L 344/12 Official Journal of the European Union 20.11.2004 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1993/2004 of 19 November 2004 amending Regulation (EC) 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards Portugal (Text with EEA relevance) 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 ('), 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 completion of the internal market(?), and in particular Article 10(4) thereof, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 May 2001 laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (*), and in particular the first paragraph of Article 23 thereof, Whereas: (1)  Commission Decision 2001/376/EC of 18 April 2001 concerning measures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy in Portugal and implementing a date-based export scheme (*) prohibits the dispatch from Portugal of live bovine animals and certain products derived therefrom. That Decision replaced  and  repealed  Commission  Decision 98/653/EC () which was adopted because of the high bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) incidence rate and the lack of adequate management of that disease in Portugal at that time. (") OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 13. Directive as last amended by Directive 2004/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 157, 30.4.2004, p. 33). (3 OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 29. Directive as last amended by Directive 2002/33[EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (O] L 315, 19.11.2002, p. 14). () O) L 147, 31.5.2001, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1492/2004 (O] L 274, 24.8.2004, p. 3). (* OJ L 132, 15.5.2001, p. 17. Decision as last amended by Decision 2004/653[EC (O] L 298, 23.9.2004, p. 25). () OJ L 311, 20.11.1998, p. 23. ) The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) recognised three major issues for 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; and thirdly, the risk of propagating the infection by recycling the infective material through animal feed. The International Animal Health Organi- sation (OIE) has also proposed that the assessment of the risk to human and animal health in countries be based on a combination of the spread of BSE and the application of measures to control the risk. At its general session in May 2003, the OIE amended the Animal Health Code Chapter on BSE and altered the criteria defining the limit between moderate-risk and high-risk countries. The limit is now set at a BSE incidence rate calculated over the previous 12 months of 200 cases per million animals within the cattle popu- lation over 24 months of age, for countries carrying out active surveillance. In Portugal, 103 cases of BSE were notified between 1 September 2003 and 31 August 2004. Accordingly, that results in a BSE incidence rate calculated over the previous 12 months of 131,7. In addition, the results of the active monitoring and passive surveillance indicate that the BSE incidence rate is decreasing in that Member State. Therefore, the BSE incidence rate is below the upper limit for a moderate BSE risk country as set out in the OIE Animal Health Code. The favourable evolution of the BSE incidence rate indicates the effectiveness of the measures taken by Portugal. A ban on the feeding of mammalian protein to farmed animals and of mammalian fat to ruminants was introduced 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. A mission carried out in Portugal by the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) in June 1999 concluded that the recall of those existing stocks was completed and that the controls on the effectiveness of the feed ban were applied properly. The ban was considered to be effective from 1 July 1999.