Regulation 2006/1923
OJ L 404 30.12.2006, p. 0001

03681/2006

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Dagmar ROTH-BEHRENDT (PES, DE) approving the Council's common position on the amendment of Regulation 999/2001/EC laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

T6-0535/2006

A6-0445/2006

A6-0445/2006

The committee adopted the report by Dagmar ROTH-BEHRENDT (PES, DE) approving unamended - under the 2nd reading of the codecision procedure - the Council's common position on the proposed regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

The common position adopted by the Council by qualified majority represents a balanced further elaboration of the Commission proposal, where various provisions requested by the Council were included, and in which several of the 1st Reading amendments of the European Parliament have been taken into account.

The Commission agrees with the Council’s position regarding the provisions to be subject to the regulatory procedure with scrutiny and thus should endorse the Common position.

The Commission stated that it will only grant the authorisations referred to in Article 7 after examining the risks and at the same time will take into account the control tools in place to evaluate and ensure the proper implementation of these derogations. Related to the use of fish meal intended for young ruminants, certain restrictions could be envisaged linked to the production or type of those feedingstuffs.

As regards the derogation for fish meal, the Commission will use the results of the microscopic method of analysis which aim to differentiate fish proteins from those of mammals, as well as the results of the next “proficiency-testing” organised by the Community reference laboratory.

COM(2006)0701
EUR-Lex

The Council adopted, by qualified majority, a common position on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation 999/2001/EC laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

In May 2006, an agreement was made at first reading on this report. In the meantime, the Council adopted Decision 2006/512/EC which introduced new provisions for the adoption of acts implementing Council and Parliament's legislation adopted via co-decision, the so-called "regulatory procedure with scrutiny", governed by the provisions laid down in the new Article 5a of Council Decision 1999/468/EC. This new procedure should be used for measures of a general scope which seek to amend non-essential elements of an adopted act according to the codecision procedure, including by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the instrument by the addition of new non-essential elements.

Awaiting the adoption of the co-decision proposal on TSEs, the Council made the necessary changes to include, where appropriate, the regulatory procedure with scrutiny in the Articles referred in the Commission proposal.

Given the urgency of the matter, the Parliament and the Council should adopt the proposed Regulation no later than December 2006.

14224/4/2006
OJ C 311 19.12.2006, p. 0001-0009 E

The Council adopted, by qualified majority, a common position on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation 999/2001/EC laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

In May 2006, an agreement was made at first reading on this report. In the meantime, the Council adopted Decision 2006/512/EC which introduced new provisions for the adoption of acts implementing Council and Parliament's legislation adopted via co-decision, the so-called "regulatory procedure with scrutiny", governed by the provisions laid down in the new Article 5a of Council Decision 1999/468/EC. This new procedure should be used for measures of a general scope which seek to amend non-essential elements of an adopted act according to the codecision procedure, including by deleting some of those elements or by supplementing the instrument by the addition of new non-essential elements.

Awaiting the adoption of the co-decision proposal on TSEs, the Council made the necessary changes to include, where appropriate, the regulatory procedure with scrutiny in the Articles referred in the Commission proposal.

Given the urgency of the matter, the Parliament and the Council should adopt the proposed Regulation no later than December 2006.

14224/4/2006

SP(2006)2902

Results of vote in Parliament

The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Dagmar ROTH-BEHRENDT (PES, DE) and made some amendments to the Commission’s proposal. (For a summary of the main amendments, please see the preceding document.)

T6-0212/2006

Debate in Parliament

A6-0161/2006

A6-0161/2006

The committee adopted the report by Dagmar ROTH-BEHRENDT (PES, DE) broadly approving the proposed regulation subject to a number of amendments under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure:

- it should be stipulated that "the feeding to ruminants of protein derived from animals is prohibited", given that adult ruminants are herbivores and should not be fed at all with animal proteins, in forms not constituting part of the natural diet;

- however, a legal base should be introduced for defining tolerance levels for adventitious cross-contamination of feedingstuffs with "insignificant amounts" of animal proteins;

- the use of mechanically separated meat (MSM) for human consumption should be reviewed. Member States should report to the Commission by July 2009 on the use and production methods of MSM in their country. The Commission should thereafter submit a paper to Parliament and Council on "the future necessity and use of MSM in the European Union, including the information policy towards consumers";

- the reduction of BSE risk categories (from five to three) as adopted by the General Assembly of the OIE in May 2005 should be accompanied by comprehensive active and passive surveillance measures;

- breeding programmes for resistance to TSE should be introduced on a voluntary basis, rather than being compulsory, and the scientific results and overall consequences of such programmes should be evaluated regularly;

- the list of "specified risk material" (SRM) laid down in Annex V of the regulation should include "at least the brain, spinal cord, eyes and tonsils of bovine animals aged over 12 months";

- to avoid the slaughter of entire "cohorts", a provision should be introduced to allow the use of "cohort animals" until the end of their productive life, subject to strict control conditions. MEPs argued that there is no scientific proof that BSE is transmitted through milk or by cows to their calves;

- Parliament and the Council should have the right to object to decisions adopted by the relevant Standing Committee involving amendments to the extensive and detailed annexes to the regulation. Any decision adopted under the commitology procedure should be revoked if Parliament or Council raises objections to it within a period of six months.

PE367.645

PE370.276

PE368.022

PURPOSE : to amend the TSE Regulation 999/2001/EC laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

PROPOSED ACT : Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT : this proposal is an amendment to the TSE Regulation on various matters and in the light of new developments since the adoption of the Regulation. The main amendments suggested by the Commission concern the following issues :

- Determination of BSE status : Regulation 1128/2003/EC extended the application of the transitional measures under Article 23 of the TSE Regulation by two years, until 30 June 2005. The aim of this extension was to allow the Commission to continue its attempts to reach an agreement at international level on the determination of BSE status of countries. The World Organisation for Animal health (OIE) presented a proposal to simplify the current criteria for the categorisation of countries according to their BSE risk. Since the Members did not express major objections to the proposal, a proposal for possible adoption will be presented at the OIE General session in May 2005 at the earliest. The intention is to reduce the number of categories, possibly in a step-wise way. To avoid multiple amendments to the Articles of the TSE Regulation pending the final modifications to the number of categories, it is proposed to transfer references to individual categories from the Articles to the Annexes. Moreover, a Resolution was adopted at the OIE General Session in May 2003 according to which OIE will classify all countries into one or other of the defined categories. It may be assumed that OIE will not conclude the final categorisation of countries according to their BSE risk before 1 July 2005. Therefore it is proposed to prolong the period of application of the transitional measures. Therefore it is proposed to prolong the period of application of the transitional measures until 1 July 2007.

- Prevention of TSE : in March 2003, the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) recommended to start a monitoring programme for TSEs in cervids. The TSE Regulation establishes a monitoring programme for BSE and scrapie. It is proposed to extend this provision to other TSEs, in particular in order to follow the SSC recommendation on cervids. Commission Decision No. 2003/100/EC introduced a harmonised breeding programme to select for resistance to TSEs in ovine animals as a transitional measure. It is proposed to introduce a permanent legal basis for the breeding programme in the TSE Regulation. The TSE Regulation prohibits the feeding of certain processed animal proteins to certain animals, with a possibility to extend the prohibition or lay down derogations in Annex IV. In order to make comprehensive amendments to the Annex, it is proposed to make certain technical amendments to the present wording of the corresponding Articles in order to develop the structure of the Annex. It is proposed to replace the present rules in the TSE Regulation on the disposal of specified risk materials and animals infected by TSEs with a reference to Regulation 1774/2002/EC laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption. In addition, it is proposed to revise the present provisions on slaughter methods with a view to prohibit gas injection into the cranial cavity in connection with stunning. It is proposed to align the definition of mechanically recovered meat with the definition used in other Community legislation on food safety.

- Control and eradication of TSEs : in order to avoid that animals are moved from holdings where scrapie is officially suspected, it is proposed to lay down the same rules regarding movement restrictions as for bovine animals following the detection of a BSE suspect.

- Placing on the Market : To take account of possible emerging TSEs in other species it is proposed to introduce a possibility to extend the scope of the current provisions on the placing on the market and export of bovine, ovine and caprine animals, their semen, embryos and ova in order to cover other species. The Commission proposes to remove di-calcium phosphate from the list of products which the Regulation currently specifies shall not be subject to restrictions on placing on the market. Since no restrictions apply for milk for human consumption, the same derogation should apply for milk not intended for human consumption within the meaning of Regulation 1774/2002/EC. The list of products which shall not be subject to restrictions on placing on the market by the Regulation shall be modified accordingly.

- Controls : The TSE Regulation provides a legal basis for inspections by the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) only within the Member States. The Commission considers it useful to lay down certain detailed rules concerning on-the-spot checks carried out in the veterinary field by Commission experts in third countries. It is proposed to amend the Regulation to provide for such checks.

The proposal has no implications for the budget of the European Community.

COM(2004)0775
EUR-Lex

PURPOSE : to amend the TSE Regulation 999/2001/EC laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

PROPOSED ACT : Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council.

CONTENT : this proposal is an amendment to the TSE Regulation on various matters and in the light of new developments since the adoption of the Regulation. The main amendments suggested by the Commission concern the following issues :

- Determination of BSE status : Regulation 1128/2003/EC extended the application of the transitional measures under Article 23 of the TSE Regulation by two years, until 30 June 2005. The aim of this extension was to allow the Commission to continue its attempts to reach an agreement at international level on the determination of BSE status of countries. The World Organisation for Animal health (OIE) presented a proposal to simplify the current criteria for the categorisation of countries according to their BSE risk. Since the Members did not express major objections to the proposal, a proposal for possible adoption will be presented at the OIE General session in May 2005 at the earliest. The intention is to reduce the number of categories, possibly in a step-wise way. To avoid multiple amendments to the Articles of the TSE Regulation pending the final modifications to the number of categories, it is proposed to transfer references to individual categories from the Articles to the Annexes. Moreover, a Resolution was adopted at the OIE General Session in May 2003 according to which OIE will classify all countries into one or other of the defined categories. It may be assumed that OIE will not conclude the final categorisation of countries according to their BSE risk before 1 July 2005. Therefore it is proposed to prolong the period of application of the transitional measures. Therefore it is proposed to prolong the period of application of the transitional measures until 1 July 2007.

- Prevention of TSE : in March 2003, the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) recommended to start a monitoring programme for TSEs in cervids. The TSE Regulation establishes a monitoring programme for BSE and scrapie. It is proposed to extend this provision to other TSEs, in particular in order to follow the SSC recommendation on cervids. Commission Decision No. 2003/100/EC introduced a harmonised breeding programme to select for resistance to TSEs in ovine animals as a transitional measure. It is proposed to introduce a permanent legal basis for the breeding programme in the TSE Regulation. The TSE Regulation prohibits the feeding of certain processed animal proteins to certain animals, with a possibility to extend the prohibition or lay down derogations in Annex IV. In order to make comprehensive amendments to the Annex, it is proposed to make certain technical amendments to the present wording of the corresponding Articles in order to develop the structure of the Annex. It is proposed to replace the present rules in the TSE Regulation on the disposal of specified risk materials and animals infected by TSEs with a reference to Regulation 1774/2002/EC laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption. In addition, it is proposed to revise the present provisions on slaughter methods with a view to prohibit gas injection into the cranial cavity in connection with stunning. It is proposed to align the definition of mechanically recovered meat with the definition used in other Community legislation on food safety.

- Control and eradication of TSEs : in order to avoid that animals are moved from holdings where scrapie is officially suspected, it is proposed to lay down the same rules regarding movement restrictions as for bovine animals following the detection of a BSE suspect.

- Placing on the Market : To take account of possible emerging TSEs in other species it is proposed to introduce a possibility to extend the scope of the current provisions on the placing on the market and export of bovine, ovine and caprine animals, their semen, embryos and ova in order to cover other species. The Commission proposes to remove di-calcium phosphate from the list of products which the Regulation currently specifies shall not be subject to restrictions on placing on the market. Since no restrictions apply for milk for human consumption, the same derogation should apply for milk not intended for human consumption within the meaning of Regulation 1774/2002/EC. The list of products which shall not be subject to restrictions on placing on the market by the Regulation shall be modified accordingly.

- Controls : The TSE Regulation provides a legal basis for inspections by the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) only within the Member States. The Commission considers it useful to lay down certain detailed rules concerning on-the-spot checks carried out in the veterinary field by Commission experts in third countries. It is proposed to amend the Regulation to provide for such checks.

The proposal has no implications for the budget of the European Community.

COM(2004)0775
EUR-Lex