13/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - On 1 February this year, the Court of Justice of the European Communities found Portugal guilty of not updating its national legislation on animal feed. Under the terms of Directive 82/471/EEC, any yeast grown on substrates of animal or plant origin must be included in the relevant annex before it can be authorised for animal feed. After a request made in 2004, the Commission said the use of this kind of yeast - candida guilliermondii - was not a risk for health or the environment, and that the substance should be added to the list. This addition was made official by Commission Directive 2004/116/EC, but not transposed at national Portuguese level until the buffer date of 30 June 2005. Since the Commission's reasoned opinion of December 2005, Lisbon has set a procedure in motion to come into line with the directive, but the activities undertaken after receipt of a reasoned opinion cannot give rise to a more clement ruling. (cd)