Commission Regulation (EC) No 1874/2003 of 24 October 2003 approving the national scrapie control programmes of certain Member States, and defining additional guarantees, and granting derogations concerning breeding programmes for TSE resistance in sheep pursuant to Decision 2003/100/EC (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-10-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal disease, disease prevention, livestock farming, sheep, veterinary legislation

L 275/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

25.10.2003

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1874/2003

of 24 October 2003

approving the national scrapie control programmes of certain Member States, and defining addi-
tional guarantees, and granting derogations concerning breeding programmes for TSE resistance in
sheep pursuant to Decision 2003/100/EC

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of
the
European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 laying
down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of
certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (1), as last
amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1234/2003 (2),
and in particular point (b)(ii) of section 1 of Chapter A of
Annex VIII thereto,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 provides for the approval
of national scrapie control programmes of Member
States if they comply with certain criteria laid down in
that Regulation. Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 also
provides for the definition of any additional guarantees
which may be required for intra-Community trade and
imports in accordance with that Regulation.

spongiform encephalopathies

Commission Decision 2003/100/EC of 13 February
2003 laying down minimum requirements for the estab-
lishment of breeding programmes for resistance to trans-
in sheep (3),
missible
provides that each Member State is to introduce a
breeding programme to select for resistance to TSEs in
certain sheep breeds. That Decision also provides for a
possibility to derogate from the requirement for Member
States to establish a breeding programme on the basis of
their national scrapie control programme submitted and
approved in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 999/
2001, where it provides for the continuous active moni-
toring of dead-on-farm ovine and caprine animals in all
flocks in that Member State.

In the interests of animal health, national scrapie control
programmes should only be approved where a Member
State is likely to have a low prevalence, or absence of
scrapie in its territory. On 7 March 2003 and 5
September 2003 respectively, Sweden and Denmark
submitted national scrapie control programmes which
are considered to meet the required criteria set out in
Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 and both Member States

(1) OJ L 147, 31.5.2001, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 173, 11.7.2003, p. 6.
(3) OJ L 41, 14.2.2003, p. 41.

are likely to have a low prevalence, or absence, of
scrapie in their
the national
scrapie control programme of
those Member States
should be approved.

territory. Accordingly,

scrapie

their national

On the basis of
control
programmes, Sweden and Denmark should be granted a
derogation from the breeding programme provided for
in Decision 2003/100/EC, and the additional trade guar-
antees required by Annex VIII, Chapter A, and Annex
IX, Chapter E, to Regulation (EC) No 999/200 should be
laid down.

National scrapie control programmes, together with the
additional guarantees, may be approved and defined in
the future for other Member States, as well as deroga-
tions
to establish breeding
it is appropriate to provide
programmes. Accordingly,
for those measures in a Regulation.

requirement

from the

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(4)

(5)

(6)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Approval of national scrapie control programmes

The national scrapie control programmes of the Member States
listed in the Annex are hereby approved.

Article 2

Additional guarantees relating to holdings

1.
Ovine and caprine animals destined for the Member
States listed in the Annex and coming from other Member
States not listed in the Annex or third countries must have
been kept continuously since birth on holdings which have
satisfied the following conditions for a period of at least seven
years prior to the date of dispatch of such animals:

(a) no cases of scrapie have been confirmed;

25.10.2003

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 275/13

(b) no eradication measures have been applied because of

scrapie;

(c) the holdings do not contain animals identified as animals at
risk referred to in Article 13(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No
999/2001.

2.
Semen, embryos and ova from ovine and caprine animals,
destined for Member States listed in the Annex and coming
from other Member States not listed in the Annex or third
countries must be obtained from donors kept continuously
since birth on holdings fulfilling the conditions set out in para-
graph 1.

Article 3

Official movement restrictions

1. Member States listed in the Annex shall apply the official
movement restrictions provided for in paragraph 2 on holdings
receiving ovine or caprine animals or semen, embryos and ova
from ovine or caprine animals, for a period of seven years from
the date of last receipt of those animals, semen, embryos and
ova where:

(a) the animals, semen, embryos and ova are received from
other Member States not listed in the Annex or from third
countries; and

(b) scrapie has been confirmed during the three years prior to
or after the date of dispatch of the animals, semen, embryos
and ova in the Member State or third country of dispatch
as referred to in point (a).

Holdings which receive animals, semen, embryos or ova
2.
meeting the conditions referred to in points (a) and (b) of para-
graph 1 shall be placed under official restriction, so that ovine
and caprine animals, semen, embryos and ova shall not enter
or leave the holding except in the case of animals going directly
for slaughter.

3.
The movement restrictions outlined in paragraph 2 shall
not be applied in the case of receipt of ovine animals of the
ARR/ARR prion protein genotype, or of semen, embryos and
ova from a donor of the ARR/ARR prion protein gentotype.

Article 4

Derogations from the requirement to establish a breeding
programme

Pursuant to the first indent of Article 3(1) of Decision 2003/
100/EC, Member States listed in the Annex are hereby granted
a derogation from the requirement
to establish a breeding
programme as provided for in Article 2(1) of that Decision.

Article 5

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the 20th day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 24 October 2003.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

Member States whose national scrapie control programme has been approved

Sweden

Denmark.