1999/302/EC: Commission Decision of 30 April 1999 amending Decision 94/360/EC on the reduced frequency of physical checks of consignments of certain products to be imported from third countries, pursuant to Council Directive 90/675/EEC [notified under document number C(1999) 1166] (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 1999-04-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: United States, beef, fresh meat, health control, import (EU), simplification of formalities

L 117/58

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

5. 5. 1999

COMMISSION DECISION

of 30 April 1999

amending Decision 94/360/EC on the reduced frequency of physical checks of
consignments of certain products to be imported from third countries, pursuant
to Council Directive 90/675/EEC

(notified under document number C(1999) 1166)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(1999/302/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 90/675/EEC of 10
December 1990 laying down the principles governing the
organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the
Community from third countries (1), as last amended by
Directive 97/79/EC (2) and in particular Article 8(3)
thereof,

imports of

(1) Whereas Commission Decision 1999/301/EC (3)
fresh
provides for a suspension of
bovine meat including offal for human consump-
tion coming from or originating in the United
States of America with effect from 15 June 1999;
whereas it is necessary in the interval that fresh
imported from the
bovine meat
United States of America does not contain any
residues of growth promoting hormones;

including offal

(2) Whereas in application of Article 8 of Directive
90/675/EEC the reduction in the frequency of
physical checks for certain products from third
countries are laid down in the Annex to Commis-
sion Decision 94/360/EC (4); whereas the presence
of certain xenobiotic growth promoting hormones,
and abnormally high levels of residues of natural
hormones, has been detected in fresh bovine meat
including offal, other than bison meat including
offal, from the United States of America and it is
therefore necessary to intensify harmonised checks
on such meat;

(3) Whereas

in this
the measures provided for
Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the
Standing Veterinary Committee,

(1) OJ L 373, 31.12.1990, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998, p. 31.
(3) See page 52 of this Official Journal.
(4) OJ L 158, 25.6.1994, p. 41.

Article 1

The following Article is inserted following Article 1 of
Decision 94/360/EC:

‘Article 1a

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 1, the
level and organisation of physical checks to be carried
out by each Member State, on entry into its territory at
any border inspection or crossing point, on consign-
ments of fresh bovine meat including offal, other than
bison meat including offal, coming from or originating
in the United States of America shall be as follows:

(cid:190) the frequency of the physical checks is increased

to 100 %,

(cid:190) two official samples shall be taken from each
consignment and examined for residues of each of
the xenobiotic hormones melengestrol acetate,
trenbolone and zeranol, and for abnormally high
levels of residues of the natural hormones 17 beta
oestradiol, progesterone and testosterone,

(cid:190) the samples shall be handled in accordance with
points 2.6, 2.7 and 2.9 of the Annex to Commis-
sion Decison 98/179/EC (5),

(cid:190) the samples shall be sent to, and the laboratory
tests shall be performed at, one of the laboratories
referred to in the Annex to this Decision.

territory and the consignment

2. Member States shall only allow the entry into
their
to another
Member State of such fresh bovine meat, including
offal, in question where the results of the examination
and analyses, referred to in paragraph 1, are favourable.

(5) OJ L 65, 5.3.1998, p. 31.

5. 5. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 117/59

All costs incurred in applying this Article shall
3.
be chargeable to the consignor, the consignee or their
agents.'

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 2

Done at Brussels, 30 April 1999.

The provisions of Article 1 shall be reviewed following
information on the evolution of the situation and the
guarantees supplied by the competent authorities of the
United States of America.

For the Commission

Karel VAN MIERT

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

LIST OF LABORATORIES

1. Rijksinstitut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu

EU Community Reference Laboratory
(Antonie van Leewenhoekklaan 9)
PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven
The Netherlands

CRL Director and contact point: Dr Rainer W. Stephany
Tel.
(31) 302 74 26 13
Fax (31) 302 74 44 03
E-mail crl.aro@rivm.nl or rainer.stephany@rivm.nl

2. Laboratoire des dosages hormonaux
Laboratoire national de r(cid:130)f(cid:130)rence
(cid:144)cole nationale v(cid:130)t(cid:130)rinaire de Nantes
BP 50707
44307 Nantes CEDEX 3
(France)

NRL Director and contact point: Dr Fran(cid:135)ois Andr(cid:130)
Tel.
(33) 240 68 77 66
Fax (33) 240 68 78 78
E-mail andre@vet-nantes.fr

3. Any other Member State laboratory which applies screening analyses performed by isotope dilution on line
gas chromatography and/or liquid chromatography mass spectometry under Quality Assurance according
to the Norm EN45001, and confirmatory analyses performed by mass spectrometry under Quality Assur-
ance according to the Norm EN45001.