THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra-Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market, and in particular Article 9(4) thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market, and in particular Article 10(4) thereof,
Having regard to Council Directive 2003/85/EC of 29 September 2003 on Community measures for the control of foot-and-mouth disease repealing Directive 85/511/EEC and Decisions 89/531/EEC and 91/665/EEC, and amending Directive 92/46/EEC, and in particular Article 60(2) and Article 62(1) and (3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Following recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain, Commission Decision 2007/554/EC of 9 August 2007 concerning certain protection measures against foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom was adopted to reinforce the control measures against foot-and-mouth disease taken by that Member State in the framework of Council Directive 2003/85/EC.
(2)
Decision 2007/554/EC lays down rules applicable to the dispatch from the high risk areas, listed in Annex I, and the low risk areas listed in Annex II, to that Decision (restricted areas), in Great Britain of products considered safe that either were produced before the restrictions were put in place in the United Kingdom, from raw material sourced from outside those restricted areas, or that have undergone a treatment proven effective in inactivating possible foot-and-mouth disease virus.
(3)
In Decision 2007/554/EC, as amended by Decision 2007/664/EC, the Commission laid down rules for the dispatch of certain categories of meat from certain areas listed in Annex III to Decision 2007/554/EC, as thus amended, that have not recorded any outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for a period of at least 90 days prior to slaughter and which comply with certain specified conditions.
(4)
On the basis of the evolution of the animal health situation in the United Kingdom, Decision 2007/554/EC was amended by Decision 2007/709/EC, and Annex III to Decision 2007/554/EC was replaced, in order to enlarge the area from which exports of fresh meat are allowed, and the date of application of that Decision was prolonged until 15 December 2007.
(5)
The United Kingdom has now defined a foot-and-mouth disease risk area of about 150 km around the first outbreak that is subject to intensified surveillance to verify the absence of infection with the foot-and-mouth disease virus in that Member State. It does not include areas currently listed in Annex III to Decision 2007/554/EC. That 150 km area should be listed as a high risk area in Annex I to that Decision following the implementation of regionalisation by defining the areas listed in Annex II as different form ‘Great Britain’.
(6)
The amendments to the lists of restricted areas in Annexes I and II to Decision 2007/554/EC are required in order to permit the dispatch from those areas listed in Annex II of products of animal origin, such as meat, meat products, milk, dairy products and other animal products, while maintaining a high level of protection with regard to the prohibition on dispatch of live animals and their semen, ova and embryos from the whole of Great Britain, including the areas listed in both Annex I and Annex II.
(7)
In the interest of clarity and consistency, it is also appropriate to correct minor omissions in relation to embryos in Article 6 and to make the wording of Article 7 more precise in relation to medicinal products.
(8)
After the completion with satisfactory results of the clinical and serological surveillance carried out in the surveillance zone to confirm the absence of infection with the foot-and-mouth disease virus, the United Kingdom has removed the measures implemented in the surveillance zone around the confirmed outbreaks on 5 November 2007 in accordance with Article 44 of Directive 2003/85/EC.
(9)
Article 60 of Directive 2003/85/EC provides that a Member State may only recover its previous foot-and-mouth disease and infection-free status when certain measures laid down in that Directive have been completed, and at least three months have elapsed since the last recorded outbreak of that disease, and the absence of infection has been confirmed in accordance with the provisions of that Directive.
(10)
At the same time Article 62 of the Directive allows a modification of the measures necessary to recover the free status maintaining only restrictions on the movement of live animals. It is therefore appropriate that those provisions of Decision 2007/554/EC that relate to the movement of live animals, their semen, ova and embryos remain applicable until the relevant conditions of Article 60 of Directive 2003/85/EC have been fulfilled.
(11)
The period of applicability of Decision 2007/554/EC should therefore be prolonged until 31 December 2007, three months after the completion of the preliminary cleansing and disinfection following the last recorded outbreak on 30 September 2007. At the same time provisions should be in place that limit the application of certain restrictions on products of animal origin to the date of 15 December 2007 as previously envisaged.
(12)
Decision 2007/554/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
(13)
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: