10.5.93 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC129/7
2.4.Outbreaksofthediseasesdealtwithinthe
Directivecancauseheavylossesandhaveaserious
effectonbusinessesinthesector.
2.5.Thegrowthinfishfarmingincertainregions
increasestheriskofcontamination ,especiallyduring
transport .
2.6.TheCommitteewouldreiteratethecomments
madeinpreviousOpinions(*),especiallyasregardsthe
needtopayparticularattentiontoimportsofspeci­mens,eggsandgametesfromthirdcountries,where
themainseatsofinfectionaretobefound.
2.7.ItispleasedtoseethatInfectiousSalmonAnae­
mia(ISA)—whichcausesahighmortalityrateinAtlan­
ticsalmon—istobeincludedinAnnexA'slistI,asit
requestedinapreviousOpinion(1).
2.8.TheCommitteestillfirmlybelievesthatthere
shouldbenorestrictionsonintra-Community tradein
aquacultureanimalsandproducts,providedthesemeet
therequisiteanimalhealthconditions.Certainpro­
visionsinArticle7ofDirective91/67/EEC,whichhave
notbeenamendedbytheproposal,arestillambiguous. (!)OJNoC332,31.12.1990.
DoneatBrussels,24March1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDecisiononreferencelaboratoriesforthemonitoring
ofmarinebiotoxins(*)
(93/C129/05)
On3February1993theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforAgricultureandFisheries,whichwasresponsibleforpreparingtheCom­
mittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon4March1993.TheRapporteurwas
MrProumens .
Atits304thPlenarySession(meetingof24March1993)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
unanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
TheCommitteeentirelyendorsestheproposal,after
examiningtheconsiderations whichledtoit,assetout
below.
1.Generalcomments
1.1.TheCommitteenotesthattheCommission has
workedoutaveryconsistent,systematicapproachinthefieldofthevariousveterinarydiseaseswhichcan
contaminateagriculturalandaquaculturalholdings.
1.2.ThisapproachinvolvesaskingMemberStates
todesignateanationalreferencelaboratory,tobe
entrustedwiththetaskofcoordinatingtheworkand
standardizingtheresearchanddiagnosisprocedures
andtechniquesfordealingwiththesaiddiseases.
1.3.Ofcourse,eachgroupofdiseasesinvolves
designatingaspecificnationallaboratory. (')OJNoC15,21.1.1993,p.7.

NoC129/8 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 10.5.93
1.4.Inaddition,aCommunityreferencelaboratory
issimilarlydesignated,underconditionsadequatefor
thediseasesconcernedasdefined,inthepresentcase,
inArticle5oftheproposedDecision.
1.5.ItstasksattheCommunitylevelaredefinedin
Article4oftheproposedDecision.
2.Specificcomments
2.1.TheCommitteeconsideredthesituationinthe
variousMemberStatesasregardslaboratoriesforthe
monitoringofmarinebiotoxins.
2.2.Apartfromthenationalreferencelaboratories
mentionedintheAnnextothedraftDecision,the
numberofstateorprivatelaboratoriesundercontract
variesfrom1tomorethan12(examples:Portugal:2
—Ireland:3—France:7—UnitedKingdom:12—Spain:
morethan12).
2.3.ItisimportanttonotethattheCommissionhas
madeadetailedanalysisofthehumanandtechnical
resources,researchproceduresandworkingmethods
ofthedesignatedlaboratory—the'LaboratoriodeSani­
dad'inVigo,Spain.
3.DataontheCommunityreferencelaboratoryin
Vigo
3.1.Laboratoryequipment :especiallycomprehen­
sive,usingadvancedtechnology (liquid-phasechroma­
tography,fluorescencespectrophotometer —atomic
absorptionspectrophotometer withhydrogengener­
ator,etc.).
3.2.Informaticsequipment :verycomprehensive ,for
recordingdataandtransmissiontothenationallabora­
tories,withdataprocessingandwordprocessing.
3.3.Humanresources:Laboratory :10(5highlytrai­
ned);Informatics :3;Office:7;Inspectorate :6.
TheentirestaffismanagedbyaHeadofUnit,making
atotalof27people.
3.4.Analysistechniques:theVigolaboratoryhas
developedandperfected8methodsfordetectionof
marinebiotoxins.Ithasalsodevelopedandcurrentlyuses22typesof
teststodetectothercausesofinfectionandamethod
foranalysisofpreservativesandotheradditivesin
fisheriesproducts.
3.5.Workcapacity:theVigolaboratorycarriesout
anannualaverageof:
about9000testsonmarinebiotoxins;
about6000quantitativeanalysesofheavymetals.
3.6.Inaddition,theVigolaboratoryalreadyhasan
establishedpracticeincomparativetestingwithother
SpanishandPortugueselaboratories,andintrainingof
technicians .
3.7.Cooperationwithotherresearchcentres
TheVigolaboratorycooperateswithothercentresin
Spain,PortugalandFranceandwith3universities
(Oviedo,MadridandLaLaguna),aswellaswiththe
CommunityBureauofReferences.
3.8.Conferencesandseminars
Since1990theVigolaboratoryhastakenanactive
partinsixinternationalconferencesorseminars(Vigo,
Rome,Lisbon,USA,Rennes).
3.9.ItisclearfromtheabovedatathattheCom­
mission'schoiceofVigoisentirelyjustified.
4.Additionalcomments
4.1.Asregardsthirdcountries,workiscontinuing
inthisfield,mainlywithJapan,theUSA,Canadaand
recentlywithNewZealand.
Thereisalsocollaborationonmonitoringexportsto
theEECoffisheriesproductsfromArgentinaandChile.
Inaddition,itshouldbenotedthatthefourcountries
oftheEuropeanFreeTradeAssociation (EFTA)con­
cernedwithfisheriesproducts(Norway,Sweden,Fin­
landandIceland)havetheirownlaboratoriesworking
onthebasisofthesamecriteriaastheMemberStates'
laboratories .
4.2.TheVigolaboratory'soperatingbudgetasthe
Communityreferencelaboratorywillbefinancedby
theEEC.
DoneatBrussels,24March1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN