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)

25.10.2003 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 275/12
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)
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) 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.
(2) Commission Decision 2003/100/EC of 13 February 2003 laying down minimum requirements for the establishment of breeding programmes for resistance to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in sheep (3), 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 monitoring of dead-on-farm ovine and caprine animals in all flocks in that Member State.
(3) 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 are likely to have a low prevalence, or absence, of scrapie in their territory. Accordingly, the national scrapie control programme of those Member States should be approved.
(4) On the basis of their national scrapie 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 guarantees required by Annex VIII, Chapter A, and Annex IX, Chapter E, to Regulation (EC) No 999/200 should be laid down.
(5) National scrapie control programmes, together with the additional guarantees, may be approved and defined in the future for other Member States, as well as derogations from the requirement to establish breeding programmes. Accordingly, it is appropriate to provide for those measures in a Regulation.
(6) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,