Commission Regulation (EC) No 956/2008 of 29 September 2008 amending Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2008-09-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal nutrition, animal protein, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, cattle, disease prevention, fish product, food standard

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 956/2008

of 29 September 2008

amending Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council
laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform
encephalopathies

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

feed recently being fed to these fish or through fishmeal
contaminated by MBM.

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

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), and in particular
the second paragraph of Article 7(3), the first paragraph of
Article 23 and Article 23a(d) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 lays down rules for the
transmissible
prevention, control and eradication of
It
spongiform encephalopathies
applies to the production and placing on the market of
live animals and products of animal origin and in certain
specific cases to exports thereof.

in animals.

(TSEs)

Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 provides
that the feeding to ruminants of protein derived from
animals is prohibited. However, Article 7(3) of that Regu­
lation provides for a derogation from that prohibition for
the feeding to young animals of ruminant species of
proteins derived from fish, subject to certain conditions.
Those conditions include a scientific assessment of the
dietary needs of young ruminants and an assessment of
the control aspects of such a derogation.

Part II of Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 sets
out the derogations from the prohibition provided for in
Article 7(1) of that Regulation and the specific conditions
for the application of such derogations.

On 24 January 2007 the European Food Safety Authority
adopted an opinion on the assessment of the health risks
of feeding of ruminants with fishmeal in relation to the
risk of TSE. The opinion concluded that the risk of TSE
in fish, either being fed directly or by amplification of
infectivity is remote. It also found that if there is any risk
of TSE in fishmeal this could arise from the mammalian

(1) OJ L 147, 31.5.2001, p. 1.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

On 19 March 2008, a report by the Directorate-General
for Health and Consumers, carried out with the assistance
of a number of scientific experts, was completed. That
report concludes that
is an easily digested
fishmeal
protein source with a digestibility lower than milk but
higher than most proteins of plant origin and a good
amino acid profile compared with vegetable protein
sources actually used in milk replacers and that
the
feeding of young animals of ruminant species with fish
meal could be allowed.

the

control

risk of

provided

account of
of

an
condition concerning
Taking
in
assessment
for
aspects
the
Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001,
potential
the feeding to young animals of
ruminant species of fishmeal is counterbalanced by the
the
imposed
strict
existing
rules
processing
fishmeal and the
production of
controls on each
consignment of
imported fishmeal before release for
free circulation in the Community

on

In addition, to ensure that the use of fishmeal
is only
allowed for young animals of ruminant species, such use
should be limited to the production of milk replacers,
distributed in dry form and administered after dilution in
a given quantity of liquid, intended for feeding to young
animals of ruminant species as a supplement
to, or
substitute for, post-colostral milk before weaning is
complete. Also, strict rules for implementation should
be imposed on the production, packaging, labelling and
transport of milk replacers containing fishmeal intended
for such animals.

For clarity and consistency the same rules related to
labelling
feedingstuffs
containing fishmeal destined for non-ruminants should
be laid down.

accompanying

document

of

Point E.1. of Part III of Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No
999/2001 provides that exports to third countries of
processed animal proteins derived from ruminants, and
of products containing such processed animal proteins, is
prohibited.

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(10) However, the use of such proteins for the production of
petfood is currently allowed within the Community. In
the interest of consistency of Community legislation, it is
appropriate
to allow exports of processed petfood
including canned petfood which contains processed
animal proteins derived from ruminants
to third
countries.

(11)

(12)

Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

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

opinion

the

the

of

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 is amended in
accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

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, 29 September 2008.

For the Commission

Androulla VASSILIOU
Member of the Commission

L 260/10

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Official Journal of the European Union

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ANNEX

Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 is amended as follows:

(1) Part II is amended as follows:

(a)

in point A, the following point (e) is added:

‘(e)

the feeding to unweaned farmed animals of the ruminant species of
conditions laid down in point BA).’;

fishmeal

in accordance with the

(b) point B is amended as follows:

(i) point (d) is replaced by the following:

‘(d) the commercial document accompanying consignments of feedingstuffs containing fishmeal and any
packaging containing such consignments, must be clearly marked with the words “contains fishmeal
— must not be fed to ruminants”.’;

(ii) the following point BA is added:

‘BA The following conditions shall apply for the use of fishmeal referred to in point A(e) and feedingstuffs

containing fishmeal in the feeding of unweaned farmed animals of the ruminant species:

(a) the fishmeal shall be produced in processing plants dedicated exclusively to the production of fish-

derived products;

(b) before release for free circulation in the Community, each consignment of imported fishmeal shall be

analysed by microscopy in accordance with Directive 2003/126/EC;

(c)

the use of fishmeal for young farmed animals of the ruminant species will only be authorised for the
production of milk replacers, distributed in dry form and administered after dilution in a given
quantity of liquid, intended for the feeding of unweaned ruminants as a supplement to, or substitute
for, post-colostral milk before weaning is complete;

(d) milk replacers containing fishmeal intended for young farmed animals of the ruminant species shall
be produced in establishments which do not produce other feedingstuffs for ruminants and which are
authorised for this purpose by the competent authority.

By way of derogation from point (d), the production of other feedingstuffs for ruminants in estab­
lishments which also produce milk replacers containing fishmeal intended for young farmed animals
of the ruminant species may be authorised by the competent authority subject to the following
conditions:

(i) bulk and packaged other feedingstuffs destined for ruminants are kept in facilities physically
separate from those for bulk fishmeal and bulk milk replacers containing fishmeal during
storage, transport and packaging,

(ii) other feedingstuffs destined for ruminants are manufactured in facilities physically separate from

facilities where milk replacers containing fishmeal are manufactured,

(iii) records detailing the purchases and uses of fishmeal and the sales of milk replacers containing

fishmeal are kept available to the competent authority for at least five years, and

(iv) routine tests are regularly carried out on other feedingstuffs destined for ruminants to ensure that
prohibited proteins including fishmeal are not present. The results should be kept available to the
competent authority for at least five years;

(e)

the commercial document accompanying milk replacers containing fishmeal,
intended for young
farmed animals of the ruminant species, and any packaging containing such a consignment, must
be clearly marked with the words “contains fishmeal — must only be fed to unweaned ruminants”;

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(f) bulk milk replacers containing fishmeal intended for young farmed animals of the ruminant species
containing fishmeal shall be transported by means of vehicles which do not at the same time
transport other feedingstuffs for ruminants. If applicable, when the vehicle is subsequently used
for the transport of other feedingstuffs intended for ruminants, it shall be thoroughly cleaned in
accordance with a procedure approved by the competent authority to avoid cross-contamination;

(g) on farms where ruminants are kept, on-farm measures shall be in place to prevent milk replacers
containing fishmeal being fed to other ruminants than those envisaged by the derogation under point
A(e) of Part II of Annex IV. The competent authority shall establish a list of farms where milk
replacers containing fishmeal are used through a system of prior notification by the farm or another
system ensuring compliance with this provision.’;

(2) in Part III, point E.1 is replaced by the following:

‘E.1 The export to third countries of processed animal proteins derived from ruminants, and of products containing
such processed animal proteins shall be prohibited. However that prohibition shall not apply to processed
petfood including canned petfood which contains processed animal proteins derived from ruminants and
which has undergone treatment and which is labelled in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002.’