IV.

Section VIII: Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, Appendix 1 of Annex 11 to the Agriculture Agreement is replaced by the following: ‘VIII. Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies A. LEGISLATION (6) European Union Switzerland 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 (OJ L 147, 31.5.2001, p. 1). 1. Ordinance of 23 April 2008 on animal welfare (OPAn; RS 455.1), in particular Article 184 thereof (stunning procedures); 2. Ordinance of 18 April 2007 on the import, transit and export of animals and animal products (OITE; RS 916.443.10); 3. Law of 9 October 1992 on foodstuffs and consumer products (LDAl; RS 817.0), and in particular Articles 24 (Inspection and sampling), 40 (Inspection of foodstuffs); 4. Ordinance of 23 November 2005 on foodstuffs of animal origin (RS 817.022.108), and in particular Articles 4 and 7 thereof (parts of the carcass which may not be used); 5. Ordinance of 27 June 1995 on epizootic diseases (OFE; RS 916.401), and in particular Articles 6 (definitions and abbreviations), 36 (patents), 61 (obligation to report), 130 (surveillance of Swiss livestock), 175 to 181 (transmissible spongiform encephalopathies), 297 (internal implementation), 301 (duties of the canton veterinarian), 303 (training and further training of veterinary officials) and 312 (diagnostic laboratories); 6. Ordinance of 10 June 1999 on the catalogue of feedingstuffs (OLALA; RS 916.307.1), and in particular Article 28 (transport of feedingstuffs for productive animals), Annex 1, Part 9 (products of land animals), Part 10 (fish, other marine animals and their products and by-products), and Annex 4 (list of banned substances); 7. Ordinance of 25 May 2011 on the disposal of animal by-products (OESPA; RS 916.441.22). B. SPECIAL RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR IMPLEMENTATION 1. The European Union reference laboratory for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) shall be the Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA), Woodham Lane, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey KT 15 3NB, United Kingdom. Switzerland shall pay the costs for which it is liable for operations carried out by the laboratory in that capacity. The functions and tasks of the laboratory shall be as laid down in Chapter B of Annex X to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001. 2. Pursuant to Article 57 of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases, Switzerland has established an emergency plan for implementing measures to combat TSEs. 3. Under Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001, any animal suspected of being infected by a TSE in the Member States of the European Union shall be placed under an official movement restriction until the results of a clinical and epidemiological examination carried out by the competent authority are known, or sacrificed for laboratory examination under official control. In accordance with Articles 179b and 180a of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases, Switzerland has banned the slaughter of animals suspected of being infected by a TSE. Suspect animals must be killed without spilling blood and incinerated, and their brains must be analysed in the Swiss reference laboratory for TSEs. Under Article 10 of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases, Switzerland has introduced a permanent identification system for bovine animals enabling them to be traced back to the dam and herd of origin and making it possible to establish that they are not the progeny of BSE suspect females or BSE confirmed bovine animals. Pursuant to Article 179c of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases, Switzerland slaughters animals infected with BSE, at the latest by the end of the production phase, all animals of the bovine species born between one year before and one year after the birth of the contaminated animal and which, over this period of time, were part of the herd, and all the direct descendants of the contaminated cows born in the two years which preceded the diagnosis. 4. Pursuant to Article 180b of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases, Switzerland slaughters animals infected with scrapie, their dams and the direct descendants of contaminated dams, as well as all the other sheep and goats in the herd, with the exception of: — sheep carrying at least one ARR allele and no VRQ allele; and — animals of less than two months old which are intended solely for slaughter. The head and organs of the abdominal cavity of these animals are disposed of in accordance with the provisions of the Ordinance on the elimination of animal by-products (OESPA). By way of exception, in the case of breeds which are low in number, the herd does not have to be slaughtered. In this case, the herd is placed under official veterinary surveillance for a period of two years during which a clinical examination of the animals in the herd is carried out twice a year. If during this period animals are presented for slaughter, their heads, including tonsils, are subjected to an analysis by the Swiss reference laboratory for TSEs. These measures are reviewed according to the findings from animal health monitoring. In particular, the monitoring period is extended if a new case of the disease is detected in the herd. In the event of a confirmed case of BSE in a sheep or goat, Switzerland undertakes to apply the measures laid down in Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001. 5. Under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001, the Member States of the European Union prohibit the feeding of processed animal proteins to farmed animals which are kept, fattened or bred for the production of food. There is a total prohibition on feeding proteins derived from animals to ruminants in the Member States of the European Union. Under Article 27 of the Ordinance on the elimination of animal by-products (OESPA), Switzerland has introduced a total prohibition on the feeding of animal protein to farmed animals. 6. Under Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 and in accordance with Chapter A of Annex III to that Regulation, the Member States of the European Union are to introduce an annual BSE monitoring programme. This plan includes a rapid BSE test for all cattle more than 24 months old subject to emergency slaughter, animals which have died on the farm or found to be ill during the ante mortem inspection and all animals more than 30 months old slaughtered for human consumption. The rapid BSE tests used by Switzerland are listed in Chapter C of Annex X to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001. Under Article 179 of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases, Switzerland is to carry out a compulsory rapid BSE test for all bovine animals more than 30 months old subject to emergency slaughter, animals which have died on the farm or been found to be ill during the ante mortem inspection and all animals more than 30 months old slaughtered for human consumption. 7. Under Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 and in accordance with Chapter A of Annex III to that Regulation, the EU Member States are to introduce an annual monitoring programme for scrapie. In application of the provisions of Article 177 of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases, Switzerland has introduced a TSE monitoring programme for ovine and caprine animals more than 12 months old. Animals which are subject to emergency slaughter, have died on the farm or have been found to be ill during the ante mortem inspection and all animals slaughtered for human consumption were examined over the period from June 2004 to July 2005. As all the samples tested negative for BSE, samples for monitoring purposes are taken from clinical suspect animals, animals subject to emergency slaughter and animals which died on the farm. The recognition of similarities in legislation governing the monitoring of TSEs in ovine and caprine animals will be reconsidered by the Joint Veterinary Committee. 8. The Joint Veterinary Committee is responsible for providing the information required in Article 6 and Chapter B of Annex III and in Annex IV (3.III) to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001. 9. On-the-spot inspections are carried out under the responsibility of the Joint Veterinary Committee in accordance in particular with Article 21 of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 and Article 57 of the Law on epizootic diseases. C. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 1. From 1 January 2003, and pursuant to the Ordinance of 10 November 2004 on the allocation of contributions to cover the costs of eliminating animal waste in 2003 (RS 916.407), Switzerland has introduced a financial incentive for farms on which bovine animals are born and slaughterhouses where they are slaughtered, provided they comply with the procedures for declaring animal movements as provided for in the legislation in force. 2. Under Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 and in accordance with point 1 of Annex XI to that Regulation, the Member States of the European Union are to remove and destroy specified risk materials (SRMs). The list of SRMs removed from bovine animals comprises the skull, excluding the mandible but including the brain and eyes, and the spinal cord of bovine animals aged over 12 months; the spinal column, excluding the vertebrae of the tail, the spinous and transversal processes of the cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and the median sacral crest and the wings of the sacrum, but including the dorsal root ganglia and spinal cord of bovine animals aged over 24 months; the tonsils, the intestines from the duodenum to the rectum and the mesentery of bovine animals of all ages. The list of SRMs removed from ovine and caprine animals comprises the skull, including the brain and eyes, the tonsils and the spinal cord of ovine and caprine animals aged over 12 months or which have a permanent incisor erupted through the gum, and the spleen and ileum of ovine and caprine animals of all ages. Under Article 179d of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases and Article 4 of the Ordinance on foodstuffs of animal origin, Switzerland has introduced a policy of removing SRMs from the animal and human food chains. The list of SRMs removed from bovine animals comprises in particular the spinal column of animals aged over 30 months, and the tonsils, intestines from the duodenum to the rectum, and mesentery of animals of all ages. Under Article 180c of the Ordinance on epizootic diseases and Article 4 of the Ordinance on foodstuffs of animal origin, Switzerland has introduced a policy of removing SRMs from the animal and human food chains. The list of SRMs removed from ovine and caprine animals includes in particular the brain in the cranial cavity, the spinal chord with the dura mater and the tonsils of animals aged over 12 months or which have a permanent incisor erupted through the gum, and the spleen and ileum of animals of all ages. 3. Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 (7) and Regulation (EU) No 142/2011 (8) lay down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption in the Member States of the European Union. Under Article 22 of the Ordinance on the elimination of animal by-products, Switzerland is to incinerate category 1 animal by-products, including specified risk materials and animals which have died on the farm.