COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 595/2010
of 2 July 2010
amending Annexes VIII, X and XI to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption
(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 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 the first and second subparagraph of Article 32(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 lays down animal and public health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption. It provides that processed animal protein and other processed products that could be used as feed material are to be placed on the market only if they have been processed in accordance with Annex VII to that Regulation. In addition, Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 provides that petfood, dogchews and technical products and those animal by-products referred to in Annex VIII are to be placed on the market only if they meet the specific requirements set out in that Annex.
(2)
Chapter V of Annex VIII to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 currently sets out harmonised requirements for the placing on the market and importation of serum of equidae. However, certain Member States, trading partners and economic operators have indicated their interest in the use of blood and a wider range of blood products from equidae, both of Union and of third country origin, for technical purposes in the Union. In order to facilitate the use of such blood and of such blood products, it is necessary to lay down animal health requirements for their use for technical purposes. Such requirements should mitigate the potential risks of transmission of certain compulsorily notifiable diseases listed in Council Directive 90/426/EEC of 26 June 1990 on animal health conditions governing the movement and import from third countries of equidae (2), on the basis of available scientific evidence. In particular, blood should come from slaughterhouses that have been approved in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (3) or from facilities approved and supervised by the competent authority of the third country for the purpose of blood collection, such as holdings where animals are kept under special health conditions.
(3)
Chapter X of Annex VIII to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 sets out requirements for the importation of horns and horn products (excluding horn meal) and hooves and hoof products (excluding hoof meal) intended for use other than as feed material, organic fertilizers or soil improvers.
(4)
Economic operators have indicated their interest in the use of such animal by-products for the production of organic fertilizers or soil improvers. However, the placing on the market, including the importation of such animal by-products should only be allowed if they originate from animals which are fit for slaughter for human consumption or which did not show clinical signs of any communicable disease and if a treatment has been applied to them which mitigates potential health risks.
(5)
In the case of horns, appropriate measures should be taken to prevent the transmission of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) when the horns are removed from the skull. The Scientific Steering Committee issued an opinion on TSE infectivity distribution in ruminant tissues (4). According to that opinion, horns must be removed without opening the cranial cavity, to prevent cross-contamination with TSE agents.
(6)
Accordingly, a new Chapter XV should be added to Annex VIII to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 which specifies the health conditions for the placing on the market, including the importation, of horns and horn products, excluding horn meal, and hooves and hoof products, excluding hoof meal, which are intended for the production of organic fertilisers or soil improvers.
(7)
Annex X to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 437/2008' (5), sets out a single model health certificate for milk and milk products not intended for human consumption originating in third countries for dispatch to or for transit through the Union. Chapter V of Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 lays down specific requirements for the placing on the market and importation of milk, milk products and colostrum. Point 3 of Section A and point 1.5 of Section B of that Chapter lay down the requirements for whey that is to be fed to animals of species susceptible to foot-and-mouth disease. The model health certificate for the importation of milk and milk products not intended for human consumption is set out Chapter 2 of Annex X to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002. The requirements for whey set out in that model certificate are stricter than the corresponding requirements for whey in intra-Union trade set out in Chapter V of Annex VII to that Regulation. Accordingly, that model certificate should be amended so that the requirements for the importation of whey are not less favourable than those applicable to the production and marketing of whey in intra-Union trade. The model health certificate in Chapter 2 of Annex X to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 should therefore be amended.
(8)
Annex XI to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 sets out lists of third countries from which Member States may authorise imports of certain animal by-products not intended for human consumption with reference to Council Decision 79/542/EEC (6), Commission Decision 97/296/EC (7), Commission Decision 94/85/EEC (8), Commission Decision 94/984/EC (9), Commission Decision 2000/585/EC (10), Commission Decision 2000/609/EC (11), Commission Decision 2004/211/EC (12), Commission Decision 2004/438/EC (13) and Commission Decision 2006/696/EC (14). These legal acts have been considerably amended or replaced. Annex XI should be amended to take account of amendments made to those Union acts.
(9)
A transitional period should be provided for after the date of entry into force of this Regulation, in order to provide the necessary time for stakeholders to comply with the new rules and to allow for the continued importation into the Union of animal by-products, as provided for Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002, before the amendments introduced by this Regulation.
(10)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Annexes VIII, X and XI to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
For a transitional period until 31 August 2010, Member States shall accept consignments of milk and milk products, serum from equidae and treated blood products, excluding those of equidae, for the manufacture of technical products which are accompanied by a health certificate completed and signed in accordance with the appropriate model certificates, as set out in Chapter 2, Chapter 4(A) and Chapter 4(D) respectively of Annex X to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 before the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
Until 30 October 2010, Member States shall accept such consignments if the accompanying health certificates were completed and signed before 1 September 2010.
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force and apply on the twentieth day following that of 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, 2 July 2010.