Without prejudice to Directive 82/894/EEC(1), the Member States shall ensure that any animal suspected of being infected by a TSE is notified immediately to the competent authorities.
Member States shall regularly inform each other and the Commission of the cases of TSE notified.
The competent authority shall without delay take the measures laid down in Article 12 of this Regulation, together with any other necessary measures.
[F11. Any animal suspected of being infected by a TSE shall be either placed under an official movement restriction until the results of a clinical and epidemiological examination carried out by the competent authority are known, or killed for laboratory examination under official control.
If a TSE is officially suspected in a bovine animal at a holding in a Member State, all other bovine animals at that holding shall be placed under an official movement restriction until the results of the examination are available. If a TSE is officially suspected in an ovine or caprine animal at a holding in a Member State, all other ovine and caprine animals at that holding shall be placed under an official movement restriction until the results are available.
However, if there is evidence that the holding where the animal was present when the TSE was suspected is unlikely to be the holding where the animal could have been exposed to the TSE, the competent authority may decide that only the animal suspected of being infected shall be placed under an official movement restriction.
If considered necessary, the competent authority may also decide that other holdings or only the holding of exposure shall be placed under official control depending on the epidemiological information available.
In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2) and by way of derogation from the official movement restrictions provided for in this paragraph, a Member State may be exempted from implementing such restrictions if it applies measures offering equivalent safeguards based on an appropriate assessment of the possible risks for human and animal health.]
2.Where the competent authority decides that the possibility of infection with a TSE cannot be ruled out, the animal shall be killed, if it is still alive; its brain and all other tissues as the competent authority may determine shall be removed and sent to an officially approved laboratory, the national reference laboratory provided for in Article 19(1) or the Community reference laboratory provided for in Article 19(2), for examination in accordance with the testing methods laid down in Article 20.
[F13. All parts of the body of the suspect animal shall be either retained under official control until a negative diagnosis has been made, or disposed of in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002.]
4.Rules for the implementation of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).
Textual Amendments
1.When the presence of a TSE has been officially confirmed, the following measures shall be applied as soon as possible:
[F1(a) all parts of the body of the animal shall be disposed of in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 except for material retained for records in accordance with Annex III, Chapter B, of this Regulation.]
(b)an inquiry shall be carried out to identify all animals at risk in accordance with Annex VII, point 1;
[F1(c) all animals and products thereof at risk, as listed in Annex VII, point 2, of this Regulation, identified by the inquiry referred to in point (b) of this paragraph shall be killed and disposed of in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002.]
[F2At the request of a Member State and based on a favourable risk assessment taking particularly into account the control measures in that Member State, a decision may be taken in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2) to allow the use of bovine animals referred to in this paragraph until the end of their productive lives.]
[F3By way of derogation from this paragraph, a Member State may apply other measures offering an equivalent level of protection based on a favourable risk assessment pursuant to Articles 24a and 25, taking particularly into account the control measures in that Member State, if those measures have been approved for that Member State in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 24(2).]
2.Pending the implementation of the measures referred to in paragraph 1(b) and (c), the holding on which the animal was present when the presence of a TSE was confirmed shall be placed under official control and all movement of animals susceptible to TSEs and products of animal origin derived from them from or to the holding shall be subject to authorisation by the competent authority, with a view to ensuring immediate tracing and identification of the animals and products of animal origin concerned.
If there is evidence that the holding where the affected animal was present when the TSE was confirmed is not likely to be the holding where the animal was exposed to the TSE, the competent authority may decide that both holdings or only the holding of exposure shall be placed under official control.
3.Member States which have implemented a substitute scheme offering equivalent safeguards provided for in the fifth subparagraph of Article 12(1) may, by way of derogation from the requirements of paragraph 1(b) and (c), be exempted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2) from the requirement to apply official restrictions on the movement of animals and from the requirement to kill and destroy animals.
4.Owners shall be compensated without delay for the loss of the animals that have been killed or products of animal origin destroyed in accordance with Article 12(2) and paragraph 1(a) and (c) of this Article.
5.Without prejudice to Directive 82/894/EEC, the confirmed presence of any TSE other than BSE shall be notified to the Commission on an annual basis.
6.Rules for the implementation of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).
Textual Amendments
F1 Substituted by Regulation (EC) No 1923/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (Text with EEA relevance).
F2 Inserted by Regulation (EC) No 1923/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (Text with EEA relevance).
F3 Substituted by Regulation (EC) No 220/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, as regards the implementing powers conferred on the Commission.
1.Member States shall draw up — in accordance with the general criteria of Community rules on the control of animal diseases — guidelines specifying the national measures to be implemented and indicating competences and responsibilities where cases of TSE are confirmed.
2.Where necessary to enable Community legislation to be applied uniformly, the guidelines may be harmonised in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 24(2).
Council Directive 82/894/EEC of 21 December 1982 on the notification of animal diseases within the Community (OJ L 378, 31.12.1982, p. 58). Directive as last amended by Commission Decision 2000/556/EC (OJ L 235, 19.9.2000, p. 27).