Please Note That During the Standing Committee Meeting Held on 28Th August, the Member

Please note that duringtheStanding Committee meeting held on 28th August, the Member Statesexpressed a favourable vote to a DRAFT Decision amending Decision 2005/393/EC (on protection and surveillance zones in relation to bluetongue and conditions applying to movements from or through these zones), up to date laying down measures against bluetongue in part of the territory of certain Mediterranean countries. See press release in attachment.

In addition, Decision 2006/577/EC, published last week as concerning measures in NL-BE-DE-LU, will be repealed.

At the moment Decision 2005/393/EC lays down the list of restricted areas where protection and surveillance zones shall be defined. The list will be amended in order to take into account the restricted areas in NL-BE-DE-LU-FR, which according to the DRAFT Decision voted yesterday will be also slightly amended compared to the areas now included in Decision 2006/577/EC. Areas of such countries which will be included in the list are represented by:

-Belgium: the whole territory (the 150 km zone will be extended under request of the Belgian authorities with the only reason of making movements easier within Belgium);

-The Netherlands: no changes compared to the present situation, the western part of the country is also excluded from the restricted zone (the northern part of the country is still excluded);

-Germany: no changes compared to the present situation;

-Luxembourg: no changes compared to the present situation (but still no outbreaks notified);

-France: some “Arrondissements” (districts) located within the territory of 7 departments closed to the Belgian border are included in the restricted zone:

Aisnes-02: Laon, Saint-Quentin, Soissons, Vervins;

Ardennes-08: Charleville-Mezieres, Rethel, Sean, Vouziers;

Marne-51: Chalons-sue-Marne, Reims, Sainte-Menehould;

Meurthe et Moselle-54: Briey;

Meuse-55: Bar-Le-Duc, Commercy, Verdun;

Moselle-57: Boulay-Moselle, Metz-Campagne, Thionville-Est, Thionville-Ouest, Metz-Ville;

Nord -59: Avesnes-Sur-Helpe, Cambrai, Valenciennes.

Please find also attached some slides taken from the presentations given by Belgium, Netherlands and Germany at the Standing Committee last Monday as concerns the situation in the three countries and the maps of the restricted zones. The complete version of the presentations can be found at the following links: BE – NL – DE.

Decision 2005/393/EC also lays down the conditions for exempting from the exit ban foreseen (by Directive 2000/75/EC) from the restricted zones for susceptible animals, their sperm, ova and embryos. Exceptions in place to date for restricted zones in the Mediterranean countries and which will be similarly in place for the restricted zones abovementioned are represented by:

-exemption from the exit ban for domestic movements and intra-Community trade

under some conditions: animals coming from vaccinated herds (plus other conditions) or coming from areas where the vectors have not been active for 40 days (plus other conditions) or animals protected from attack from vectors and subject to laboratory tests with negative results

(in case of intra-Community trade the MemberState of destination must give its approval);

Please note that one of the possible conditions for exemption of the ban for intra-Community trade is represented by: “Live animals must have been protected from attack from Culicids for at least seven days prior to the date of movement, and subjected during that period to a BTV isolation test or polymerase chain reaction test, with negative results and that was carried out on blood samples taken at least seven days after the date of the start of the period of protection from vector attack; and”live animals must have been protected from attack from Culicids “during transportation to the place of shipment”.

Approval of the MemberState of destination is anyway required.

-exemption from the exit ban for domestic animals movementsfor slaughter (only within the same MemberState)

under some conditions: risk assessment on contacts between animals and vectors during the transport; the animals do not show any sign of bluetongue; they are transported in vehicles sealed by the competent authority; the transport is direct; the competent authority responsible for the slaughterhouse isinformed in advance;

-exemption from the exit ban for transit of animals through a restricted zones

under some conditions: insecticide treatments of animals and means of transport are adequately carried out

(the Member States of transit and destination must give their approval).

In addition to the abovementioned exemptions, some specific derogations are laid down in the DRAFT Decision votedyesterday and will apply to the restricted zones (in all countries). Some of these exemptions will be represented, under some conditions, by:

-slaughter: direct transport of animals originating from the 20km zone or from the 150 km zone to a slaughterhouse located within the 20 km zone;

-slaughter: direct transport of animals originating from the 20km to a slaughterhouse located outside the 20 km zone;

-fattening: transport of animals originating from the 20 km zone to farms located within the 150 km zone for fattening purposes

subject to some conditions, which will have to be laid down at national level but which will be agreed by the authorities of the Member States concerned during a specific meeting in order to have harmonised measures applied (conditions will include for instance pre-agreement by the authorities to be given, serological tests to be carried out with negative results etc.);

-animals from outside the 20 km zone destined to a holding within the 20 km zone for restocking purposes.

Finally, please find here below a press release publishedyesterday by the Commission Services and related to the serotype of the bluetongue virus identified by the Community Reference Laboratory.

Bluetongue: Virus serotype 8 identified as cause of recent outbreaks

The European Commission was informed by the Community Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue in Pirbright (UK) over the weekend that the virus responsible for the recent bluetongue outbreak in the Netherlands has been identified, through genetic testing, as being a virus of serotype 8. This strain of virus has never been reported in Europe before, and the disease recently detected in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany (see IP/06/1113 and IP/06/1112) is now considered to be of exotic origin. First results suggest that the bluetongue virus serotype 8 is of a sub-Saharan lineage, although the precise origin is not yet known, nor is the way in which the virus was introduced into Europe. The Commission has also been informed that the bluetongue virus was isolated in a cell culture by the National Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue in Belgium on Friday afternoon.

An extraordinary meeting of EU laboratory experts is taking place in Brussels today, to discuss the results of the CRL and those of other Member States’ laboratories which have been deeply involved in the investigations into the recent bluetongue outbreaks in north-western Europe. The disease control measures currently being applied in the three affected Member States and in Luxembourg (see IP/06/1114) will be adapted as necessary at a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health this afternoon.