THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to 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, and in particular the third subparagraph of Article 5(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 lays down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in animals. For that purpose, the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) status of Member States or third countries or regions thereof (‘countries or regions’) is to be determined by classification into one of three categories depending on the BSE risk involved, namely a negligible BSE risk, a controlled BSE risk and an undetermined BSE risk.
(2)
The Annex to Commission Decision 2007/453/EC of 29 June 2007 establishing the BSE status of Member States or third countries or regions thereof according to their BSE risk lists countries or regions according to their BSE risk status.
(3)
The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) plays a leading role in the categorisation of countries or regions according to their BSE risk. The list in the Annex to Decision 2007/453/EC takes account of Resolution No 17 — Recognition of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Risk Status of Members — adopted by the OIE in May 2011 regarding the BSE status of Member States and third countries.
(4)
In May 2012, the OIE adopted Resolution No 16 — Recognition of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Risk Status of Member Countries. That Resolution recognised Austria, Belgium, Brazil and Colombia as having a negligible BSE risk, and Croatia and Nicaragua as having a controlled BSE risk. The list in the Annex to Decision 2007/453/EC should therefore be amended to be brought into line with that Resolution as regards those Member States and third countries.
(5)
Decision 2007/453/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
(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: