Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies^f1, and in particular the third subparagraph of Article 5(2) thereof,

Whereas:

Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 provides that Member States, third countries or regions thereof (countries or regions) are to be classified according to their bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) status into one of three categories: negligible BSE risk, controlled BSE risk and undetermined BSE risk.

The third subparagraph of Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 provides that if the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) has placed an applicant country in one of the three categories of BSE status, a reassessment of the Union categorisation may be decided.

The Annex to Commission Decision 2007/453/EC^f2 lists the BSE status of countries or regions according to their BSE risk. Poland and the United Kingdom are currently listed in point B thereof under countries or regions with a controlled BSE risk.

The OIE plays a leading role in the categorisation of OIE Member Countries and zones by their BSE risk, in accordance with the provisions of its Terrestrial Animal Health Code (Terrestrial Code^f3).

On 23 May 2017, the OIE World Assembly of Delegates adopted Resolution No 26 on the Recognition of the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy Risk Status of Member Countries^f4, in view of an entry into force on 26 May 2017. That Resolution recognised Poland, and also two zones of the United Kingdom, namely Northern Ireland and Scotland, as having a negligible BSE risk.

The list of countries or regions in the Annex to Decision 2007/453/EC should therefore be amended so that Poland and Northern Ireland and Scotland are listed in point A under countries or regions with a negligible BSE risk.

The Annex to Decision 2007/453/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: