THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Decision 2000/258/EC of 20 March 2000 designating a specific institute responsible for establishing the criteria necessary for standardising the serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines, and in particular Article 3(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Decision 2000/258/EC designates the Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments (AFSSA) in Nancy, France, as the specific institute responsible for establishing the criteria necessary for standardising the serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines. The AFSSA has now been integrated into the Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES) in France.
(2)
Decision 2000/258/EC provides, inter alia, that the ANSES is to appraise laboratories in third countries that have applied for approval to carry out serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines.
(3)
The competent authority of Morocco has submitted an application for the approval of the laboratory ‘Service du Contrôle et des Expertises de l'Office National de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits Alimentaires’ in Rabat, and the ANSES has established and submitted to the Commission a favourable appraisal report dated 19 October 2016 for this laboratory.
(4)
The competent authority of Taiwan has submitted an application for the approval of the laboratories of the Epidemiology Research Division and the Biologics Division of the Animal Health Research Institute in New Taipei City, and the ANSES has established and submitted to the Commission a favourable appraisal report dated 19 October 2016 for those two laboratories.
(5)
The laboratory ‘Service du Contrôle et des Expertises de l'Office National de Sécurité Sanitaire des Produits Alimentaires’ in Rabat and the laboratories of the Biologics Division and the Epidemiology Research Division of the Animal Health Research Institute in New Taipei City should therefore be authorised to carry out serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines in dogs, cats and ferrets.
(6)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: