2001/494/EC: Commission Decision of 21 June 2001 approving the scheme submitted by the United Kingdom for the withdrawal of all fish in farms infected with infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) and situated in England, Scotland and Wales and repealing Decision 2001/186/EC (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2001) 1626)
Date: 2001-06-21
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Scotland, United Kingdom, Wales, animal disease, fish, marketing restriction

L 180/34

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

3.7.2001

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 21 June 2001

approving the scheme submitted by the United Kingdom for the withdrawal of all fish in farms
infected with infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) and situated in England, Scotland and Wales and
repealing Decision 2001/186/EC

(notified under document number C(2001) 1626)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2001/494/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 93/53/EEC of 24 June
1993,
introducing minimum Community measures for the
control of certain fish diseases (1), as last amended by Commis-
sion Decision 2001/288/EC (2), and in particular Article 6
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Council Directive 93/53/EEC, Article 6(a), first indent,
lays down that,
in order to control an outbreak of
infectious salmon anaemia (ISA), all fish in an infected
farm shall be withdrawn in accordance with a scheme
established by the official service and approved by the
Commission.

Experience gained has shown that under certain condi-
tions it is possible to extend the withdrawal over a
period of time without impairing the efforts to eradicate
the disease.

A withdrawal scheme to be applied in case of the detec-
tion of ISA in Scotland has been approved by Commis-
sion Decision 2001/186/EC (3).

The United Kingdom has
submitted a withdrawal
scheme to be applied in case of the detection of ISA in
England and Wales.

(1) OJ L 175, 19.7.1993, p. 23; Directive as amended by the Act of

Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden.

(2) OJ L 99, 10.4.2001, p. 11.
(3) OJ L 67, 9.3.2001, p. 80.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

The Commission and the Member States have examined
the scheme submitted by the United Kingdom in the
light of
the current state of scientifc and technical
evidence.

The disease control measures described in the with-
drawal scheme for England and Wales are essentially the
same as in the approved scheme for Scotland. The only
changes are related to territorial coverage and the appro-
priate references to national

laws.

The withdrawal of fish shall be carried out with the aim
to eradicate the disease from infected farms and to
prevent further spread of the disease to other farms as
well as to the wild population susceptible to this infec-
tion.

The withdrawal of fish must be based on a case by case
analysis of the risks for further spread of the disease,
including the seriousness of
the outbreak and other
circumstances influencing the risks, and must take into
account
experience and scientific
evidence.

current practical

The examination carried out shows that the scheme
submitted fulfils the requirements for such a scheme and
therefore it shall be approved.

For the sake of clarity, bearing in mind any future
amendments to the United Kingdom schemes,
is
appropriate to incorporate the Decision approving the
Scottish scheme in the present Decision. Therefore
Decision 2001/186/EC shall be repealed.

it

3.7.2001

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 180/35

(11)

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

Decision 2001/186/EC is repealed.

Article 2

Article 3

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 1

Done at Brussels, 21 June 2001.

The schemes submitted by the United Kingdom for the with-
drawal of all fish in farms infected with infectious salmon
anaemia (ISA) and situated in England, Scotland and Wales are
hereby approved.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission