Each Member State shall carry out an annual monitoring programme for TSEs based on active and passive surveillance in accordance with Annex III. If available for the animal species, that programme shall include a screening procedure using rapid tests.

Rapid tests shall be approved for that purpose in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3) and listed in Annex X.

Each Member State shall inform the Commission and the other Member States, within the Standing Veterinary Committee, of the emergence of a TSE other than BSE.

All official investigations and laboratory examinations shall be recorded in accordance with Annex III, Chapter B.

Member States shall submit an annual report to the Commission covering at least the information referred to in Annex III, Chapter B, Part I. The report for each calendar year shall be submitted at the latest by 31 March of the following year. The Commission shall present a summary of the national reports covering at least the information referred to in Annex III, Chapter B, Part II, to the Standing Veterinary Committee within three months of the receipt of the said reports.

Rules for the implementation of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).

Member States may introduce breeding programmes to select for resistance to TSEs in their ovine populations. Those programmes shall include a framework to recognise the TSE-resistant status of certain flocks and may be extended to include other animal species based on scientific evidence corroborating the resistance to TSE of particular genotypes of those species.

Specific rules for the programmes provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).

Member States which introduce breeding programmes shall submit regular reports to the Commission in order to enable the programmes to be scientifically evaluated, in particular with regard to their impact on the incidence of TSEs but also on genetic diversity and variability and on the maintenance of old or rare ovine breeds or of those that are well-adapted to a particular region. The scientific results and overall consequences of the breeding programmes shall be evaluated regularly, and where necessary, those programmes shall be amended accordingly.

The feeding to ruminants of protein derived from animals shall be prohibited.

The prohibition provided for in paragraph 1 shall be extended to animals other than ruminants and restricted, as regards the feeding of those animals with products of animal origin, in accordance with Annex IV.

Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply without prejudice to the provisions laid down in Annex IV setting out the derogations from the prohibition contained in those paragraphs.

The Commission may decide in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3), based on a scientific assessment of the dietary needs of young ruminants and subject to the rules adopted for the implementation of this Article provided for in paragraph 5 of this Article, and following an assessment of the control aspects of this derogation, to allow the feeding of young animals of ruminant species with proteins derived from fish.

Member States, or regions thereof, with an undetermined BSE risk shall not be permitted to export or store feed intended for farmed animals which contains protein derived from mammals or feed intended for mammals, except feed for dogs, cats and fur animals, which contains processed protein derived from mammals.

Third countries, or regions thereof, with an undetermined BSE risk shall not be permitted to export to the Community feed intended for farmed animals which contains protein derived from mammals or feed intended for mammals, except feed for dogs, cats and fur animals, which contains processed protein derived from mammals.

At the request of a Member State or third country a decision in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2) may be taken, following detailed criteria to be laid down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3), to grant individual exemptions from the restrictions in this paragraph. Any exemption shall take account of the provisions provided for in paragraph 3 of this Article.

Based on a favourable risk assessment taking into account at least the amount and possible source of contamination and the final destination of the consignment, a decision may be taken in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3) to introduce a tolerance level for insignificant amounts of animal proteins in feedingstuffs caused through adventitious and technically unavoidable contamination.

Rules for the implementation of this Article, in particular rules on the prevention of cross-contamination and on the methods of sampling and analysis required to check compliance with this Article, shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2). Those rules shall be based on a report of the Commission covering sourcing, processing, control and traceability of feedingstuffs of animal origin.

The specified risk material shall be removed and disposed of in accordance with Annex V to this Regulation and with Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002. It shall not be imported into the Community. The list of specified risk material referred to in Annex V shall include at least the brain, spinal cord, eyes and tonsils of bovine animals aged over 12 months and the vertebral column of bovine animals above an age to be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3). Taking into account the different risk categories laid down in the first subparagraph of Article 5(1) and the requirements of Article 6(1a) and (1b) (b), the list of specified risk material in Annex V shall be amended accordingly.

Paragraph 1 of this Article shall not apply to tissues from animals which have undergone an alternative test approved for that distinct purpose in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3) provided that this test is listed in Annex X, is applied under the conditions provided for in Annex V and the test results are negative.

The Member States which authorise the use of an alternative test pursuant to this paragraph shall inform the other Member States and the Commission.

In Member States, or regions thereof, with a controlled or undetermined BSE risk, the laceration, after stunning, of central nervous tissue by means of an elongated rod-shaped instrument introduced into the cranial cavity, or by means of gas injection into the cranial cavity in connection with stunning, shall not be used on bovine, ovine or caprine animals whose meat is intended for human or animal consumption.

The data relating to age set out in Annex V may be adjusted. Such adjustments shall be based on the latest proven scientific findings concerning the statistical probability of the occurrence of a TSE in the relevant age groups of the Community's bovine, ovine and caprine population.

Rules providing for exemptions from paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article may be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3), with regard to the date of the effective enforcement of the feeding prohibition provided for in Article 7(1) or, as appropriate for third countries or regions thereof with a controlled BSE risk, with regard to the date of the effective enforcement of the ban of mammalian protein in feed for ruminants with a view to limiting the requirements to remove and destroy specified risk material to animals born before that date in the countries or regions concerned.

Rules for the implementation of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).

The products of animal origin listed in Annex VI shall be produced using production processes approved in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(3).

Bones of bovine, ovine and caprine animals from countries or regions with a controlled or undetermined BSE risk shall not be used for the production of mechanically separated meat (MSM). Before 1 July 2008, the Member States shall submit a report to the Commission on the use and the production method of MSM in their territory. This report shall include a statement as to whether the Member State intends to continue with the production of MSM.

The Commission shall thereupon present a communication to the European Parliament and the Council on the future necessity and use of MSM in the Community, including the information policy towards consumers.

Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply, in the light of the criteria set out in point 5 of Annex V, to ruminants which have undergone an alternative test which has been recognised in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2), where the results of the test were negative.

Rules for the implementation of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).

Member States shall ensure that staff of the competent authority, of diagnostic laboratories and colleges of agriculture and veterinary medicine, official veterinarians, veterinary practitioners, slaughterhouse personnel and animal breeders, keepers and handlers have been given training in the clinical signs, epidemiology and, in the case of staff responsible for carrying out checks, in interpreting laboratory findings relating to TSEs.

To ensure effective implementation of the education programmes provided for in paragraph 1, financial assistance from the Community may be granted. The amount of such assistance shall be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).