THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Directive 97/78/EC of 18 December 1997 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third counties, and in particular Article 22(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
The Commission’s audit service, the Food and Veterinary Office has carried out a follow-up audit in Turkey to evaluate the official controls of the production of fishery products and bivalve molluscs intended for export to the Union. The audit identified several deficiencies in the implementation of official controls and in particular significant shortcomings of analyses in the official laboratories visited. Consequently, the Turkish competent authority cannot reliably guarantee that Union health standards for all bivalve molluscs exported to the Union are met.
(2)
In addition, Member States have reported a high number of non-compliant consignments of bivalve molluscs originating in Turkey which were not fulfilling Union microbiological standards.
(3)
In order to protect human health, it is appropriate to subject the bivalve molluscs originating in Turkey to appropriate checks, with the purpose of preventing products unfit for human consumption from being placed on the market. The competent authorities should place the consignments concerned under official detention in the border inspection post of entry into the Union until they receive the results of such checks.
(4)
The very short shelf life of live and chilled bivalve molluscs rules out testing at the Union border as a less restrictive trade measure. Consignments of those molluscs would have been unfit for human consumption before the laboratory results become available. Therefore, it is appropriate to suspend imports into the Union of live and chilled bivalve molluscs originating in Turkey until the Turkish authorities will be in position to provide the necessary guarantees.
(5)
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: