EUROPEAN COMMISSION HEALTH & CONSUMERS DIRECTORATE-GENERAL SANCO D D(2011) 1198550 SUMMARY RECORD OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE FOOD CHAIN AND ANIMAL HEALTH HELD IN BRUSSELS ON 3 & 4 MAY 2010 (Section Controls and Import Conditions) President: Alberto Laddomada. All the Member States were present. Greece was partly absent and not represented. 1. State of play of the discussion with Russia on certifications for export. The Commission informed Member States of the state of play of negotiations on veterinary certificates. 2. Information by the Commission on imports of fishery products from the Republic of The Gambia. The Commission's representative informed that currently in the Republic of The Gambia there is no official control on fishery products, with the exception of one establishment which was inspected and found to be in compliance with the EU rules. To avoid interruption of imports of fishery products from that establishment, the Commission is currently preparing a draft Decision, based on the food and feed control Regulation, which will allow for amendments in the future, if necessary, according to the situation and following inspections, thus avoiding trade interruption. The Commission will propose with that draft Decision to continue import of heat treated shrimps from the authorised establishment. The draft Decision will be presented for an opinion in one of the forthcoming meetings of this Committee. 3. Guidance Document for veterinary controls on consignments of fishery products originating from third countries. (Doc. SANCO/10949/2010) The Commission's representative presented the guidance document. The document is mainly directed at competent authorities and more specifically at border inspection posts, and aims to give guidance on the implementation of the requirements governing the import and transit control system for consignments of fishery products originating from third countries. 1
The document has been endorsed by the Committee and Member States agreed that it is published on the Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumers' website http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/bips/guidelines_en.htm. 3A. Equivalence of legislation for molluscs - EU/USA - state of play. The Commission informed the Member States of the official information received from the US authorities on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill with regard to the food safety of fishing products. 3. Exchange of views and possible opinion of the Committee on a draft Commission Decision on emergency measures applicable to consignments of farmed fishery products imported from Bangladesh and intended for human consumption. (Right of scrutiny of the European Parliament) (Legal base: Article 53(1)(b)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002) (Doc. SANCO/10622/2010 Rev.3) Decision 2008/630/EC of 24 July 2008 on emergency measures applicable to crustaceans imported from Bangladesh and intended for human consumption was adopted following the detection of the presence of residues of veterinary medicinal products and unauthorised substances in crustaceans imported from that third country and intended for human consumption. It provides that consignments of crustaceans imported into the Union from Bangladesh and intended for human consumption are to be tested for the presence of chloramphenicol, metabolites of nitrofurans, tetracycline, malachite green and crystal violet. The results of a Commission inspection to Bangladesh in January 2010 have revealed that the previously identified lack of appropriate laboratory capacity for the testing of certain residues of veterinary medicinal products in live animals and animal products still persists. In addition, oxytetracycline and chlortetracycline are also known to be used in Bangladesh. Since the measures taken to date by Bangladesh are not sufficient, it is appropriate to review the emergency measures laid down in Decision 2008/630/EC to ensure the effective and uniform protection of human health in all Member States. In particular, it is necessary to allow the importation of crustaceans imported from Bangladesh and intended for human consumption into the Union, provided that appropriate tests are carried out at the place of origin. In addition, a significant proportion of crustaceans imported from Bangladesh should undergo analytical testing by the Member States for the detection of the presence of residues of pharmacologically active substances before they are placed on the market in the Union. The results of such testing should provide more accurate information on the actual level of contamination with those residues in crustaceans originating from Bangladesh. It is appropriate that Member States notify the Commission of the results of the analytical tests carried out, where those results reveal the presence of pharmacologically active substances not authorised for use in food producing animals, or exceeding the maximum residue limits laid down in Union law. Member States 2
should also regularly submit reports to the Commission on all the tests carried out by them. The Commission's representative presented the draft Decision. Member States were informed that internal consultation was still ongoing and therefore the vote was postponed however, Member States agreed on the document. The intention is to present it for vote on the meeting of this Committee, section Pesticides Legislation on 10-11 May 2010. Member States' participants to this meeting should therefore be in contact with their colleagues, participants to that Committee, in order to be able to provide an opinion. Vote: postponed. 4A. Exchange of views and possible opinion of the Committee on a draft Commission Regulation derogating from Regulation (EC) No 1251/2008 and suspending imports into the European Union of consignments of certain aquaculture animals from Singapore. (Doc. SANCO/7092/2010) The Commission's representative presented the draft Regulation. Member States were informed that internal consultation was still ongoing and therefore the vote was postponed. The intention is to present it for vote on the meeting of this Committee, section Pesticides Legislation on 10-11 May 2010. Vote: postponed. 4. Exchange of views of the Committee on a draft Commission Regulation amending Commission Regulation (EU) No 206/2010, which lays down lists of third countries, territories or parts thereof authorised for the introduction into the Union of certain animals and fresh meat and the veterinary certification requirements. (Doc. SANCO/7044/2009) The title of the draft Regulation presented at the meeting has changed from the one included on the agenda, to read as follows: Draft Commission Regulation amending Annex II to Commission Regulation (EU) No 206/2010 as regards the entry for Argentina and Japan in the list of third countries, territories or parts thereof authorised for introduction into the European Union of certain fresh meat, as regards the model veterinary certificate for bovine meat from Brazil and as regards certain transport requirements in the model veterinary certificates for fresh meat of domestic bovine and ovine animals. The Commission proposed four amendments to Regulation (EU) No 206/2010: a) to add Argentina to Annex II of that Regulation to allow the import of de-boned and matured wild deer meat of animals from an area of Argentina foot-and-mouth disease free with vaccination (AR-1) following information and animal health guarantees provided by Argentina. 3
b) to add Japan to Annex II of that Regulation to allow the import of fresh bovine meat from that third country into the Union, following the positive outcome of a mission carried out by the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) and the sufficient guarantees provided by Japan. c) to amend the model veterinary certificates for bovine, caprine and ovine meat to allow animals destined for slaughter for the production of fresh meat intended for export to the EU, to be sourced from a collection centre and then sent directly to an approved slaughterhouse, provided that certain animal health rules are respected. Currently, only Namibia has provided sufficient guarantees to benefit from this flexibility. d) to remove the requirement in the model veterinary certificate for Brazil for bovine meat, concerning the specific guarantee for the efficacy of foot-and-mouth vaccination and surveillance for virus circulation in bovines, to bring it back into line with the requirements for other countries of South America. A recent Commission inspection in Brazil had a positive outcome. In addition, due to delays in publishing the corrigendum, provision has been made to allow for a longer transitional period for the use of old certificates to avoid any unnecessary trade disruptions. Member States were asked to send any comments to the Commission within the next few weeks and before the next meeting of the Committee at the end of June, as the intention is to present this draft Regulation for an opinion then. 5. Exchange of views of the Committee on a draft Commission Regulation laying down lists of third countries and import health certification requirements for certain products of animal origin for human consumption and amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005. (Regulatory procedure with scrutiny of the European Parliament and of the Council) (Legal base: Directive 2002/99/EC and Regulation (EC) No 854/2004) (Doc. SANCO/7061/2009 Rev. 3) The title of the draft Regulation presented at the meeting has changed from the one included on the agenda, to read as follows: Draft Commission Regulation laying down lists of third countries and import health certification requirements for certain products of animal origin for human consumption, amending Commission Regulation (EC) No 2074/2005 and repealing Decision 2003/812/EC. Revision 2 of this draft Regulation was presented and discussed at the meeting of this Committee held on 12-13 April 2010 (see item 5 of that agenda). Then, the Commission's representative informed the Member States that a working group meeting was scheduled for the 19 th of April, organised by Unit D2 of the Commission's Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO), to look at the issue from a public health point of view. Unfortunately, that meeting was postponed to the 31 st of May so this draft will be presented for an opinion at the next meeting of this Committee in June. Revision 3 was prepared in the meantime taking into account the comments sent by the Member States; it was distributed at the meeting. Any additional comments should be sent before the 31 st of May and/or raised during that meeting. 4
6. Exchange of views of the Committee on a draft Commission Regulation amending Commission Regulation (EU) No 206/2010 as regards the requirements for the introduction into the European Union of certain ungulates, bees, bumble bees and other invertebrates, bats, lagomorphs and carnivores. (Doc. SANCO/4755/2009 Rev. 2) The Commission's representative presented the draft Regulation and replied to questions raised by the Member States. The document was discussed within various working groups and was prepared taking into account the comments of Member States. Commission Regulation (EU) No 206/2010 laying down lists of third countries, territories or parts thereof authorised for the introduction into the European Union of certain animals and fresh meat and the veterinary certification requirements lay down the requirements for the introduction into the Union of certain ungulates and bees and of fresh meat of ungulates and equidae. There is an interest in introducing into the Union certain ungulates into zoos, scientific institutions or similar bodies from other third countries than those listed in Regulation (EU) No 206/2010. To allow for such introductions, that Regulation should be amended. However, as these ungulates may represent a risk of transmitting serious animal health diseases, inter alia they should only be introduced into the Union providing they originate from an approved body, institute or centre and are intended for an approved body, institute or centre. To ensure an adequate animal health status of the approved bodies, institutes or centres, it is necessary to lay down detailed conditions for their establishment and functioning. Directive 92/65/EEC lays down the animal health requirements governing trade in and imports into the Union of live animals, semen, ova and embryos not subject to the animal health requirements laid down in the specific Union acts referred to in Annex F to that Directive provides legal basis to establish animal health import conditions for the introduction into the EU of live animals covered by that Directive. However, pending the establishment of such requirements at Union level, national rules shall continue to apply provided they are not more favourable than those laid down in that Directive for intra-union trade. To ensure uniform conditions for the introduction into the European Union of species of animals, which may pose a particular animal health risk, harmonised rules for the introduction into the Union of such species of animals should be laid down. It's furthermore appropriate to introduce a transitional period to allow Member States and industry to take the necessary measures to comply with the requirements laid down in this Regulation. The Commission asked Member States to send their comments on the draft Regulation by email and informed that the list of third countries approved by the Member States for the introduction into the European Union of such animals will be published on the Commission's website. 5
Miscellaneous Issues raised by the Commission: Document SANCO/7075/2010 was distributed by the Commission during the meeting, with the title "Final report on highly pathogenic avian influenza of the subtype H5N1 in Israel". The report will be published on the Commission's website. 6