24. 3. 80 Official  Journal  of the European  Communities No C 72/27 
Opinion  on the proposal  for a Council  Directive  amending  Directive  64/432/EEC  as re-
gards  tuberculosis  and brucellosis 
The text referred  to the Committee  has been  published  in Official  Journal  of the Euro-
pean  Communities  No C 268 of 23 October  1979  page  2. 
A. LEGAL  BASIS  FOR  THE  OPINION 
On 15 October  1979  the Council  referred  the abovementioned  proposal  to the Economic 
and Social  Committee  in accordance  with  Article  198 of the Treaty  establishing  the Eu-
ropean  Economic  Community. 
B. OPINION  OF THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
The Economic  and Social  Committee  prepared  its opinion  on the above  matter  at its 
173rd  plenary  session  held  in Brussels  on 21 November  1979. 
The full text of the opinion  is as follows: 
THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE, 
Having  regard  to the Treaty  establishing  the Euro-
pean  Economic  Community  and,  in particular,  Arti-
cle 198 thereof, 
Having  regard  to the request  made  by the Council  on 
15 October  1979  for an opinion  of the Economic  and 
Social  Committee, 
Having  regard  to Article  18 of the Committee's  Rules 
of Procedure, 
Having  regard  to the oral  report  made  by the Rap-
porteur-General,  Mr Wick, 
Having  regard  to the discussions  at its 173rd  Plenary 
Session  held  on 21 November  1979, 
HAS  ADOPTED  THE  FOLLOWING  OPINION, 
unanimously: 
The Committee  approves  the Commision's  proposal, 
subject  to the following  comments: 
I. General  comments 
1. The  Committee  approves  the basic  object  of the 
proposal,  namely  to harmonize  and  simplify  pro-
cedures  in the field  of EEC  veterinary  medicine. 
2. The  Committee  considers  that the cause  of sim-
plification  would  be furthered  if the language  used  in 
the proposal  were  — subject-matter  permitting  — as 
clear  as possible. II. Specific  comments 
Article  1(1) 
The reservations  expressed  in the general  comments 
apply  particularly  to Article  1(1)  which  provides  for 
a new  paragraph  14 dealing  with  tuberculosis.  The 
Directive  would  be more  consistent  if the ideas  and 
wording  used  in paragraph  14 were  as far as possible 
brought  into  line  with  the preceding  paragraph  13 
(on brucellosis).  This  is particularly  true  of the term 
'region'  (Teilgebiet  in German).  The  Committee 
assumes  that the concept  of 'region'  has already  been 
defined. 
Article  1 (2 a) 
The Committee  would  like to see a review  of the age 
limits  set for animals  in the light  of scientific  find-
ings and practical  possibilities. 
Article  1 (2 b) 
The Committee  would  point  out that  the new  dead-
line is obviously  wrong.  Instead  of 31 December  1982 
the new  date  should  be 31 December  1981. 
Article  1 (3) 
The wording  describing  the process  whereby  the 'of-
ficially  tuberculosis-free'  status  is restored  after  hav-
ing been  temporarily  suspended  is confusing.  The 
phrase'...  two months  after  complete  elimination  of 
the infection  in the herd  ...' is particularly  mis-
No C 72/28 Official  Journal  of the European  Communities 24. 3. 80 
leading.  What  is obviously  meant  is'...  two  months 
after  removal  from  the herd  of animals  which  have 
reacted  positively  to tests...'  The  Committee  recom-
mends  that  the ambiguous  passage  be removed  and 
replaced  by the sort  of phrase  suggested  above. 
Article  1 (4) 
Article  1 (4) of the new  proposal  concerns  changes 
and additions  to Annex  A of the Directive.  All of the 
changes  and  additions  apply  to brucellosis  and  are 
concerned  in particular  with  'castrated  males'.  Tests carried  out  under  the auspices  of the Community 
have  shown  that  castrated  animals  can  assimilate 
brucella  pathogens  and  that  transmission  through 
body  waste  cannot  be ruled  out.  Since  'castrated 
males  over  30 months  of age'  scarcely  exist  in any 
great  number  in real  life,  there  does  not seem  much 
point  in subjecting  this  category  alone  to official 
tests.  The  Committee  is much  more  in favour  of all 
castrated  males  over  12 months  being  subjected  to 
testing  — at least  when  it is a question  of bovine 
herds  acquiring  the status  'officially  tuberculosis-
free'  for the first  time. 
Done  at Brussels,  21 November  1979. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic  and Social  Committee 
Raffaele  VANNI