15.5.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L132/17 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 18 April 2001 concerning measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Portugal and implementing a date-based export scheme (notified under document number C(2001) 834) (Text with EEA relevance) (2001/376/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra- Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market (1), as last amended by Directive 92/118/EEC (3), and in particular Article 9(4) thereof, Having regard to Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market (), as last amended by Directive 92/118/EEC, and in particular Article 10(4) thereof, Whereas: (1)  Commission Decision 98/653/EC of 18 November 1998 concerning emergency measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in Portugal (), as last amended by Decision 2000/ 104/EC (%), prohibits the dispatch and export of bovine products. (2)  The current BSE incidence rate in Portugal calculated over the past 12 months per 1 000 000 bovine animals over 24 months of age is 170. According to the Animal Health Code of the International Office for Epizootics (IOE/OIE), 2000 edition, a country or zone will be clas- () O] L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 13. () O] L 62, 15.3.1993, p. 49. () O] L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 29. () O] L 311, 20.11.1998, p. 23. () O] L 29, 4.2.2000, p. 36. sified as having a high incidence of BSE if the BSE incidence rate, calculated over the past 12 months, has been greater than 100 cases per 1000 000 animals within the cattle population over 24 months of age in the country or zone. The Animal Health Code of the IOE/OIE recommends that bovine meat and meat products from countries or zones classified as having a high incidence of BSE should be eligible for trade only under certain strict conditions, such as an effective feed ban, a permanent system for the identification of cattle enabling animals to be traced back to the herd and dam of origin, the removal of specified risk materials and the slaughter and complete destruction of certain higher risk animals, such as offspring and birth cohorts of BSE cases. The IOE/OIE further recommends that bovine meat and products should be eligible for trade only on the basis of one of two schemes: either a certified herds scheme, indicating that the products have been derived from animals born, raised and having remained in herds without BSE cases for the last seven years, or a date- based scheme, indicating that the products were derived from animals born after the date of an effective feed ban. A ban on the feeding of mammalian protein to farmed animals and of mammalian fat to ruminants was intro- duced in Portugal on 4 December 1998, at the same time the keeping, storage and marketing of mammalian protein and certain fats was prohibited and the recall of existing stocks was organised.