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3.2.2011 Official
Journal
of
the
European
Union L
29/1
II
(Non-legislative acts)
REGULATIONS
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 87/2011
of 2 February 2011
designating the EU reference laboratory for bee health, laying down additional responsibilities and
tasks for that laboratory and amending Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European
Parliament and of the Council
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
bilities and tasks of the EU reference laboratory in the
field of bee health should be laid down in this Regu
lation.
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union,
(4) Part
II
of
Annex
VII
to
Regulation
(EC)
No
882/2004
should therefore be amended accordingly.
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European
(5) The
measures
provided
for
in
this
Regulation
are
in
Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official
accordance with the opinion of the Standing
controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance
Committee of the Food Chain and Animal Health,
with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare
rules ( 1 ), and in particular Article 32(5) and (6) thereof,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Whereas:
Article 1
Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’alimentation, de
l’environnement et du travail (ANSES) with its research
(1) Regulation
(EC)
No
882/2004
lays
down
the
general laboratory for bee diseases, Sophia-Antipolis Laboratory,
tasks, duties and requirements for EU reference labora
France, is hereby designated as the EU reference laboratory in
tories for food and feed and for animal health. The EU
the field of bee health from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2016.
reference laboratories for animal health and live animals
are listed in Part II of Annex VII to that Regulation.
Certain responsibilities and tasks for that laboratory are set out
in the Annex to this Regulation.
(2) Following
the
completion
of
a
selection
procedure,
the
successful laboratory, Agence Nationale de Sécurité
Article 2
Sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du
travail (ANSES), with its research laboratory for bee
In Part II of Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, the
diseases, Sophia-Antipolis Laboratory, France, should be
following point 18 is added:
designated as the EU reference laboratory in the field of
bee health, for a period of five years from 1 April 2011.
‘18. EU reference laboratory for bee health
(3) In
addition
to
the
general
functions
and
duties
laid
down
Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’alimentation,
in Article 32(2) of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, certain
de l’environnement et du travail
specific responsibilities and tasks linked to the char
Sophia-Antipolis Laboratory
acteristics of agents liable to affect bee health should
Les Templiers
be carried out at Union level to ensure enhanced coor
105 route des Chappes
dination. Therefore, these additional specific responsi
BP 111
06902 Sophia-Antipolis
( 1 ) OJ L 165, 30.4.2004, p. 1.
France.’

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L 29/2
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
3.2.2011
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 2 February 2011.
For the Commission
The President
José Manuel BARROSO

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EN
3.2.2011 Official
Journal
of
the
European
Union L
29/3
ANNEX
Certain responsibilities and tasks of the EU reference laboratory for bee health
In addition to the general functions and duties of EU reference laboratories in the animal health sector pursuant to
Article 32(2) of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, the EU reference laboratory for bee health shall have the following
responsibilities and tasks:
1. Coordinate, in consultation with the Commission, the methods employed in the Member States for diagnosing the
relevant bee diseases, as necessary, in particular by:
(a) typing, storing and, where appropriate, supplying strains of the pathogenic agents to facilitate the diagnostic
service in the Union;
(b) typing and antigenic and genomic characterisation of pathogenic agents, where relevant and necessary, for example
for epidemiological follow-ups or verification of diagnosis;
(c) supplying standard sera and other reference reagents to the national reference laboratories in order to standardise
the test and the reagents used in each Member State, where serological tests are required;
(d) organising periodic comparative tests of diagnostic procedures at Union level with the national reference labora
tories , in order to provide information on the methods of diagnosis used and the result of the tests carried out in
the Union;
(e) retaining expertise on the Tropilaelaps mites and the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) and other pertinent
pathogenic agents to enable rapid differential diagnosis;
(f) determining the identity of the causative pathogenic agents, where necessary in close collaboration with regional
reference laboratories designated by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE);
(g) building up and maintaining an up-to-date collection of pathogenic agents and their strains and an up-to-date
collection of specific sera and other reagents against bee disease pathogens when or if available;
(h) being entrusted to carry out an inventory of the currently used techniques in the various laboratories;
(i) propose standardised tests and test procedures or reference reagents for internal quality control;
(j) advising the Commission on scientific aspects related to bee health.
2. The EU reference laboratory shall:
(a) assist actively in the diagnosis of outbreaks of the relevant disease in Member States by receiving pathogen isolates
for confirmatory diagnosis, characterisation and epizootic studies and communicating without delay the results of
any investigations to the Commission, the Member States and the national reference laboratories concerned;
(b) facilitate the training or retraining of experts in laboratory diagnosis with a view to harmonising diagnostic
techniques throughout the Union;
(c) organise workshops for the benefit of national reference laboratories as agreed in the work programme, including
training of experts from the Member States and, as appropriate, from third countries, in new analytical method
ologies;
(d) provide technical assistance to the Commission and, at its request, participate in international forums concerning,
in particular, the standardisation of analytical methods and their implementation;
(e) develop monitoring activities and whenever possible coordinate activities directed towards an improvement of the
bee health status in the Union, in particular by:
(i) carrying out or collaborating with national reference laboratories concerned in carrying out test validation
trials;
(ii) providing scientific and technical support to the Commission and collecting information and reports
associated with the activities of the EU reference laboratory;
(iii) establishing and coordinating a survey on colony collapse disorder in the Union with regard to establishing a
baseline for ‘normal’ seasonal mortality of bees;

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L 29/4
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
3.2.2011
(f) collaborating with the relevant competent laboratories in third countries where those diseases are prevalent as
regards methods of diagnosing bee diseases;
(g) collaborating with the relevant regional laboratories designated by the OIE with regard to exotic diseases (Tropi
laelaps mites and the small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) and any other disease exotic to the Union);
(h) collating and forwarding information to the Commission and to national reference laboratories concerned on
exotic and endemic diseases or pests that are potentially emerging and could affect the Union, including colony
collapse disorder.
3. The EU reference laboratory shall also:
(a) perform experiments and field trials, in consultation with the Commission, directed towards an improved control
of specific bee diseases;
(b) review at the annual meeting of national reference laboratories the relevant requirements for testing laid down in
the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code and Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals;
(c) assist the Commission in reviewing the OIE’s recommendations in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code and the
Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals.

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