ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(80)87
Vol.1980/0030

Disclaimer
Conformément aurèglement(CEE,Euratom)n°354/83duConseildu1erfévrier1983
concernantl'ouvertureaupublicdesarchiveshistoriquesdelaCommunauté économique
européenne etdelaCommunauté européenne del'énergieatomique(JOL43du15.2.1983,
p.1),telquemodifiéparlerèglement(CE,Euratom)n°1700/2003du22septembre2003
(JOL243du27.9.2003,p.1),cedossierestouvertaupublic.Lecaséchéant,lesdocuments
classifiésprésentsdanscedossierontétédéclassifiés conformément àl'article5dudit
règlement.
Inaccordance withCouncilRegulation(EEC,Euratom)No354/83of1February1983
concerningtheopeningtothepublicofthehistoricalarchivesoftheEuropeanEconomic
Community andtheEuropeanAtomicEnergyCommunity (OJL43,15.2.1983,p.1),as
amendedbyRegulation(EC,Euratom)No1700/2003of22September2003(OJL243,
27.9.2003,p.1),thisfileisopentothepublic.Wherenecessary,classifieddocuments inthis
filehavebeendeclassified inconformitywithArticle5oftheaforementioned regulation.
InÜbereinstimmung mitderVerordnung(EWG,Euratom)Nr.354/83desRatesvom1.
Februar1983überdieFreigabederhistorischen ArchivederEuropäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft undderEuropäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI.L43vom15.2.1983,
S.1),geändertdurchdieVerordnung (EG,Euratom)Nr.1700/2003vom22.September2003
(ABI.L243vom27.9.2003,S.1),istdieseDateiderÖffentlichkeit zugänglich.Soweit
erforderlich,wurdendieVerschlusssachen indieserDateiinÜbereinstimmung mitArtikel5
dergenanntenVerordnungfreigegeben.

COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(80)87 final
Brussels.4March1980.
f–3
tr-T.
•.af
Proposalfora
COUNCILDECISION
amendingCommission Decision79/277/EECasregardsanimalhealth
conditions governingtheimportofmassetermusclesfromArgentina/
Brazil^UruguayandParaguay
C0MC80)87final

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
TheimportofmassetermusclesfromArgentina,BraziI,UruguayandParaguay,
isthesubjectof,aspecificDecision,79/277/EEC,derogating fromthebasic
Decisionsfixinganimalhealthconditions onimportsoffreshmeatfromthose
countries.' _'' > ,
^ ■
Onaccountofdivergences inthevariouslanguageversions,interpretation of
Article20kofDirective 72/462/EECis.notuniformanditisdifficultto
determinewithcertainty whetherornotitismeanttoprohibitimportsof
massetermuscles.Thisiswhy,pendingclarification ofthe'draftingof
Article20kandinordernottodisruptexistingtradepatterns,the
Commission,actingonafavourable OpinionbytheStandingVeterinary Committee
andinaccordance withArticle29ofDirective 72/462/EEC,adoptedDecision
79/277/EEC(limitedto31July1979)whichspecifiestheanimalhealth
conditionspermitting importsofsuchmuscles.ThisDecisionwasprolonged
until31December1979by.Decision 79/654/EEC.
Theobjectofthisproposalistoprolongtheperiodofapplication of
Decision79/277/EECuntil31December1980,theperiodwhichtheCommission
considersnecessaryfortheadoptionoftheproposalfortheconsolidation of
Directive 72/462/EEC,forwardedtotheCouncilon.13December1979(1),which
willmakepossible aclearandunequivocal draftingofArticle20k.
Againwithaviewtoclarification ,thisproposalspecifies,inanArticle5a'
tobeinsertedinDecision79/277/EEC,that,sincewhatisinvolvedisan
animal*healthDecision (protection ofanimalhealth)takenonthebasisof
Article16,itapplieswithoutprejudicetotheprovisionsrelatingtohygiene
(protectionofpublichealth)whichrequireprovisions takenonotherlegal
basesofDirective 72/462/EECand,inparticular,Communityapprovalof
undertakings authorizedtoexporttotheCommunity.
SincetheCommunityprovisionsrelatingtohygienearestillincomplete,on
accou/itoftheabsenceofCommunity .Iistsofapprovedundertakings ,their
application by'MemberStatesisleadingtodivergencies whichareresultingin
differentnationallists,althoughinprincipletheyaredrawnuponthebasis
ofthecriteria,currentlyapplicable,ofDirective72/462/EEC.
(1)Doc.,COM(79)691final.

Thisiswhy,untiltheadoptionofcompleteCommunitymeasuresinthearea
ofhyg;ene,itisimportanttonotethatnationalmeasuresrelatingtohygiene
remainapplicableprovidedthattheyrelatetowhatisnotyetcoveredbythe
CommunityRegulationscurrentlyapplicable.
AtthemeetingoftheStandingVeterinary Committeeof29January1980,this...
proposaldidnotreceiveafavourableOpinionfromamajorityoftheCommittee.
Somedelegations consideredthatauthorization toimportshouldbelinkedto
theexclusionfromintra-Community tradenotonlyofmassetermusclesbutalso
ofmeat-basedproductsproducedfromsuchmuscles,onaccountespeciallyof
risksfromthepointofviewofpublichealth."AnotherDelegation,onthe
otherhand,consideredimpossible anyexclusioni'romintra-Community tradeof
meatbasedproductsanddidnottakepartinthevoting.
Atallevents,theCommissioncouldnotconsiderthefirstpointofviewsince
itnotesthat,onthebasisof.Article16oftheDirective,ananimalhealth
v
Decisioncannottakeintoconsideration aspectsrelatingtohygienewithout
therebyinfringingthecorrectprocedure.
Moreover,-theseconsiderations concerningthehygienicqualityoftheproducts
inquestioncouldnotjustifyageneralandabsolutebarriertointra-Community
trade.
FollowingtheabsenceoftheOpinionoftheStandingVeterinaryCommittee,this
draftisthereforebeingforwardedtotheCouncilasaCommissionproposaL
pursuanttoArticle29oftheaboveDirective.

Proposalfor
COUNCILDECISION
amendingCommissionDecision79/277/EECasregardsanimalhealthconditions
governingtheimportofmassetermusclesfromArgentina,Brazil,Uruguayand
Paraguay
THECOUNCILOFTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,
HavingregardtoCouncilDirective72/462/EECof12December1972on_healthand
veterinaryinspectionproblemsuponimportation ofbovineanimalsandswineand
freshmeatfromthirdcountries^,aslastamendedbyDirective77/98/EEC^,
andinparticularArticles16and28.thereof,
HavingregardtotheproposalfromtheCommission,
WhereasanimalhealthconditionsconcerningimportsoffreshmeatfromArgentina,
BrazilandUruguaywerelaiddownbyCommissionDecisions78/693/EEC,78/694/EEC
and78/695/EEC^"^respectively,asamendedbyDecision79/18/EEC^^,andfrom
ParaguaybyCommissionDecision79/238/EEC^^ ,
' ' • ■ N
Whereasdifficulties existintheapplication ofArticle20kofDirective
72/462/EECwhichhavestilltoberesolved;whereas,inordernottodisrupt
existingtradepatterns,MemberStatesshouldbeallowed,onatemporarybasis,
tocontinuetoauthorizeimportsofwhosemassetermusclesofbovineanimals;
WhereasCommissionDecisions79/277/EEC^^and79/654/EEC^^provideforsuch/
temporaryauthorizations ;whereasafurtherperiodisnecessarytoresolvethe
difficulties referredtoabove;whereastheCommissionhasmadethenecessary
proposals;
Whereas,sincetheStandingVeterinaryCommitteehasnotgivenitsassent,the
Commissionhasbeenunabletoadopttheprovisionsithadenvisagedonthis
matterundertheprocedureprovidedforinArticle29ofDirective72/462/EEC;
(1)O.J.NoL302,31.12.1972,p.28
(2)O.J.NoL26,31.1.1977,p.81
(3)O.J.NoL236,28.8.1978,pp.19,29and37
(4)O.J.NoL7,11.1.1979,p.31
(5)O.J.NoL53,3.3.1979,p.33
(6)O.J.NoL65,15.3.1979,p.32
(7)O.J.NoL186,24.7.1979,p.42

-2-
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION :
Article 1
0Decision 79/277/EEC isamended asfollows :
1..InArticles 1,2,3and 4,thedate '31December 1979'
visreplaced by *31December 1980 ".
2.AnArticle 5aasfollows isinserted :
Article 5a
Pending theadoption ofcomplete Community measures inthearea ofhygiene
Articles 1,2,3and Ashall apply without prejudice tothenational provi
sions ofMember States relating totheprotection ofpublic health ."
Article 2
This Decision isaddressed tothe Member States .
Done atBrussels , Forthe Council
The President