14.5.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 118/1

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 lays down specific rules for the organisation of official controls on products of animal origin. In particular, Article 12(1) of that Regulation provides that products of animal origin are to be imported into the Union only if they originate from third country establishments that appear on lists drawn up and updated in accordance with that Article. Those lists can be consulted on the website of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (2).

(2)

Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 requires that third country establishments are placed on these lists only if the competent authorities of the third country guarantee that these establishments comply with the conditions established in that Article. In addition, in accordance with Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004, the competent authorities of the third country concerned should keep these lists of establishments updated and communicate them accordingly to the Commission.

(3)

Article 12(4)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 requires the Commission to take the necessary action leading to the amendment of the lists of establishments, whenever it considers that such amendments are necessary in the light of relevant information such as Union inspection reports or notifications from the Member States through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) set up by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3).

(4)

From March 2017, Member States notified the Commission, through the RASFF, of a significant number of serious and repeated cases of non-compliance due to the presence of Salmonella in poultry meat and poultry meat preparations, originating from several establishments in Brazil. The Brazilian competent authorities were informed about these cases of non-compliance with Union requirements and were requested to take the necessary corrective actions.

(5)

The information received from the Brazilian competent authorities and the results of official controls at the Union borders failed to demonstrate that the requisite corrective actions were taken to address the shortcomings identified. Consequently, there are no sufficient guarantees that those establishments comply to date with Union requirements and their products might therefore constitute a risk for public health. It is therefore necessary to remove them from the list of establishments from which imports of poultry products into the Union are authorised.

(6)

In March 2018, according to information provided by the Brazilian competent authorities, cases of fraud have been found in Brazil concerning laboratory certification for meat and meat products exported to the Union. In this regard, ongoing investigations and recent action of the judiciary in Brazil indicate that there are no sufficient guarantees that the establishments of the companies BRF S.A. and SHB S.A., authorised to export meat and meat products to the Union, comply with the relevant Union requirements. Their products might therefore constitute a risk for public health and it is appropriate to remove them from the list of establishments from which imports into the Union of meat and meat products are permitted.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,