2003/332/EC: Commission Decision of 8 May 2003 amending Decision 2003/126/EC as regards the financial assistance for two Community reference laboratories in the United Kingdom (notified under document number C(2003) 1464)
Date: 2003-05-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: financial aid, health control, member country, public health, research body

L 116/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

13.5.2003

COMMISSION DECISION

of 8 May 2003

amending Decision 2003/126/EC as regards the financial assistance for two Community reference
laboratories in the United Kingdom

(notified under document number C(2003) 1464)

(Only the Spanish, German, English, French and Dutch texts are authentic)

(2003/332/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Decision 90/424/EEC of 26 June
1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field (1), as last amended
by Decision 2001/572/EC (2) and, in particular, Article 28(2)
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Commission Decision 2003/126/EC on financial aid
the operation of certain
from the Community for
Community reference laboratories in the field of veter-
inary public health (biological risks) for the year 2003 (3)
grants Community financial aid to them to carry out
certain functions and duties.

The laboratory of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries
and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) at Weymouth, United
the Community reference
Kingdom, designated as
laboratory for monitoring the viral and bacteriological
contamination of bivalve molluscs by Council Decision
1999/313/EC (4), was requested to add to its annual
work programme a project in support of the develop-
ment of Community food safety policy and legislation in
the area of bacterial and viral contamination of bivalve
molluscs, where special attention should be paid to the
assessment of risks related to zoonotic diseases causing
major concern to public health.

CEFAS presented such project in February 2003. The
objective of the project is to investigate some aspects of
microbiological accumulation in bivalve shellfish in rela-
tion to human health, specially in the area of contamina-
tion of shellfish by Norovirus (NV) and hepatitis A virus
(HAV), the detection of NVs in shellfish and the detec-
tion of both total vibrios and pathogenic strains in
bivalve shellfish.

(1) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 19.
(2) OJ L 203, 28.7.2001, p. 16.
(3) OJ L 50, 25.2.2003, p. 25.
(4) OJ L 120, 8.5.1999, p. 40.

(5)

(6)

(7)

In the light of the zoonotic importance of bacterial and
viral contamination of bivalve molluscs, it is appropriate
to provide financial assistance for a period of not more
than one year to cover certain costs incurred by CEFAS
in order to carry out the project. Therefore, the Commu-
nity financial assistance should be increased to cover
CEFAS's amended annual work programme.

Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council of 22 May 2001 laying down
rules for the prevention, control and eradication of
certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (5), as
last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 260/
2003 (6), provides for a procedure to establish the status
of a country with respect to bovine spongiform ence-
phalopathy (BSE). The Regulation also sets out a BSE
monitoring programme for the Community.

for

Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 furthermore designates
the Veterinary Laboratories Agency at Weybridge,
United Kingdom as the Community reference laboratory
(CRL)
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies
(TSEs). Its functions includes collecting and collating data
on the results of tests carried out in the Community and
keeping abreast of trends in surveillance, epidemiology
and prevention of TSEs throughout the world.

the CRL for TSEs takes into account

The Commission has invited the CRL for TSEs to add to
its annual work programme the analysis of the results of
the Community BSE monitoring programme and the
development, on the basis of such analysis, of an epide-
miological valid integrated approach to initial and conti-
nuing evaluation of country BSE status. In carrying out
this task,
the
method developed by the Scientific Steering Committee
(SSC) for assessment of the geographical BSE risk and
the recommendations of the International Animal Health
Organisation (OIE) on BSE risk categories and surveil-
lance and monitoring systems. To this end, the CRL for
TSEs has added a project, presented on 20 February
2003, to its annual work programme. Therefore, the
Community financial assistance should be increased to
cover the amended annual work programme of the CRL
for TSEs.

(5) OJ L 147, 31.5.2001, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 37, 13.2.2003, p. 7.

13.5.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 116/27

(8)

(9)

(10)

Rules laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No
324/2003 of 20 February 2003 establishing the elig-
ibility criteria for the expenditure of the Community
reference laboratories receiving financial assistance under
Article 28 of Decision 90/424/EEC and establishing the
procedures for the submission of expenditure and the
conduct of audits (1), should apply without prejudice to
the need for providing different deadlines appropriate to
the schedule for the projects concerned.

Decision 2003/126/EC should be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accor-
dance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on
the Food Chain and Animal Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

(b) forwarding a draft report by 31 December 2003 at the

latest;

(c) forwarding a final report, accompanied by justifying
evidence as to the costs incurred, by 31 March 2004.’

2. Article 6(2) is replaced by:

The financial assistance is hereby set at a maximum of
the period 1 January 2003 to 31

‘2.
EUR 530 000 for
December 2003.

Within the maximum referred to in the first subparagraph
and without prejudice to the time limits laid down in Article
2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 324/2003, an amount
of EUR 170 000 shall be reserved for the project to the
development of guidelines for evaluation of BSE status of
countries using surveillance data in conjunction with expo-
sure risk assessment and shall be granted to the Community
reference laboratory for TSEs subject to:
intermediate
(a) forwarding monthly

reports on the

Article 1

progress of the project;

(b) forwarding a final report by 30 September 2003 at the

latest;

(c) forwarding a final summary report, including the soft-
ware for conducting evaluations accompanied by justi-
fying evidence as to the costs incurred, by 31 December
2003.’

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Federal Republic of Germany,
the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Kingdom of
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.

Done at Brussels, 8 May 2003.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission

Decision 2003/126/EC, is amended as follows:

1. Article 5(2) is replaced by:

The financial assistance is hereby set at a maximum of
the period 1 January 2003 to 31

‘2.
EUR 648 775 for
December 2003.

Within the maximum referred to in the first subparagraph
and without prejudice to the time limits laid down in Article
2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 324/2003, an amount
of EUR 508 755 shall be reserved for the project to investi-
gate some aspects of microbiological accumulation in
bivalve shellfish in relation to human public health, specially
in the area of contamination of shellfish by Norovirus (NV)
and hepatitis A virus (HAV), the detection of NVs in shell-
fish and the detection of both total vibrios and pathogenic
strains in bivalve, and shall be directly granted to the
Community reference laboratory for monitoring the viral
and bacteriological contamination of bivalve molluscs at
Weymouth subject to:
(a) forwarding monthly

reports on the

intermediate

progress of the project;

(1) OJ L 47, 21.2.2003, p. 14.