Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Dangos y teitl llawn

Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption (repealed)

A.CLASSIFICATION OF PRODUCTION AND RELAYING AREASU.K.

1.

The competent authority must fix the location and boundaries of production and relaying areas that it classifies. It may, where appropriate, do so in cooperation with the food business operator.

2.

The competent authority must classify production areas from which it authorises the harvesting of live bivalve molluscs as being of one of three categories according to the level of faecal contamination. It may, where appropriate, do so in cooperation with the food business operator.

3.

The competent authority may classify as being of Class A areas from which live bivalve molluscs may be collected for direct human consumption. Live bivalve molluscs taken from these areas must meet the health standards for live bivalve molluscs laid down in Annex III, Section VII, Chapter V, of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.

4.

[F1 [F2The competent authority may classify as being of Class B areas from which live bivalve molluscs may be collected and only placed on the market for human consumption after treatment in a purification centre or after relaying so as to meet the health standards referred to in paragraph 3. Live bivalve molluscs from these areas must not exceed, in 90 % of the samples, 4 600 E. coli per 100 g of flesh and intravalvular liquid. In the remaining 10 % of samples, live bivalve molluscs must not exceed 46 000 E. coli per 100 g of flesh and intravalvular liquid.

The reference method for this analysis is the five-tube, three dilutions Most Probable Number (MPN) test specified in ISO 16649-3. Alternative methods may be used if they are validated against this reference method in accordance with the criteria in EN/ISO 16140.]

5.

The competent authority may classify as being of Class C areas from which live bivalve molluscs may be collected and only placed on the market after relaying over a long period so as to meet the health standards referred to in paragraph 3. Live bivalve molluscs from these areas must not exceed 46 000 E. coli per 100 g of flesh and intravalvular liquid. The reference method for this analysis is the five-tube, three dilutions MPN test specified in ISO 16649-3. Alternative methods may be used if they are validated against this reference method in accordance with the criteria in EN/ISO 16140.]

6.

If the competent authority decides in principle to classify a production or relaying area, it must:

(a)

make an inventory of the sources of pollution of human or animal origin likely to be a source of contamination for the production area;

(b)

examine the quantities of organic pollutants which are released during the different periods of the year, according to the seasonal variations of both human and animal populations in the catchment area, rainfall readings, waste-water treatment, etc.;

(c)

determine the characteristics of the circulation of pollutants by virtue of current patterns, bathymetry and the tidal cycle in the production area;

and

(d)

establish a sampling programme of bivalve molluscs in the production area which is based on the examination of established data, and with a number of samples, a geographical distribution of the sampling points and a sampling frequency which must ensure that the results of the analysis are as representative as possible for the area considered.

Textual Amendments