8.4.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 94/100

(1)

Council Decision 79/542/EEC of 21 December 1976 drawing up a list of third countries or parts of third countries, and laying down animal and public health and veterinary certification conditions, for importation into the Community of certain live animals and their fresh meat (3) establishes the sanitary conditions for the importation into the Community of live animals, excluding equidae, and for the importation of fresh meat of such animals, including equidae, but excluding meat preparations.

(2)

Article 6 of Decision 79/542/EEC concerns transport of live animals for importation into the Community. The transport of such animals by air presents a risk for animal health in the Community, due to insect vectors of animal diseases that could be present in the means of air transport. It is therefore appropriate to provide for measures for disinfestation of the means of such transport in order to avoid the accidental introduction into the Community of potentially infected insect vectors together with imported animals.

(3)

Decision 79/542/EEC provides that animals intended for import into the Community can transit only through third countries which are permitted to export animals of the same species to the Community. However, it is permitted to transit animals through certain third countries that are not permitted to export animals to the Community. Such transit is only permitted if the animals are intended for immediate slaughter once they have reached their final destination in the Community. The procedure for listing those third countries has been established taking into account several factors, in particular the animal health situation of the third country, the guarantees about the integrity of the animals during transit, the controls at the border inspection posts and at the final destination.

(4)

Animal welfare and traceability aspects should also be taken into account when considering the transport of animals to the Community from or via third countries. The Community rules currently in force lead to a situation where bovine animals for fattening must be transported on longer routes, in order to avoid transit through certain third countries that are not permitted to export animals to the Community. This has a negative impact on animal welfare. It is therefore appropriate to extend also to bovine animals for fattening the possibility for transit through third countries that are not permitted to export animals to the Community.

(5)

In addition, it is necessary to ensure an adequate animal health protection in the Community when animals for fattening are introduced after having transited through third countries that are not permitted to export animals to the Community. Appropriate measures should therefore be established, to be applied both during transit and at the final destination. Those measures should ensure the animal health status of the animals and the integrity of the consignment during transport, and limit further movements of the animals from the farms of destination in the Community.

(6)

The farms of destination should be specifically designated by the competent veterinary authority of the Member State of destination. When designating such farms, the competent veterinary authority should, in particular, ensure a control of the animals throughout the period from the date of arrival on the farm until the date of slaughter.

(7)

Decision 79/542/EEC, as amended by Commission Decision 2008/752/EC (4), includes a reference to the compulsorily notifiable diseases listed in Annex A to Council Directive 90/426/EEC (5) in the animal health certificates for certain meat from domestic and wild solipeds. However, since only African horse sickness and glanders may be transmitted through the meat, those certificates should include specific references only to those diseases.

(8)

For reasons of clarity and consistency of Community legislation, the model of animal health certificate for ‘Transit/Storage’ should be deleted from Annex II to Decision 79/542/EEC and Annex III to that Decision should be replaced.

(9)

Decision 79/542/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10)

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

1.

in Article 6(1), the following second subparagraph is added:

‘Where the animals are transported by air, the crate or container in which they are transported and the surrounding area shall be sprayed with an appropriate insecticide immediately before the doors to the aircraft are closed and whenever the doors of the aircraft are opened subsequently before reaching the final destination.’;

2.

Annexes I, II and III are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Decision.