Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin^f1, and in particular Article 9(2) thereof,

Whereas:

Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 lays down specific rules on the hygiene of food of animal origin for food business operators. Those rules include hygiene requirements for raw milk and dairy products.

Commission Decision 2009/861/EC^f2 provides for certain derogations from the requirements set out in Subchapters II and III of Chapter I of Section IX of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 for the milk processing establishments in Bulgaria listed in that Decision. That Decision applies until 31 December 2013.

Accordingly, certain milk processing establishments listed in Annex I to Decision 2009/861/EC may, by way of derogation from the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, process compliant and non-compliant milk provided that the processing of compliant and non-compliant milk is carried out on separate production lines. In addition, certain milk processing establishments listed in Annex II to that Decision may process non-compliant milk without separate production lines.

Bulgaria sent to the Commission a revised and updated list of those milk processing establishments on 12 August 2013.

In that list, the establishments listed at No 1 (BG 0412010 ‘Bi Si Si Handel’ OOD), No 4 (BG 2012020 ‘Yotovi’ OOD) and No 5 (BG 2512020 ‘Mizia-Milk’ OOD) of the table set out in Annex I to Decision 2009/861/EC have been deleted, as they are now authorised to process only compliant milk to be placed on the intra-Union market.

In addition, four establishments currently listed in Annex II to Decision 2009/861/EC have been deleted as they are authorised to place dairy products on the intra-Union market, since they are using only compliant milk. Those establishments were listed in the table in Annex II to Decision 2009/861/EC at No 8 (1312023 ‘Inter-D’ OOD), No 71 (BG 2512001 ‘Mladost-2002’ OOD), No 91 (BG 2012019 ‘Hemus-Milk komers’ OOD) and No 95 (2712005 ‘Nadezhda’ OOD).

In addition, Bulgaria has informed the Commission that, since the date Decision 2009/861/EC took effect, the proportion of raw milk that complies with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, delivered to milk processing establishments in that Member State, has considerably increased. Bulgaria has also established an action plan aimed at covering the entire production chain of milk in that Member State ensuring compliance with Union rules.

However, according to the reports submitted by Bulgaria on the basis of Article 5 of Decision 2009/861/EC and to the information provided to the Commission by that Member State on 1 August 2013, the milk sector in Bulgaria is still not entirely in conformity with the requirements laid down in Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.

Considering the efforts made by Bulgaria to bring the milk sector in compliance with the Union rules, with a constant diminution of farms producing non-compliant milk since 2009, it is appropriate to extend the application of the measures provided for in Decision 2009/861/EC until 31 December 2015.

Bulgaria should provide regular updates to the Commission on the progress made in order to demonstrate that the target of compliance with the Union criteria can be achieved before the end of the period of application of Decision 2009/861/EC, as extended by this Decision.

Decision 2009/861/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: