Is the Commission confident that current testing methods can adequately differentiate between the adventitious presence of PAP and the 'illegal' presence of PAP of ruminant origin, in order to uphold a zero-tolerance approach?

Dr. Kee Jim: In 1996 the ruminant-to-ruminant prohibition was made, so protein derived from ruminants could not be fed back to ruminants.

The Council agreed in December to extend to non-ruminants the ban on the use of processed animal proteins in animal feed to reinforce guarantees to consumers on the safety of their food.

The presentation of these documents follows the agreement of the Council in December 2000 to extend to non-ruminants the ban on the use of processed animal protein (PAP) in animal feed to reinforce guarantees to consumers on the safety of food.

Spain failed to react to the Commission's initial letter of formal notice concerning the Member State's failure to apply decision 96/449/EC to low risk material, non respect by a rendering plant of the EU procedure for validation of certain processing parameters (Decisions 92/562/EEC and 94/382/EC on the approval of alternative heat treatment systems for processing high-risk material and animal waste of ruminant origin) and failure to adequately control the respect of Decision 94/381/EC which bans the feeding of protein derived from mammal ...[+++]s to ruminant species.

ANNEX I Important measures taken in relation to BSE (a) Community measures (i) export ban on live animals from the UK to the other Member States with the exception of calves under six months under the condition that they are slaughtered before the age of six months (March 1990); (ii) export ban on specified offals (brains, spinal cord, thymus, tonsils, spleen and intestines) from the UK to the other Member States (April 1990); (iii) export of meat from the UK to the other Member States: - from animals under the age of 30 months: no restrictions (first measure 1 March 1990 - latest decision February 1995); - from animals over the age of 30 months coming from a herd with no case of BSE during the last six years: no restrictions (decisions ...[+++]as above); - from animals over the age of 30 months coming from a herd with a case of BSE during the last six years: to be accompanied by a health certificate stating "fresh deboned bovine meat in the form of muscle from which the adherent tissues, including obvious nervous and lymphatic tissues, have been removed" (decisions as above); (iv) ban in the Community on the feeding of mammalian protein to ruminants (June 1994); (v) tightening of rules on rendering of ruminant waste in order to inactivate the BSE agent (June 1994) (b) UK measures: (i) ban on the feeding of ruminant protein to ruminants (July 1988); (ii) ban on specified bovine offals (SBOs) (November 1989); ( i i i ) strengthening of the specified bovine offals ban (August 1995); (iv) ban on the feeding of mammalian protein to all farm animals (March 1996) (c) Member State level: - import ban on meat- and bone-meal from the United Kingdom (d) Community export ban on bovine animals, bovine meat and meat products, etc., and on mammalian-derived meat- and bone-meal from the UK to other Member States and third countries (March 1996).