Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/349
of 2 March 2015
amending Annex II to Decision 2007/777/EC as regards the entry for the United States in the list of third countries or parts thereof from which the introduction of meat products and treated stomachs, bladders and intestines into the Union is authorised in relation to highly pathogenic avian influenza following outbreaks in the States of Idaho and California
(notified under document C(2015) 1315)
(Text with EEA relevance)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Whereas:
Part 1 of Annex II to Decision 2007/777/EC describes the areas of third countries for which the introduction into the Union of the commodities is restricted for animal health reasons and for which regionalisation is applied. Part 2 of that Annex sets out a list of third countries or parts thereof from which the introduction into the Union of the commodities is authorised, provided that the commodities have undergone the relevant treatment, as set out in Part 4 of that Annex.
The United States confirmed the presence of HPAI of subtype H5N2 in a poultry flock in the State of Idaho on 20 January 2015 and the presence of HPAI of subtype H5N8 in the State of California on 23 January 2015. The veterinary authorities of the United States immediately suspended issuing veterinary certificates for consignments of the concerned commodities intended for introduction to the Union from those States and part of the State of Oregon, which have been placed under veterinary restrictions in relation to these new outbreaks. The United States has also implemented a stamping-out policy in order to control HPAI and limit its spread.
Based on the presence of HPAI in the States of Idaho and California, commodities obtained from poultry, farmed feathered game and wild game birds from those parts of the abovementioned States and from the part of the State of Oregon that the veterinary authorities of the United States of America have placed under restrictions should undergo at least ‘treatment D’ in order to prevent the introduction of the HPAI virus into the Union.
Part 1 of Annex II to Decision 2007/777/EC should therefore be amended.
Decision 2007/777/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: