2000/104/EC: Commission Decision of 31 January 2000 amending Decision 98/653/EC concerning emergency measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Portugal (notified under document number C(2000) 212) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2000-01-31
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Portugal, animal disease, cattle, veterinary inspection, veterinary legislation

L 29/36

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

4. 2. 2000

COMMISSION DECISION

of 31 January 2000

amending Decision 98/653/EC concerning emergency measures made necessary by the occurrence
of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Portugal

(notified under document number C(2000) 212)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2000/104/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11
December 1989 concerning veterinary checks
in intra-
Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal
market (1), as last amended by Directive 92/118/EEC (2), and in
particular Article 9(4) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June
1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable
in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products
with a view to the completion of the internal market (3), as last
amended by Directive 92/118/EEC, and in particular Article
10(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Commission Decision 98/653/EC of 18 November 1998
concerning emergency measures made necessary by the
occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
in Portugal (4), as last amended by Decision 1999/
713/EC (5), prohibits the dispatch of bovine products
until 1 February 2000.

The current BSE incidence rate in Portugal calculated
over the past 12 months per 1 000 000 bovine animals
over 24 months of age is 236. According to the Animal
Health Code of
the World Organisation for Animal
Health (International Office of Epizootic Diseases (OIE)),
1999 edition, a country or zone will be classified as
having a high incidence of BSE if the BSE incidence rate,
calculated over the past 12 months, has been greater
than 100 cases per 1 000 000 animals within the cattle
population over 24 months of age in the country or
zone.

The OIE Animal Health Code recommends that bovine
meat and meat products can only be traded from coun-
tries or zones classified as having a high incidence of
BSE under certain strict conditions, such as an effective
feed ban, a permanent system for the identification of
cattle enabling animals to be traced back to the herd and

dam of origin, the removal of specified risk materials
and the slaughter and complete destruction of certain
higher risk animals, such as offspring and birth cohorts
of BSE cases. Thereafter bovine meat and products are
only eligible for trade on the basis of either of two
schemes: namely a certified herds scheme,
indicating
that the products have been derived from animals born,
raised and having remained in herds without BSE cases
for the last seven years, or a date-based scheme, indi-
cating that the products were derived from animals born
after the date of an effective feed ban.

Missions on BSE-related issues were carried out
in
Portugal by the Food and Veterinary Office from 14 to
18 June and from 25 to 29 October 1999 the conclu-
sions of which were that Portugal has an effective feed
ban and that a complete set of legislation on cattle
identification and registration has been introduced.

Portugal put forward a first proposal for a date-based
scheme to the Commission on 3 December 1999; this
scheme must be examined in the light of measures taken
by Portugal as regards the feed ban, the traceability of
cattle, the culling of offspring and birth cohorts of BSE
cases and the removal of specified risk materials; further-
more the implementation of those measures should be
verified by a Community mission before the Commis-
sion can propose a partial
lifting of the ban to the
Standing Veterinary Committee.

In those circumstances, it is appropriate to maintain the
prohibition on the dispatch of bovine products until the
scheme proposed by Portugal can be adopted.

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

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

(1) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 13.
(2) OJ L 62, 15.3.1993, p. 49.
(3) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 29.
(4) OJ L 311, 20.11.1998, p. 23.
(5) OJ L 281, 4.11.1999, p. 90.

Decision 98/653/EC is amended as follows:

1. In Article 4, the words ‘until 1 February 2000’ are deleted.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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2. Article 16(1) is replaced by the following:

‘1.
This Decision shall be reviewed by 18 May 2000 at the latest, pending an overall examination of
the situation, in particular in view of the development of the incidence of the disease and the effective
enforcement of the relevant measures, in the light of the date-based scheme proposed by Portugal.’

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 2

Done at Brussels, 31 January 2000.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission