Commission Regulation (EC) No 92/2005 of 19 January 2005 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards means of disposal or uses of animal by-products and amending its Annex VI as regards biogas transformation and processing of rendered fatsText with EEA relevance

21.1.2005 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 19/27
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 92/2005
of 19 January 2005
implementing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards means of disposal or uses of animal by-products and amending its Annex VI as regards biogas transformation and processing of rendered fats
(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 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 consumption (1), and in particular Article 4(2)(e), Article 5(2)(g), Article 6(2)(i) and Article 32(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 provides for rules concerning the means of disposal and uses of animal by-products. It also provides for the possibility for additional means of disposal and uses of animal by-products to be approved following consultation of the appropriate scientific committee.
(2) The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) issued an opinion on 10 and 11 April 2003 on six alternative processing methods for safe treatment and disposal of animal by-products. According to that opinion five processes are considered as safe for the disposal of and/or uses of Categories 2 and 3 material under certain conditions.
(3) The SSC issued a final opinion and report on 10 and 11 April 2003 on a treatment of animal waste by means of high temperature and high pressure alkaline hydrolysis, providing guidance on the possibilities to use alkaline hydrolysis and on its risks for the disposal of Categories 1, 2 and 3 material.
(4) The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) issued an opinion on 26 and 27 November 2003 on the process of High Pressure Hydrolysis Biogas (HPHB) providing guidance on the possibilities to use this process and on its risks for the disposal of Category 1 material.
(5) Five processes may, therefore, be approved as alternative means for the disposal and/or uses of animal by-products in line with the SSC opinions, in addition to those processing methods already provided for by Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002. It is also appropriate to lay down the conditions for the use of those processes.
(6) The Commission has asked some of the applicants for approval of the processes to submit further information regarding the safety of their processes for the treatment and disposal of Category 1 material. That information is to be forwarded to the European Food Safety Authority for evaluation in due course.
(7) Pending that evaluation, and considering current SSC opinions that tallow is safe as regards TSE, especially if it is pressure-cooked and filtered to remove insoluble impurities, it is appropriate to approve one of the processes, which processes animal fat into biodiesel, also for treatment and disposal, under strict conditions, of most Category 1 material, except for the most risky. In that case, it should be made clear that the treatment and disposal may include the recovery of bioenergy.
(8) The approval and the operation of such alternative means should be without prejudice to other applicable EU legislation, in particular environmental legislation, and therefore the operating conditions established in this Regulation should, where applicable, be implemented according to Article 6 paragraph 4 of Directive 2000/76/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 December 2000 (2) on the incineration of waste.
(9) For processes approved for the treatment of Category 1 animal by-products, and as a surveillance measure complementary to the regular monitoring of processing parameters, the efficacy of the process, together with its safety with regard to animal and public health, should be demonstrated to the competent authorities by testing in a pilot plant during the first two years following the implementation of the process within each Member State concerned.
(10) It is appropriate to amend Annex VI, Chapters II and III of Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 as a consequence of approving the transformation of Category 1 animal by-products.
(11) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,