Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Decision 90/424/EEC of 26 June 1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field^f1, and in particular Article 6(2) and Article 8(2) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 2001/89/EC of 23 October 2001 on Community measures for the control of classical swine fever^f2, and in particular Article 18(2) thereof,

Whereas:

Classical swine fever is a threat for domestic and feral pigs (wild boar) in the Community.

Outbreaks of classical swine fever in domestic pig holdings can lead to serious consequences and economic losses in the Community, in particular if they occur in areas with a high density of pigs.

The rules for applying emergency vaccination of domestic and feral pigs are laid down in Directive 2001/89/EC.

The Community has purchased 1 000 000 doses of live attenuated classical swine fever vaccine and made arrangements for keeping it in stock and making it rapidly available in case of an emergency vaccination of domestic pigs.

Those doses have been made available to Romania in July 2007. Accordingly, they need to be replaced for the purpose of maintaining the Community’s capability to respond quickly to the need to carry out emergency vaccination against classical swine fever.

In addition, in the light of the overall disease situation in certain Member States the stock of live attenuated vaccine should be replaced quickly when depleted in order to maintain the Community’s capability to respond to an emergency.

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: