8.11.2008 Official Journal of the European Union L 299/17 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1108/2008 of 7 November 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 as regards the minimum requirements for bluetongue monitoring and surveillance programmes and the conditions for exempting semen from the exit ban provided for in Council Directive 2000/75/EC (Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 2000/75/EC  of 20 November 2000 laying down specific provisions for the control and eradication of bluetongue ('), and in particular, Articles 11 and 12 and the third paragraph of Article 19 thereof, Whereas: (1)  Directive 2000/75/EC lays down control rules and measures to combat and eradicate bluetongue. They include the establishment of protection and surveillance zones (Trestricted zones'), the implementation of blue- tongue monitoring and surveillance programmes, and an exit ban on animals leaving the restricted zones (‘the exit ban’). (2)  Commission Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 of 26 October 2007 on implementing rules for Council Directive 2000/75/EC as regards the control, monitoring, surveillance and restrictions on movements of certain animals of susceptible species in relation to blue- tongue (%) lays down rules to be applied in the event of an outbreak of that disease. (3)  Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 sets out the minimum requirements for the bluetongue monitoring and surveillance programmes. Annex III to that Regu- lation sets out the conditions for exemption from the exit ban with regard to animals, their semen, ova and embryos. Annex V to that Regulation sets out criteria for the purpose of determining a bluetongue seasonally-free zone. (4) It is essential that appropriate bluetongue monitoring and surveillance programmes are in place to achieve, among others, the objectives of the detection of the presence of the bluetongue virus at the earliest possible stage, to demonstrate the absence of general or specific blue- tongue virus serotypes, and for the determination of the seasonally vector-free period. The bluetongue moni- toring and surveillance programmes should include () O] L 327, 22.12.2000, p. 74. () O] L 283, 27.10.2007, p. 37. minimum requirements for Member States, while ensuring sufficient flexibility to take account of local epidemiological conditions. (50 A mass emergency vaccination campaign against various types of bluetongue is being implemented in the EU. The vaccination of animals against that disease represents a major change of the immune status of the susceptible species population and has implications for bluetongue surveillance and monitoring programmes. Therefore, certain modifications to the requirements for the programmes need to be made. (6)  Annex V to Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 sets out criteria for the purpose of determining a bluetongue seasonally-free zone. For reasons of clarification and a more harmonized approach, the beginning and the end of the seasonally vector-free period should be based on standardized surveillance data. (7)  Section B of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 sets out conditions for exemption from the exit ban with regard to semen. It provides that semen must have been obtained from donor animals which comply with certain conditions, in order to be exempted. In the interests of certainty of Community legislation, it is appropriate to clarify certain requirements as regards the testing regimes of semen donor animals, in particular as regards post- collection testing. (8)  Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 should therefore be amended accordingly. (99 The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 1266/2007 is amended as follows: 1. Annex [ is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regu- lation;