20.11.98 Official Journal of the European Communities L311/23 COMMISSION DECISION of 18 November 1998 concerning emergency measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Portugal (notified under document number C(1998) 3544) (Text with EEA relevance) (98/653/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, 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 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra- Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market (°), as last amended by Directive 92/ 118/EEC, and in particular Article 9(4) thereof, (1)  Whereas several distinct transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) have been recognised for many years as occurring separately in humans and animals; whereas bovine spongiform encephalo- pathy (BSE) was first recognised in cattle in 1986 and in following years was recognised as occurring in other species of animals; whereas a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (nv-CJD) was described in 1996; whereas evidence is accumu- lating that the agent causing BSE is identical to that causing nv-CJD; (2) Whereas 66 cases of BSE have been notified in Portugal between 1 January 1998 and 14 October 1998; whereas this leads to a BSE incidence rate calculated over the past 12 months of 105,6 cases per million animals over two years of age; whereas two cases have been identified in animals born after implementation of the prohibition on feeding mammalian derived protein to ruminants; whereas the development of the incidence of the disease ) OJ L 224, 18. 8. 1990, p. 29. % OJ L 62, 15. 3. 1993, p. 49. () OJ L 395, 30. 12. 1989, p. 13. indicates potential recycling and accumulation of the BSE agent in the Portuguese cattle population; Whereas missions on BSE-related issues have been carried out in Portugal by the Commission Office for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Inspection and Control from 7 to 12 July 1996 and by the Food and Veterinary Office of the Commission from 15 to 21 June 1997 and from 11 to 15 May 1998; whereas those missions contributed to the assess- ment of the application and effectiveness of meas- ures to protect against BSE; whereas those missions concluded that, despite important improvements, not all risk factors were adequately managed; whereas a follow-up mission was conducted by the food and Veterinary Office from 28 September to 2 October 1998; whereas that mission confirmed most of the findings of the previous missions and observed, despite an overall improvement, certain continued shortcomings in the enforcement of the measures to control the risk factors; whereas the sharp increase in the incidence of BSE, in partic- ular since June 1998, raises serious concerns with regard to the development of the disease in the near future; whereas on the basis of that mission it is concluded that due to deficiencies existing until very recently in the implementation of Community legislation on identification and registration of animals, and of measures on TSE surveillance and BSE eradication, no adequate guarantees can be provided regarding the BSE history of the herds of origin and herds through which bovine animals pass and regarding the dams of bovine animals; Whereas the Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) adopted an opinion on BSE risk on 27 March 1998; whereas in that opinion the SSC recognised three major issues in considering the risk of BSE: first, the risk of human exposure arising from the direct consumption of potentially infective material, secondly, the risk to man from ingesting or being exposed to processed, potentially infective material,