Crustacean diseases in European legislation: Implications for importing and exporting nations

EC Council Directive 2006/88/EC, adopted during 2008, has for the first time introduced controls for crustacean diseases to be applied across all Member States of the European Union. It lists three crustacean diseases, all of which are caused by viral pathogens and primarily associated with the production of marine penaeid shrimp: White Spot Disease (WSD) caused by the White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), Yellowhead disease (YHD) caused by Yellowhead Virus (YHV) and Taura syndrome (TS) caused by Taura syndrome Virus (TSV). Under Directive 2006/88/EC, WSD is listed as 'non-exotic' to the EU while YHD and TS are listed as exotic. The listing of crustacean diseases in the Directive recognises the global potential for the transboundary movement of economically and ecologically significant pathogens with live animals and with aquatic animal products and in essence, aligns approaches to biosecurity of farmed and wild crustacean populations of Europe with measures in place for molluscan shellfish and for finfish. Here, we discuss the implications of Directive 2006/88/EC for European Union Member States (net importers) and for producer nations wishing to export live crustaceans and associated products into the European Union. These implications are further compared to recommendations from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) for trading of live crustaceans and products arising from them. Crown Copyright (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.