29.7.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 197/45 COMMISSION DECISION of 28 July 1999 amending Decision 98/653/EC concerning emergency measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Portugal (notified under document number C(1999) 2487) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/517EC) 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 inter- nal market (), as last amended by Directive 92/118/EEC (3), 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 Commission Decision 98/653/EC of 18 November 1998 concerning emergency measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongiform ence- phalopathy in Portugal () prohibits the dispatch of meat meal, bone meal and meat-and-bone meal of mammalian origin as well as animal feed and fertilisers containing such material from Portugal;, whereas Commission Decision 97/735/EC of 21 October 1997 concerning certain protection measures with regard to trade in certain types of mammalian animal waste (°); lays down the conditions for sending processed animal waste to other Member States for incineration or burning as fuel; whereas, however, that possibility is not open to Portugal pursuant to Decision 98/653/EC; (2)  Whereas Portugal has taken measures as notified to the Commission on 12 October 1998, including measures to destroy certain risk materials, to prohibit the incor- poration of meat-and-bone meal in any animal feed, to require destruction of meat-and-bone meal, to recall and destroy any stocks of meat-and-bone meal, and of any animal feed that contains meat-and-bone meal; whereas those measures are considered to reduce the risk of () O] L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 29. () O] L 62, 15.3.1993, p. 49. () O] L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 13. () O] L 311, 20.11.1998, p. 23. () O] L 294, 28.10.1997, p. 7. exposing humans or animals directly or indirectly to the BSE agent; Whereas Portugal has informed the Commission that it does not have sufficient capacity on its territory to incin- erate meat-and-bone meal, animal feed that contains meat-and-bone meal, and processed specified risk mate- rials; whereas Portugal has proposed to the Commission that it should be possible for such material to be sent for incineration in another Member State; whereas a reduc- tion of the amount of such material stored in Portugal would further reduce the risk of exposing humans or animals directly or indirectly to the BSE agent; whereas, therefore, Portugal should be permitted to dispatch such material from its territory to other Member States for incineration; whereas it is necessary to lay down appro- priate guarantees for the controls at the place of destina- tion,; Whereas the prohibition on the dispatch from Portugal of bovine products was to apply only until 1 August 1999, provided that a risk assessment conducted on the basis of the findings of a mission of the Food and Veterinary Office, taking into account the evolution of the disease, demonstrates that appropriate measures have been taken to manage any risk, and that the rele- vant Community and national measures are complied with and effectively enforced; Whereas at the General Session of the World Organ- isation for Animal Health (International Office of Epizootic Diseases (OIE)) Committee from 17 to 21 May 1999, a proposal of the OIE International Animal Health Code Commission concerning the criteria for the deter- mination of the BSE status of a country or zone was adopted; whereas according to those criteria, a country or zone will be classified 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 1 000 000 within the cattle population over 24 months of age in the country or zone; whereas the current BSE incidence rate in Portugal calculated over the past 12 months per 1 000 000 animals over 24 months of age is 211;