Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on "Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 88/407/EEC laying down the animal health requirements applicable to intra-Community trade in and imports of semen of domestic animals of the bovine species" (COM(2002) 527 final — 2002/0229 (CNS))
Date: 2002-12-11
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: artificial reproduction, cattle, health certificate, health control, import, intra-EU trade, storage, veterinary inspection

C 85/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

8.4.2003

2.6.
Finally, the Committee has always been concerned by
the compliance of EU regulations with international trading
standards. In this case, the Committee feels that the withdrawal
of the use of E-425 konjac in jelly mini-cups and any other
jelly confectionery does not represent an obstacle to trade. The
proposed measure only aims at banning the use of E-425
konjac in products where it represents a life threatening risk
by the proposed measure.

Brussels, 11 December 2002.

3. Conclusion

3.1.
The Committee welcomes and fully supports the
Commission’s proposal to amend Annex IV of Directive 95/2/
EC aimed at withdrawing the use of E-425 konjac in jelly mini-
cups and any other jelly confectionery.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘Proposal for a Council Directive
amending Directive 88/407/EEC laying down the animal health requirements applicable to intra-
Community trade in and imports of semen of domestic animals of the bovine species’

(COM(2002) 527 final — 2002/0229 (CNS))

(2003/C 85/12)

On 9 October 2002 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 13 November 2002. The
rapporteur was Leif E. Nielsen.

At its 395th plenary session on 11 and 12 December 2002 (meeting of 11 December), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 103 votes in favour and two
abstentions.

1. Gist of the Commission proposal

1.1.
Council Directive 88/407/EEC lays down a series of
detailed animal health requirements applicable to trade in, and
imports of, semen of domestic animals of the bovine species.

The purpose of the Commission’s proposed amendment is:

— to permit the storage of bovine semen at semen storage
centres on premises other than the artificial insemination
(AI) centre where semen was collected;

ditions applicable to entry of bulls into AI centres, in
particular concerning infectious bovine rhinothracheitis
(IBR/IPV) and bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD/MD);

— to simplify the Community procedure for the approval of
AI centres in third countries. These lists of approved AI
centres are frequently modified on formal grounds on the
basis of the information sent by the competent authorities
of third countries (address, name, new establishment etc);

— to amend, in the light of the new scientific data available
and the new provisions laid down by the Office Inter-
national des Epizooties (OIE), the animal health con-

— to allow the Commission to amend,

following the
comitology procedure, the annexes to Directive 88/407/

8.4.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 85/41

EEC as they cover technical points relating to approval of
centres and conditions of admission of bulls into centres.

2. General comments

2.1.
In the EU, bovine semen and embryos have, up to
now, been produced and sold in association with approved
semen collection centres under the auspices of cooperatives
and organisations closely tied to local
farming. Although
semen and embryos from other Member States and non-EU
countries may be distributed freely through this marketing
chain, it is possible, by means of selection, to meet a series of
specific requirements in the breeding programmes (e.g. as
regards health or the prevention of unwanted genetic features,
or the adjustments required to take account of regional or
local conditions). At the same time, sales of bovine semen are
the economic mainstay of AI associations’ breeding work. The
existing arrangements with approved semen collection centres
ensure an appropriate reliability and product guarantee in the
event of problems or damage; this would no longer be possible
if the system were changed as radically as proposed.

2.2.
Facilitating the establishment of semen storage centres
separate from semen collection centres (1)
is designed to
liberalise the market and thus promote a more international
‘insemination industry’ that distributes bovine semen and
embryos through local stores. This involves a serious risk of
undermining the system in place to date and of increasing
centralisation in the selection, production and distribution of
breeding material. It may result in a gradual change in breeding
aims and a lack of versatility in the breeding material, with
greater streamlining of productive livestock. Consequently,
future stock breeding may become more one-sided and there
may also be an impact on efforts to promote sustainable
development and multifunctional agriculture in the EU. The
restriction of genetic diversity can be seen also from the
example of the Holstein-Friesian breed, for which the world
stock of breeding animals might already total fewer than 40.
The Commission proposal could encourage a further reduction
in diversity.

2.3.
Though, under the proposal, the same animal health
requirements apply to semen storage centres as they currently
do to the storage of bovine semen in association with semen
collection centres, the distribution from storage centres to the
herd is subject to national animal heath requirements alone.
Liberalised distribution from local semen storage centres to
the herd with no supervision, monitoring or expert back-up
from the A1 associations, may increase the risk of spreading
infectious diseases and genetic defects.

( 1) The existing rules provide only for the establishment of ‘satellite

stores’ associated with a semen collection centre.

2.4.
The spread of infectious animal diseases in the EU
can have serious consequences. The recent foot-and-mouth
epidemic in the UK clearly demonstrated the disease’s potential
social and economic impact. The same goes for a series of other
infectious bovine diseases such as tuberculosis, brucellosis, IBR,
BVD etc. The greatest possible vigilance must therefore be
exercised in relation to all risk factors, including, not least,
contact with the individual herds.

The single market — which involves, in principle, the
2.5.
free movement of livestock over longer distances, larger herds
and a greater concentration of domestic animals in certain
regions — also increases the risk of spreading infectious
diseases and aggravating the social and economic impact of
any possible outbreaks.

The collection, storage, importation, distribution and
2.6.
use of semen and embryos thus constitute a serious risk of
infection, warranting the strictest monitoring. One dose of
semen from a single ejaculation may, for instance, be used for
up to 2 000 inseminations and any potential infection can be
spread to a corresponding number of herds in several Member
States.

2.7.
The above comments will apply all the more after
enlargement, not least in respect of breeding trends and the
potential dominance of ‘insemination industry interests’ in the
new Member States. Further, a precedent may be set for future
parallel sets of rules, for instance in the pig sector. For these
reasons, more thorough consideration must be given to the
proposal’s potential impact.

3. Specific comments

Under the proposed rules, a semen storage centre may
3.1.
import and export semen and embryos. It is vital therefore to
lay down clear procedures for the local official veterinarian to
check compliance with the rules. The current provisions on
the marketing of semen give a sufficient guarantee of the
necessary certainty of high standards both for the veterinarian
concerned and for the breeder;
this could not be fully
guaranteed by semen storage centres in individual cases.

3.2.
Registration of bovine semen producers is essential in
order to ensure traceability in the marketing chains from
collection to use in the herds.
It must be an absolute
requirement that trade may only be conducted ‘one way’, i.e.
from the producer to the store and from the store to the
livestock holding, with no possibility of return.

C 85/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

8.4.2003

3.3.
Reliable monitoring arrangements must be in place for
semen and embryo imports from collection or storage centres
outside the EU, and traceability must be guaranteed in case of
the risk of any outbreak of infectious animal diseases. Among
other things, it is vital to ensure the registration and monitoring
of third-country collection centres which export bovine semen
to storage centres in the EU so that the veterinary authorities
in the Member State concerned can immediately take the
requisite precautions in case of any subsequent concerns about
disease.

3.4.
To streamline the admission of bulls into approved
semen collection centres, the following additions are proposed:

— Where the tests mentioned in Annex B, chapter I,
points 1(d) and (e) are carried out in the quarantine or
isolation facility of the semen collection centre, the
quarantine period must be deemed to start from the date
the samples are collected for the tests under (d), not the
date on which the results are received, which may be up
to two weeks later. The interval between the tests
mentioned under points (d) and (e) will thus be twenty-
one days, in line with the international OIE standard.

Brussels, 11 December 2002.

— The tests for campylobacter and trichomonas, which
require a bacteriological as opposed to a serological
diagnosis, should be carried out after seven days’ quaran-
tine, and not twenty-one as proposed. This will enable
infected animals to be identified at an early stage and, in
case of infection, will make it possible to carry out all the
tests within the quarantine period.

3.5.
Under Article 3 of the proposal, trade in and imports
of semen certified according to the rules formerly in force are
to be accepted for a period of six months after the directive
enters into force. The wording used here is unclear in certain
language versions, and it also raises important questions about
existing stocks which, under current practice, are normally
used over a longer period.

4. Conclusion

that,

Despite the fact

4.1.
for several years, proposed
amendments have been on hold pending an OIE standard on
issues such as IBR vaccination, the Committee feels that the
proposed amendment for semen storage centres cannot be
accepted in its present form. The Committee does, however,
endorse the other three proposed amendments.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH