COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS of 30 April 1998 on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) (98/C 169/02)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

REFERRING to the Council conclusions of 18 June 1996 and of 12 November 1996 on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) (1);

RECALLING the Council conclusions of 7 October 1996 on research on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and related human diseases;

NOTES the initiatives taken by the European Parliament in relation to BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and in particular its resolution (2) adopted on 19 February 1997;

NOTES the current epidemiological data relating to CJD, supplied by the Member States, and also the developments which have taken place, since its conclusions of 12 November 1996, in relation to the monitoring and surveillance of CJD in the Member States and at the Community level;

NOTES the action which has been taken in relation to:

- protection of workers exposed to the agents responsible for BSE and related animal TSEs,

- the review of guidelines adopted by the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products aimed at minimising the risk of transmission, via medicinal products, of the agents responsible for TSEs,

- the provision of funds from the Community budget for TSE research under the fourth framework programme established by Decision No 1110/94/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3);

WELCOMES the intention of the Commission to submit, as soon as possible after the next International Office of Epizootics (OIE) session in May 1998, a scientifically based proposal in the field of specified risk materials;

ATTACHES particular importance to such a proposal with regard to specific problems, such as the exclusion of specified risk materials from the food chain and a specific risk assessment with regard to medicinal products and medical devices;

REAFFIRMS the importance of extending to all Member States the epidemiological surveillance of CJD using the same methods as have been applied in the project funded through the Community's Biomed programme, and of Member States continuing to exchange experience and expertise in the diagnosis of cases;

WELCOMES the cooperation between the Commission and the World Health Organisation on matters related to TSEs;

AGREES to keep the issue under consideration.

(1) OJ C 194, 5.7.1996, p. 1 and OJ C 374, 11.12.1996, p. 2.

(2) OJ C 85, 17.3.1997, p. 61.

(3) OJ L 126, 18.5.1994, p. 1.