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, and in particular Articles 4(4) and 32(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 prohibits the importation and transit of animal by-products and processed products into the Community, except in accordance with that Regulation.
(2)
Commission Decision 2004/407/EC of 26 April 2004 on transitional sanitary and certification rules under Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards import from certain third countries of photographic gelatine provides, by way of derogation from that prohibition in Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002, that France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom are to authorise the import of certain gelatine exclusively intended for the photographic industry (photographic gelatine).
(3)
Decision 2004/407/EC provides that photographic gelatine is only allowed from the third countries listed in that Decision, namely Japan and the United States of America.
(4)
Luxembourg has confirmed the need to source photographic gelatine from the United States of America for the purposes of the photographic industry in Luxembourg. Accordingly Luxembourg should be allowed to authorise the import of photographic gelatine subject to compliance with the conditions set out in Decision 2004/407/EC. However, those imports may take place in Belgium.
(5)
In order to facilitate the transfer from Belgium to Luxembourg of the imported photographic gelatine, the conditions in Annexes I and III to Decision 2004/407/EC should be amended slightly.
(6)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: