John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 1170: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the decision she has made on issues raised (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28744/06]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The requirement that all bovine animals over 30 months of age, slaughtered for human consumption, must be tested for BSE is provided for in Regulation (EC) No. 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, laying down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of certain transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (The TSE Regulation). Accordingly I do not have discretion to raise this age provision as I would wish to do.

I have been making repeated efforts to have the age thresholds for the various categories of animals changed, based on the results of surveillance carried out here. Amendments to the TSE Regulation, including Community rules in relation to testing for BSE have been under discussions at EU level involving, the Council, the Commission and the European Parliament. These discussions are almost completed and the likely outcome is that Member States wishing to change the age limit for testing for BSE in healthy animal slaughtered for human consumption will have the opportunity to seek this in the context of requests which they can make for revisions to their annual monitoring programmes based on the improvement of the BSE situation of the country, on the basis of as yet to be agreed criteria and which may take some time to finalise.

Any request for such changes would require to be approved by the European Commission and the other Member States within the framework of the Standing Committee on Animal Health and the Food Chain. I will, of course continue to press for a change in the age threshold at every opportunity.