Brussels, 14/02/2002 (Agence Europe) - The EU's Standing Veterinary Committee (SVC) has voted in favour of an amendment to the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies regulation (TSE). The total number of tests on goat and sheep per year in the European Union will be increased from 164,000 to 560,000 as from 1 April 2002 with the aim of getting a better view of how the disease is progressing, particularly for scrapie, since the risk of BSE being present in sheep and goats has still not been ruled out.
New measures have also been introduced to scrap the derogations for Finland and Austria to certain BSE obligations. The first cases of BSE were confirmed in both countries part way through December 2001 and they will now have to start removing the vertebral column and monitor the slaughter of healthy cattle.
In 2002, the Commission pledged to provide EUR 2.9 million towards BSE testing on sheep and goats, but this will be raised to more than EUR 4 million in the course of the year in order to pay for additional testing kits.