Commission Regulation (EC) No 1139/2003
of 27 June 2003
amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards monitoring programmes and specified risk material
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 down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies(1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1003/2003(2), and in particular Article 23 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 lays down rules for the monitoring of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) in ovine and caprine animals, including monitoring of a sample of animals not slaughtered for human consumption. It is necessary to clarify the definition of this group of animals, in order to avoid the inappropriate targeting of samples.
(2) Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 provides for eradication measures following the confirmation of TSE in ovine and caprine animals. Targeted testing should be carried out on animals destroyed under these measures, in order to gather epidemiological information.
(3) There is a theoretical possibility that BSE may exist in the ovine and caprine population. It is not possible using routine methods to distinguish between BSE and scrapie infection in these animals. The level of infectivity in the ileum in both diseases is significant from an early stage of infection. As a precautionary measure, the ileum of ovine and caprine animals of all ages should be added to the list of specified risk materials.
(4) In its opinion of 7 and 8 November 2002 on TSE infectivity distribution in ruminant tissues, the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) recommended that tonsils of bovine animals of any age should be regarded as posing a risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
(5) The SSC has stated that contamination with central nervous tissue and tonsil material are to be avoided when harvesting head meat and tongues of bovine animals for human consumption, to avoid any risk of BSE.
(6) As the condition of heads depends mainly on their careful handling and a safe sealing of the frontal shot hole and the foramen magnum, control systems must be in place in the slaughterhouses and in the specifically authorised cutting plants.
(7) The rules to dispatch carcases, half carcases and quarter carcases containing no specified risk material other than vertebral column to other Member States without the latter's prior agreement should be expanded to half carcases cut into no more than three wholesale cuts reflecting the actual trade between Member States.
(8) Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council(3), amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 808/2003(4), lays down animal and public health rules for the collection, transport, storage, handling, processing and use or disposal of all animal by-products not intended for human consumption, including their placing on the market and, in certain specific cases, their export and transit. Special rules on removal and disposal of such products provided for in Annex XI to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 should therefore be deleted.
(9) Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(10) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Annexes III and XI to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply from 1 October 2003.
The new provision of Annex XI, Part A, point 1(a)(ii) to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001, as set out in point 2 of the Annex to this Regulation, shall apply to animals slaughtered from 1 October 2003 onwards.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 27 June 2003.