing in Decision 97/252/EC, and have provided the Commission with satisfactory guarantees that they meet the relevant Community health requirements for exportation to the Community.
(7) The Member States were informed of these modifications through the procedure laid down in Article 5 of Decision 95/408/EC.
(8) The Food and Veterinary Office carried out inspections in most of the countries appearing on those lists and visited a representative sample of establishments to ascertain their conformity with the Community requirements, and the validity of the guarantees provided by the competent authorities.
(9) Following Article 2(4) of Decision 95/408/EC, those non-member countries' establishments where on-the-spot checks have not yet been carried out by the Commission but which met all the other conditions of Article 2(1) may appear on the lists. However, imports from such establishments will not be eligible for reduced physical checks.
(10) Following Article 5(4) of Decision 95/408/EC, the Commission shall regularly adopt the decisions necessary to update the lists of establishments, and shall publish them in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
(11) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Veterinary Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
The Annex to Decision 97/252/EC is replaced by the Annex to this Decision.
Article 2
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 15 February 2001.