Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 October 2002 laying down health rules concerning animal by-products not intended for human consumption^f1, and in particular Article 24(6) and Article 32(1) thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Decision 2005/62/EC of 27 January 2005 laying down transitional measures to be applied by Cyprus as regards on-site burning or burial of animal by-products under Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council^f2 provides for a transitional period, which expires on 1 November 2005. That period was intended to allow Cyprus time to set up a collection and disposal scheme for animal by-products.

Cyprus has now informed the Commission that it will not have an operational collection and disposal scheme by 1 November 2005, and has asked the Commission to extend the validity of the current transitional period for a further period of 14 months. However, Cyprus has noted that it may be ready to implement the scheme within and even before the expiry of that period.

It is therefore necessary to extend the validity of transitional measures laid down in Decision 2005/62/EC for a further period of time.

Cyprus should report regularly to the Commission on progress, including steps completed, the steps still to be completed and the schedules for completing any outstanding steps. The Commission intends to continue monitoring closely the situation in Cyprus.

During the extended transitional period, Cyprus has undertaken to continue to take the necessary measures to avoid endangering human or animal health and the environment as laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 811/2003 of 12 May 2003 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the intra-species recycling ban for fish, the burial and burning of animal by-products and certain transitional measures^f3.

Decision 2005/62/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

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: