23.3.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L 84/59 COMMISSION DECISION of 14 March 2001 amending Decision 2000/418/EC as regards mechanically recovered meat and bovine vertebral column (notified under document number C(2001) 705) (Text with EEA relevance) (2001/233/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, Having regard to Council Directive 97/78/EC of 18 December 1997 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries (%), and in particular Article 22 thereof, Whereas: (1)  Commission Decision 2000/418/EC of 29 June 2000 regulating the use of material presenting risks as regards transmissible  spongiform  encephalopathies  and amending Decision 94/474[EC (), as amended by Decision 2001/2/EC (%), provides for the removal and destruction of certain specified risk materials. This Decision already requires the removal of vertebral column of bovine animals over 30 months in Member States where BSE has been recorded at a high level. It also imposes restrictions on the production of certain materials and of certain slaughter techniques and on certain imports. It was to be reviewed in the light of new scientific evidence. (2)  The exposure of humans to the risks stemming from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been largely associated with the consumption of meat mechanically recovered from the bones of the head and vertebral column. For control reasons the prohibition on the use of bones of the head and vertebral column from J L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 13. J L 62, 15.3.1993, p. 49. J L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 29. J L 24, 30.1.1998, p. 9. J L 158, 30.6.2000, p. 76. J L1, 41.2001, p. 21. bovine, ovine and caprine animals of all ages for the production of mechanically recovered meat should be extended to all bones of those species. The recent developments of the BSE situation in the Community have led some Member States to take addi- tional unilateral safeguard measures. In the light of that situation, the Council has invited the Commission to request an evaluation by the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of the unilateral, temporary safeguard measures taken by some Member States, and to take appropriate action. The SSC has repeated its recommendation to remove, in view of the geographic BSE risk and the effectiveness of risk reduction measures, the vertebral column including dorsal root ganglia of bovine animals over 12 months of age from the human and animal food and feed chains. In its opinion of 20 February 1998 on BSE risk, the SSC stated that the vertebral column and dorsal root ganglia represent respectively 2,0 % and 3,8 % of the total infec- tive load in a BSE infected animal. It recognised in that opinion that based on the quantitative data, the brain, spinal cord, dorsal root ganglia and trigeminal ganglia constitute the major hazards for direct human consump- tion. In its opinion of 14 April 2000 on the United Kingdom decision to lift the ban on consumption of meat on the bone, the SSC further considered the risk from bone marrow very low, if not negligible. Therefore, the verte- bral column and dorsal root ganglia constitute, under current understanding, less than 4 % of the infective load of an infected animal. The age structure of confirmed BSE cases further reduces the risk in animals less than 30 months of age. Past experience showed that 99,95 % of the over 180 000 BSE cases in Europe occurred in animals over 30 months of age. Therefore vertebral column of bovine animals over 30 months of age constitutes the biggest risk and should continue to be removed and destroyed in Member States where BSE has been confirmed at a high level, even from animals which were born after an effectively enforced