2001/872/EC: Commission Decision of 7 December 2001 approving the schemes submitted by the United Kingdom and Ireland for the withdrawal of all fish in farms infected with infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus and repealing Decision 2001/494/EC (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2001) 3938)
Date: 2001-12-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Ireland, United Kingdom, animal disease, fish, marketing restriction

8.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 325/33

COMMISSION DECISION

of 7 December 2001

approving the schemes submitted by the United Kingdom and Ireland for the withdrawal of all fish
in farms infected with infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) virus and repealing Decision 2001/494/EC

(notified under document number C(2001) 3938)

(Only the English text is authentic)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2001/872/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

(9)

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 Commission
Decision 2001/288/EC (2), and in particular Article 6 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Article 6(a), first indent, of Directive 93/53/EEC 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be withdrawn in accordance with a scheme established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 England, Scotland and Wales has been
approved by Commission Decision 2001/494/EC (3).

The United Kingdom has
submitted a withdrawal
scheme to be applied in case of the detection of ISA in
Northern Ireland.

Ireland has submitted a withdrawal scheme to be applied
in case of the detection of ISA in Ireland.

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

The disease control measures described in the with-
drawal scheme for Northern Ireland and Ireland are fully
consistent with the
scheme already approved for
England, Scotland and Wales.

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

(1) OJ L 175, 19.7.1993, p. 23.
(2) OJ L 99, 10.4.2001, p. 11.
(3) OJ L 180, 3.7.2001, p. 34.

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,
the outbreak and other
including the seriousness of
circumstances influencing the risks, and must take into
account
experience and scientific
evidence.

current practical

The examination carried out shows that the schemes
submitted fulfil the requirements for such a scheme and
therefore they should be approved.

For the sake of clarity, it is appropriate to approve the
schemes submitted by the United Kingdom and Ireland
by means of a single decision. Therefore Decision 2001/
494/EC should be repealed.

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

(10)

(11)

(12)

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The schemes submitted by the United Kingdom and Ireland for
the withdrawal of all fish in farms situated in their territory and
infected with infectious salmon anaemia (ISA) are approved.

Article 2

Decision 2001/494/EC is repealed.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 7 December 2001.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission