Commission Decision of 20 November 2008 on guidelines for the purpose of the risk-based animal health surveillance schemes provided for in Council Directive 2006/88/EC (notified under document number C(2008) 6787) (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/896/EC)

6.2. RISK FACTORS

A wide range of factors are relevant in determining the risk level of a farm or mollusc farming area. Such factors may include, but are not limited to the following:

(a)

the direct spread of disease via water;

(b)

the movements of aquaculture animals;

(c)

the type of production;

(d)

the species of aquaculture animals kept;

(e)

the bio-security system, including staff competence and training;

(f)

the density of farms and mollusc farming areas and processing establishments in the area around the farm or mollusc farming area concerned;

(g)

the proximity of farms and mollusc farming areas having lower health status to the farm or mollusc farming area concerned;

(h)

the health status track record of the farm or mollusc farming area concerned and of other farms and mollusc farming areas situated in the area;

(i)

the presence of disease pathogens in wild aquatic animals in the area around the farm or mollusc farming area concerned;

(j)

the risk posed by human activities in the proximity of the farm or mollusc farming area concerned(1);

(k)

predators or birds with access to the farm or mollusc farming area concerned.

The use of a complex system for the assessment of risk levels of farms and mollusc farming areas, taking into account all relevant risk factors, may provide a precise classification of farms and mollusc farming areas according to their risk level. However, such a system may also be time-consuming and not cost-efficient. In addition, the weighting of different factors in order to asses the overall risk is a complicated operation.

In view of the difficulties of using a complex system to classify farms and mollusc farming areas according to their risk level, it is appropriate in most cases to focus on the following risk factors:

(a)

the direct spread of disease via water and due to the geographical proximity of the farms and mollusc farming areas;

(b)

the movements of aquaculture animals.

Those two risk factors are relevant regardless of the type of production, of the species of aquaculture animals kept on the farm or mollusc farming area and of the diseases concerned.

(1)

Such as transport routes, ports (ballast water), angling.