National and EU pathologies and norms in mollusc culture

In the 1990s EEC countries drafted several directives concerning the aquaculture sector, including Directive 91/67/EEC of 28.01.1991 (accepted into Italy by DPR n. 555 on 10.12.1992) and Directive 95/70/EC from 22.12.1995 (accepted into Italy by DPR n. 395 on 20.10.1998). DPR 555 includes among its provisions a list of the diseases that are so serious for production that they must be eradicated from the EEC territory (Annex A, List I), as well as a list of other diseases that also affect production (Annex A, List II). Annex A, List II of DPR 555, includes two mollusc diseases, namely Bonamiosis and Marteiliosis for flat oysters (Ostrea edulis). DPR 395 includes among its provisions that farm owners register their farm with the National Health Service and possess a loading and unloading register of the material introduced from or destined for another farm for reintroduction. When the National Health Service finds a case of unusual death in the wild or in farms, it will apply a sanitary monitoring programme to ascertain or exclude the presence of the diseases included in Annex A to 91/67/EEC or Annex D to 95/70/EC as the cause of death. On February 5th 2003 the EU Commission modified Annex D (2003/83/EC).