2004/468/EC:COMMISSION DECISION of 29 April 2004 laying down transitional measures to be applied by Estonia and Hungary as regards the material collected when treating waste water under Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2004-04-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Estonia, Hungary, agro-industry, meat processing industry, transitional period (EU), waste, waste management, wastewater, water treatment

30.4.2004 

EN 

Official Journal of the European Union 

L 160/4 

___ 

COMMISSION DECISION 

of 29 April 2004 

laying down transitional measures to be applied by Estonia and Hungary as regards the 
material collected when treating waste water under Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the 
European Parliament and of the Council 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

(2004/468/EC) 

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania, Hungary, Malta,  Slovenia and Slovakia, and in particular Article 2(3) thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  Act  of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia, 
Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta,  Poland,  Slovenia  and  Slovakia,  and  in  particular  Article  42 
thereof, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Regulation  (EC)  No  1774/2002  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  3 
October  2002  laying  down  health  rules  concerning  animal  by-products  not  intended 
for  human  consumption1  sets  out  certain  requirements  concerning  the  treatment  of 
waste water from establishments handling Category 1 and Category 2 material. 

It  is  appropriate  to  adopt  transitional  measures  to  facilitate  the  transition  from  the 
existing  regime  in  certain  new  Member  States  which  does  not  fully  meet  the 
requirements  of  Regulation  (EC)  No  1774/2002  concerning  the  treatment  of  waste 
water. 

Accordingly, as a temporary measure a derogation should be granted to Estonia until 
31  August  2004  and  to  Hungary  until  1  May  2005  to  enable  them  to  authorise 
operators  to  continue  to  apply  national  rules  for  the  collection  of  Category  1  and 
Category 2 material when treating waste water. 

1 

OJ L 273, 10.10.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 808/2003 
(OJ L 117, 13.5.2003, p. 1). 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
(4) 

(5) 

In  order  to  prevent  a  risk  to  animal  and  public  health  appropriate  control  systems 
should  be  maintained  in  Estonia  and  Hungary  for  the  period  of  the  transitional 
measures. 

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

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 

1. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

Article 1 

By  way  of  derogation  from  Chapter  IX  of  Annex  II  to  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1774/2002, Estonia may continue to grant individual approvals until 31 August 2004 
at  the  latest  and  Hungary  until  1  May  2005  at  the  latest  to  operators  of  processing 
plants,  premises  and  slaughterhouses  referred  to  in  Article  4(1)  (d)  and  Article 
5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002, in conformity with national rules, to apply 
such rules for the collection of waste water, provided that: 

(a)  all animal material retained in current systems from those processing plants, premises 
and  slaughterhouses  are  collected,  transported  and  disposed  of  as  Category  1  or 
Category  2  material  as  appropriate,  in  accordance  with  Regulation  (EC)  No 
1774/2002; 

(b) the national rules are only applied in premises and facilities that applied those rules on 

1 May 2004. 

The competent authority shall take the necessary measures to control compliance by 
authorised  operators  of  premises  and  facilities  with  the  conditions  set  out  in 
paragraph 1. 

Article 2 

Individual  approvals  granted  by  the  competent  authority  for  the  material  collected 
when  treating  waste  water  shall  be  immediately  and  permanently  withdrawn  in 
respect of any operator, premises or facilities if the conditions set out in this Decision 
are no longer fulfilled. 

The competent authority shall withdraw any approvals granted under Article 1(1) by 
31 August 2004 at the latest in Estonia and by 1 May 2005 at the latest in Hungary. 

The competent authority shall not grant a final approval under Regulation (EC) No 
1774/2002 unless on the basis of its inspections it is satisfied that the premises and 
facilities referred to in Article 1 meet the requirements of that Regulation. 

3. 

Any  material  that  does  not  comply  with  the  requirements  of  this  Decision  shall  be 
disposed of in accordance with the instructions of the competent authority. 

Article 3 

Estonia  and  Hungary  shall  immediately  take  the  necessary  measures  to  comply  with  this 
Decision  and  shall  publish  those  measures.  They  shall  immediately  inform  the  Commission 
thereof. 

Article 4 

This Decision shall apply subject to and as from the date of the entry into force of the Treaty 
of  Accession  of  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia,  Cyprus,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Malta, 
Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. 

It shall apply until 1 May 2005. 

Done at Brussels, 29 April 2004. 

For the Commission 
David BYRNE 
Member of the Commission