NoC19/14 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveintroducingCommunitymeasuresforthe
controlofcertainfishdiseases
(93/C19/05)
On2July1992,theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommitteein
accordancewithArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity
ontheabovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforAgricultureandFisheries,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingtheCom­
mittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon3November1992.TheRapporteur
wasMrWick.
Atits301stPlenarySessionheldon24/25November1992(meetingof24November1992)
theEconomicandSocialCommitteeunanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
1.TheCommitteewelcomesthedraftDirective,
whichisintendedtolimittheimpactandthespreadof
certainfishdiseases.2.8.TheCommitteewouldpointoutthatdero­
gationsfromthenon-vaccination policycanbedanger­
ousandshouldbesubjecttoverystrictsafetypre­
cautionsandscientificsafeguards .
2.9.TheCommitteewelcomesthefactthatthediag­
nosisofdiseaseswithintheCommunityistobehar­
monizedandcarriedoutonlybyapprovedlaboratories .
Italsowelcomesthefactthatthesetasksaretobe
coordinatedbyareferencelaboratory .
2.10.TheCommitteewouldpointoutthatthere
mustbesufficienttestinglaboratoriestoenablefinal
diagnosestobereachedveryquickly,sothatthefurther
spreadofdiseasescanbepreventedwhereanoutbreak
issuspected.Sufficientqualifiedstaffmustalsobe
available.
2.11.TheCommitteecallsontheCommission to
tablestatisticsontheeconomicimportanceofaquacul­
tureanditsroleinthefisheryindustryasawhole.2.Generalcomments
2.1.Inaquaculturelargenumbersoffisharecon­
finedinasmallquantityofwaterandoutbreaksof
certaindiseasesaffectingfishcanthereforequickly
assumeepizooticproportions .Thiscanmeanthatthe
entirepopulationofafishfarmsoonbecomesinfected
andsubstantiallossesensue.
2.2.However,thenaturalconditionsmakeitmuch
moredifficulttocontrolfishdiseasesthantocontrol
animaldiseasesinlivestockfarming.
2.3.TheCommitteeaccordinglyconsidersitnecess­
aryforthesefishdiseasestobebroughtundercontrol
veryquickly,astheeconomicexistenceofthefarms
wouldotherwisebeseverelyjeopardized .
2.4.Asfisharetradedbothwithinandoutsidethe
Community ,uniformcontrolmeasuresforthesedis­
easesarerequiredatleastatCommunitylevel.The
CommitteealsoconsiderscontactswiththeEuropean
FreeTradeAssociation (EFTA)countriestobedesir­
able.
2.5.TheCommitteewelcomesthefactthatparticu­
larlyinfectiousdiseasesaretobeeradicatedwithinthe
Community .
2.6.DiseaseswhichareprevalentintheCommunity
aretobeeradicatedinareasandfarmswhichare
officiallyrecognizedasbeingdisease-free,andpromptly
controlledinotherfarms.
2.7.TheCommitteewelcomesanon-vaccination
policy,as,whenfisharevaccinated,thedangerof
vaccinesbeingreleasedintothewaterandinfecting
otherfishcannotbeentirelyruledout.2.12.TheCommitteenotesthatthedraftDirective
isalogicalfollow-uptotheCouncilDirectiveof28
January1991concerningtheanimalhealthconditions
governingtheplacingonthemarketofaquaculture
animalsandproducts.ItreferstoitsOpinionof19
September1990(!).
2.13.TheCommitteealsoreferstoitsOpinion(2)
ontheproposalforaCouncilDecisionintroducinga
Communityfinancialmeasurefortheeradicationof
InfectiousHaematopoietic Necrosis(IHN)ofsalmonids
intheCommunity [COM(89)502final].
OOJNoC332,31.12.1990,p.105.
(2)OJNoC124,21.5.1990,p.3.

25.1.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC19/15
3.4.Article3
ThebeginningoftheArticleshouldreadasfollows:
'Allfarmsrearing,keepingorcatchingfish....'
InrespectofListIdiseases,itisimportanttoinclude
enterpriseswhichonlycatchwildfishfromrivers,lakes
orthesea,whichmayneverthelessbeinfectedoract
ascarriers;otherwiseitisnotpossibletoimplement
themeasuresreferredtoinArticle6(1)(c).2.14.TheCommitteeurgestheCommissiontopro­
videfinancialassistanceforthenecessaryeradication
programmes .
2.15.TheCommitteecallsforascientificstudyto
collatetheknowledgeavailableintheCommunitycon­
cerningthetransmissionandspreadingoffishdiseases,
includingknowledgeofdisease-resistant fish.The
resultsofthestudyshouldprovidethebasisforpromot­
ingfuturescientificresearchintofishdiseases.
2.16.TheCommitteenotesthattheCommission is
assistedbyanadvisorycommitteewhoseremitincludes
aquaculture .TheCommitteeconsidersitimportantfor
alleconomicandsocialpartnersinvolvedinaquacultu­
retoberepresentedonthatcommittee .
2.17.TheCommitteewouldpointoutthattheCom­
missionproposaldoesnotconsistentlyrefertogametes
aswellasfishandeggs.Toavoidmisunderstandings ,
allreferencestofishandeggsshouldalsoreferto
gametes.
2.18.Thevariouslanguageversionsofcertain
ArticlesoftheCommissionproposal(inparticular
Articles5,10and13)shouldbealigned.3.5.Article3(2)
ThisamendmentdoesnotaffecttheEnglishtext.
3.6.Article4
Paragraph2shouldmentionthefactthatArticle5
appliesonlytoListIfishdiseases.
3.7.Article8(2)
TheCommitteeconsidersitinappropriatetoexclude
fishspecieswhicharenotcarriersofdisease,and
accordinglyproposesthatthisparagraphbedeleted.
3.8.Article10(3)
Itshouldbestatedherethatmeasuresmustbetaken
toensurethatduringtransportnoagentsofthedisease
canescapefromthemeansoftransport.3.Specificcomments
3.1.Article1
TheCommitteenotesthattheCommissionproposalis
confinedtomeasuresforthecontrolofcertainfish
diseasesanddoesnotcovermolluscs.TheCommittee
callsforcorresponding measuresformolluscstobe
adoptedinaseparatedirectiveassoonaspossible.
3.2.Article2
ThisArticleshouldbesupplemented bythedefinitions
laiddowninArticle2oftheCouncilDirectiveof28
January1991concerningtheanimalhealthconditions
governingtheplacingonthemarketofaquaculture
animalsandproducts,asthesedefinitionsarefrequently
referredtointhisDirective.3.9.Article13(1)
Itshouldbestatedherethatvaccinationwithlive
vaccineisprohibited .
3.10.Article15
TheCommitteenotesthattheStandingVeterinary
Committeeprocedureproposedisfundamentally differ­
entfromtheprocedurehithertousedinanimalhealth
arrangements .Itprecludespoliticalinfluenceonthe
fixingofindividualmeasures.
Ashitherto,theMemberStatesshouldhaveasayin
suchmatters.However,theproposedprocedurepro­
videsonlyfortheMemberStatestobeheard.The
Committeeaccordinglyconsidersitnecessaryfor
decisionstobetakenbytheCouncil,oratleastbythe
StandingVeterinaryCommittee,inlinewiththecurrent
procedure.3.3.Article2(3)
TheCommitteeproposesthefollowingwording:
'Fishsuspectedofbeinginfected:
Fishshowingclinicalsigns,post-mortemlesionsand
positivereactionsinlaboratorytestsindicatingthe
possiblepresenceofaListIorIIdisease.'
Thiswordingmakesitclearthatsuspicionofinfection
isbasedonmorethanjustsupposition .

NoC19/16 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 25.1.93
placingonthemarketofaquacultureanimalsandprod­
uctsshouldbeincludedamongtheannexes,asthis
Directivecontainsfrequentreferencestothefishdis­
easeslistedinthatAnnex.3.11.Annex
AnnexAtotheCouncilDirectiveof28January1991
concerningtheanimalhealthconditionsgoverningthe
DoneatBrussels,24November1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDirectiveamendingDirective90/679/EEConthe
ProtectionofWorkersfromRisksRelatedtoExposuretoBiologicalAgentsatWork(1)
(93/C19/06)
On10August1992theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle118aoftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforSocial,Family,EducationalandCulturalAffairs,whichwasresponsiblefor
preparingtheCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon19November1992.
TheRapporteurwasMrEtty.
Atits301stPlenarySession(meetingof24November1992),theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introductoryremarks 1.2.ThepresentdraftamendmenttoDirective90/
679/EECwasalreadyannouncedinthetextofthe
Directive.Article18ofthisinstrumentsaysthatwithin
sixmonthsofthedateofimplementation oftheDirec­
tiveafirstlistofgroup2,group3andgroup4biological
agentsshallbeadoptedbyCouncil,i.e.by28May
1994.
1.3.AnnexIIIinDirective90/679/EECwasreserved
forthelistofbacteria,viruses,parasites,andfungi
presentedbytheCommission ,togetherwithnoteson
theapplicationofthescheme.1.1.ThisdraftDirectiveisamendingDirective90/
679/EEContheprotectionofworkersfromrisksto
exposuretobiologicalagentsatwork.ThelatterDirec­
tivewasoneoftheindividualDirectivesunderthe
'framework'Directive89/391/EEContheintroduction
ofmeasurestoencourageimprovements inthesafety
andhealthofworkersatwork.TheCommitteegave
anOpiniononthedraftforDirective90/679/EECin
December1988.
1.4.InitsOpinionofDecember1988theCommittee
didnotmakeobservationspertainingtotherelevant
partsofthedraftofDirective90/679/EEC. (i)OJNoC217,24.8.1992,p.32.