COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 51/2013
of 16 January 2013
amending Regulation (EC) No 152/2009 as regards the methods of analysis for the determination of constituents of animal origin for the official control of feed
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules (1), and in particular Article 11(4) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Article 7(1) of 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 (2) provides that the feeding to ruminants of protein derived from animals is prohibited. That prohibition is extended to animals other than ruminants and restricted, as regards the feeding of those animals with products of animal origin, in accordance with Annex IV to that Regulation.
(2)
Article 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 (3) prohibits the feeding of terrestrial animals of a given species other than fur animals with processed animal protein derived from the bodies or parts of bodies of animals of the same species, as well as the feeding of farmed fish with processed animal protein derived from the bodies or parts of bodies of farmed fish of the same species.
(3)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 152/2009 of 27 January 2009 laying down the methods of sampling and analysis for the official control of feed (4) sets out in its Annex VI the methods of analysis for the determination of constituents of animal origin for the official control of feed. The microscopic method, which is currently the only method validated to detect the presence of animal proteins in feed, is able to distinguish the presence of constituents derived from terrestrial animals from the presence of constituents derived from fish, but unable to quantify with a sufficient level of accuracy the amount of animal constituents present in feed, and therefore should not be used for this purpose.
(4)
A new method of detection of animal constituents based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was validated by the EU reference laboratory for animal proteins in feedingstuffs. An implementation study, organised with the national reference laboratories of the Member States, proved that the new method is sufficiently robust to be used as an official control method in the Union. This new method is able to detect the presence of animal constituents in feed, and also able to identify the species origin of these constituents. The use of this new method in combination with or in replacement of, as appropriate, the microscopic method would be very valuable for the control of the correct implementation of the feeding prohibitions laid down in Regulations (EC) No 999/2001 and (EC) No 1069/2009.
(5)
Annex VI to Regulation (EC) No 152/2009 should therefore be replaced accordingly.
(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 and neither the European Parliament nor the Council have opposed them,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Annex VI to Regulation (EC) No 152/2009 is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 16 January 2013.