(1)

Following recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Great Britain, Commission Decision 2007/554/EC of 9 August 2007 concerning certain protection measures against foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom repealing Decision 2007/552/EC (4) was adopted to reinforce the control measures against foot-and-mouth disease taken by that Member State in the framework of Directive 2003/85/EC.

(2)

Decision 2007/554/EC lays down rules applicable to the dispatch from the high risk areas, listed in Annex I, and the low risk areas listed in Annex II, to that Decision (restricted areas), in Great Britain of products considered safe that either were produced before the restrictions were put in place in the United Kingdom, from raw material sourced from outside those restricted areas, or that have undergone a treatment proven effective in inactivating possible foot-and-mouth disease virus.

(3)

In Decision 2007/554/EC, as amended by Decision 2007/664/EC, the Commission laid down rules for the dispatch of certain categories of meat from certain areas listed in Annex III to Decision 2007/554/EC, as thus amended, that have not recorded any outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease for a period of at least 90 days prior to slaughter and which comply with certain specified conditions.

(4)

On the basis of the evolution of the animal health situation in the United Kingdom, and in particular the results of the ongoing surveillance, it is now possible to further enlarge the areas listed in Annex II and to reduce the area consisting of administrative units listed in Annex I to Decision 2007/554/EC.

(5)

Decision 2007/554/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(6)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,