HEAD OF THE LEGAL AND ASSURANCE SERVICES
Parma, 26 March 2018
Ref. DD/CP/mm (2017) - out-19202833
Finn Jensen
Frit Fjerkræ
Danish Poultry organisation for
hobby- and smallholders
Ulstrup Skovvej 3 Sdr Vinge
DK-8860 Ulstrup
Denmark
e-mail:
ask+request-4768-
xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
Re:
Your request for access to documents of 8 November 2018
Our ref.: PAD 2017/099
Dear Mr Jensen,
I refer to your request of 8 November 2017, submitted from the website “
Ask the EU”, by
means of which you requested access to data pertaining to the EFSA Scientific report on
the avian influenza overview October 2016–August 20171 (hereinafter “
the Scientific
Report”), in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to
documents2 (hereinafter “
the PAD Regulation”).
By means of your e-mail of 30 November 2017, you clarified that you are interested in
receiving all additional epidemiological data on the Avian Influenza (AI) outbreaks in
poultry and captive birds that occurred from October 2016 to 30 April 2017, submitted by
19 Member States (MS)3 directly to EFSA by means of Excel files in the context of the
Scientific Report (hereinafter “
the AI data”).
As per our letter of 12 December 2017, EFSA proposed you as a fair solution in
application of Article 6(3) of the PAD Regulation to reply to you in a timeframe which
would allow EFSA to finalise the consultations with the MS data providers, in accordance
with Article 4(5) of the PAD Regulation, and the assessment of the disclosure of the AI
data. Accordingly, by means of EFSA’s letters of 22 January 2018 and 1 March 2018, we
updated you on the progress of the consultations with the data providers.
We took due note of your email of March 4 qualified as an appeal to the proposed solution
to provide you the data only upon completion of the pending consultations with all the
Member States.
1 European Food Safety Authority, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, European Union
Reference Laboratory for Avian influenza, Brown I, Mulatti P, Smietanka K, Staubach C, Willeberg P, Adlhoch
C, Candiani D, Fabris C, Zancanaro G, Morgado J and Verdonck F, 2017. Scientific report on the avian
influenza overview October 2016– August 2017. EFSA Journal 2017;15(10):5018, 101 pp.
https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.5018.
2 Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding
public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43-48,
applicable to EFSA.
3 Data was received from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the
United Kingdom.
European Food Safety Authority • Via Carlo Magno 1A • 43126 Parma • ITALY
Tel. + 39 0521 036 111 • Fax + 39 0521 036 110 • www.efsa.europa.eu
In this context, in reply to your claim to receive, even partially, the data prior the
deadline set in our proposal, we are pleased to provide you a first batch of data,
constituting full access to most of the requested data.
The present letter also provides you with an update on the on-going dialogue with the
remaining Member States with whom the consultation with regards the accessibility of
their data has not come to its conclusive end yet.
1. Full release of data from 15 Member States organisations
After consultations and clarifications with the 19 MS organisations having provided AI
data, in line with Article 4(5) of the PAD Regulation, and EFSA’s assessment of the
accessibility of the AI data, we are pleased to grant you full access to the datasets of 15
out of 19 MS organisations, i.e. 24 out of 30 requested Excel files in EFSA’s possession.
In this regard we would like to highlight that, as regards the data from Finland, the killing
and destruction and all other eradication measures, as indicated in the “free text” column
of the Excel file, have been carried out and completed.
We hope you find the disclosed documents useful. I must remind you that all persons
reproducing, redistributing, exploiting or making commercial use of this information are
expected to adhere to the terms and conditions asserted by the copyright holder.
As concerns the remaining four out of 19 Member State organisations, i.e. 6 out of 30
requested Excel files in EFSA’s possession, please be informed that EFSA is currently still
engaging in a genuine dialogue4 with these Member States. However, please be assured
that EFSA is further exchanging with the MS organisations with a view of enhancing
transparency on the remaining 6 out of the 30 requested Excel files in EFSA’s possession.
Accordingly, we will provide you with a complementary reply on the accessibility of the
Excel files of the four Member States by
19 April 2018 at the latest.
Finally, as you may know, countries around the world, including EU MS, are reporting
data on Avian Influenza outbreaks and other animal diseases to the World Organisation
for Animal Health (OIE), an intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving
animal health worldwide. The data notified to the OIE by its country Members5 is then
made publicly available in the EMPRES Global Animal Disease Information System
(EMPRES-i). EMPRES-i is a web-based application which provides updated information on
global animal disease distribution and current threats at the national, regional and global
level for priority animal diseases.6 Please however note that the data notified to EFSA is
not identical to the one shared with OIE, but may be useful for your researches.
2. Confirmatory application
To exercise your right to appeal against this decision of partial disclosure by a
confirmatory application, you may write to EFSA at the address below. You have fifteen
working days from receipt of this letter to appeal. Beyond this deadline, your initial
request will be considered as satisfied. Please note that you can also exercise your right
to appeal against this decision after your request for public access to documents has been
fully addressed, i.e. after the final reply on your pending request has been sent to you. In
case you submit a confirmatory application, EFSA will inform you of the outcome of this
re-examination of your request within fifteen working days of receipt, either by granting
4 Judgment in Case C- 64/05 P,
Sweden v Commission (EU:C:2007:802), paragraphs 85 to 89.
5 181 Member Countries, se
e http://www.oie.int/en/about-us/.
6 You can access the EMPRES-i application on the website of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the
United Nations (FAO)
: http://empres-i.fao.org/eipws3g/.
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you access to the documents or by confirming the refusal. In the latter case, you will also
be informed of any further appeal routes available.
Further correspondence must be sent to:
EFSA
Dirk Detken, Head of the Legal and Assurance Services
Via Carlo Magno 1/A
IT – 43126 Parma
E-mail:
xxxx.xxxxxx.xxxxxx.xx.xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxxxxx.xx Yours sincerely,
[SIGNED]
Dirk Detken
Encl.: CD-ROM
Cc:
N. Kriz (EFSA)
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