(a) poultry, hatching eggs, day-old chicks and specified pathogen-free eggs;

(b) meat, minced meat and mechanically separated meat of poultry, including ratites and wild game-birds, eggs and egg products.

(1) ‘poultry’ means fowl, s, guinea fowl, ducks, geese, quails, pigeons, pheasants, partridges and ratites (ratitae), reared or kept in captivity for breeding, the production of meat or eggs for consumption, or for restocking supplies of game;

(2) ‘hatching eggs’ means eggs for incubation, laid by poultry;

(3) ‘day-old chicks’ means all poultry less than 72 hours old, not yet fed and muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata) or their crosses, less than 72 hours old whether or not fed;

(4) ‘breeding poultry’ means poultry 72 hours old or more, intended for the production of hatching eggs;

(5) ‘productive poultry’ means poultry 72 hours old or more, reared for:

(a) the production of meat and/or eggs for consumption; or

(b) the restocking of supplies of game;

(6) ‘specified pathogen-free eggs’ means hatching eggs which are derived from ‘chicken flocks free from specified pathogens’, as described in the European Pharmacopoeia ( 1 ), and which are intended solely for diagnostic, research or pharmaceutical use;

(7) ‘meat’ means edible parts of the following animals:

(a) poultry, which, when relating to meat, means farmed birds, including birds that are farmed as domestic animals without being considered as such, with the exception of ratites;

(b) wild game-birds that are hunted for human consumption;

(c) ratites;

(8) ‘mechanically separated meat’ means the product obtained by removing meat from flesh-bearing bones after boning or from poultry carcases, using mechanical means resulting in the loss or modification of the muscle fibre structure;

(9) ‘minced meat’ means de-boned meat that has been minced into fragments and contains less than 1 % salt;

(10) ‘zone’ means a clearly defined part of a third country containing an animal subpopulation with a distinct health status with respect to a specific disease for which the required surveillance, control and biosecurity measures have been applied for the purpose of imports under this Regulation;

(11) ‘compartment’ means one or more poultry establishments in a third country under a common biosecurity management system containing a poultry subpopulation with a distinct health status with respect to a specific disease or diseases for which the required surveillance, control and biosecurity measures have been applied for the purpose of imports under this Regulation;

(12) ‘establishment’ means a facility or part of a facility which occupies a single site and is devoted to one or more of the following activities:

(a) pedigree breeding establishment: an establishment which produces hatching eggs for the production of breeding poultry;

(b) breeding establishment: an establishment which produces hatching eggs for the production of productive poultry;

(c) rearing establishment either:

(i) a breeding poultry-rearing establishment which rears breeding poultry prior to the reproductive stage; or

(ii) a productive poultry-rearing establishment which rears egg-laying productive poultry prior to the laying stage;

(d) keeping of other productive poultry;

(13) ‘hatchery’ means an establishment which incubates and hatches eggs and supplies day-old chicks;

(14) ‘flock’ means all poultry of the same health status kept on the same facilities or in the same enclosure and constituting a single epidemiological unit; as regards housed poultry, this definition includes all birds sharing the same airspace;

(15) ‘avian influenza’ means an infection of poultry caused by any influenza A virus:

(a) of the subtypes H5 or H7;

(b) with an intravenous pathogenicity index (IVPI) in six-week old chickens greater than 1,2; or

(c) causing at least 75 % mortality in four- to 8-week-old chickens infected intravenously;

(16) ‘highly pathogenic avian influenza’ (HPAI) means an infection of poultry caused by:

(a) avian influenza viruses of the subtypes H5 or H7 with genome sequences codifying for multiple basic amino acids at the cleavage site of the haemagglutinin molecule similar to that observed for other HPAI viruses, indicating that the haemagglutinin molecule can be cleaved by a host ubiquitous protease;

(b) avian influenza as defined in point 15(b) and (c);

(17) ‘low pathogenic avian influenza’ (LPAI) means an infection of poultry caused by avian influenza viruses of subtypes H5 or H7 other than HPAI;

(18) ‘Newcastle disease’ means an infection of poultry:

(a) caused by any avian strain of the paramyxovirus 1 with an intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) in day-old chicks greater than 0,7; or

(b) multiple basic amino acids have been demonstrated in the virus (either directly or by deduction) at the C-terminus of the F2 protein and phenylalanine at residue 117, which is the N-terminus of the F1 protein; the term ‘multiple basic amino acids’ refers to at least three arginine or lysine residues between residues 113 and 116; failure to demonstrate the characteristic pattern of amino acid residues as described in this point requires characterisation of the isolated virus by an ICPI test; in this definition, amino acid residues are numbered from the N-terminus of the amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide sequence of the F0 gene, 113-116 corresponds to residues -4 to -1 from the cleavage site;

(19) ‘official veterinarian’ means the veterinarian designated by the competent authority;

(20) ‘differentiating infected from vaccinated animal (DIVA) strategy’ means a vaccination strategy which enables a differentiation to be made between vaccinated/infected and vaccinated/non-infected animals through the application of a diagnostic test designed to detect antibodies against the field virus and the use of non-vaccinated sentinel birds.

(a) a veterinary certificate as referred to in paragraph 1 which shall bear the words ‘for transit through the EC’, and

(b) a certificate required by the third country of destination.

(a) the conditions laid down in Articles 6 and 7 and in Chapter III;

(b) the additional guarantees, as specified in column 5 of the table in Part 1 of Annex I;

(c) the specific conditions set out in column 6, and where appropriate, the closing dates set out in column 6A and the opening dates set out in column 6B, of the table in Part 1 of Annex I;

(d) the conditions in relation to the approval of a salmonella control programme and related restrictions which shall only apply when indicated in the appropriate column of the table in Part 1 of Annex I;

(e) the animal health additional guarantees, where required by the Member State of destination and referred to in the certificate.

(a) point (b);

(b) point (d) when destined for primary production of poultry for private domestic use or leading to the direct supply, by the producer, of small quantities of primary products as referred to in Article 1(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2160/2003.

(a) informs the Commission of the disease situation within 24 hours of confirmation of any initial outbreaks of LPAI, HPAI or Newcastle disease;

(b) submits virus isolates from initial outbreaks of HPAI and Newcastle disease, without undue delay to the Community reference laboratory for avian influenza and Newcastle disease ( 2 ); such virus isolates shall not be required for imports of eggs, egg products and specified pathogen-free eggs from third countries, territories, zones or compartments from which the import of such commodities into the Community is authorised;

(c) submits to the Commission regular updates on the disease situation.

(a) avian influenza has not been present in the third country, territory, zone or compartment for a period of at least 12 months preceding the certification by the official veterinarian;

(b) an avian influenza surveillance programme, in accordance with Article 10 has been carried out during a period of at least six months preceding the certification referred to in point (a) of this paragraph where required in the certificate.

(a) in the case of HPAI, a stamping out policy has been implemented to control the disease;

(b) in the case of LPAI, either a stamping out policy has been implemented or the poultry have been slaughtered to control the disease;

(c) adequate cleansing and disinfection has been carried out on all previously infected establishments;

(d) avian influenza surveillance has been carried out in accordance with Part II of Annex IV during a three-month period following completion of the cleansing and disinfection referred to in point (c) of this paragraph with negative results.

(a) a stamping out policy has been implemented to control the disease, including adequate cleansing and disinfection carried out on all previously infected establishments;

(b) avian influenza surveillance has been carried out in accordance with Part II of Annex IV during a three-month period following completion of the stamping out policy and cleansing and disinfection referred to in point (a).

(a) the third country, territory, zone or compartment has had in place for a period of at least six months an avian influenza surveillance programme, which is indicated in column 7 of the table in Part 1 of Annex I, and that programme meets the requirements:

(i) set out in Part I of Annex IV; or

(ii) of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the OIE ( 3 );

(b) the third country informs the Commission of any changes to its avian influenza surveillance programme.

(a) the third country carries out vaccination against avian influenza in accordance with a vaccination plan indicated in column 8 of the table in Part 1 of Annex I, and that plan meets the requirements set out in Annex V;

(b) the third country informs the Commission of any changes to its avian influenza vaccination plan.

(a) no outbreaks of Newcastle disease have occurred in poultry in the third country, territory, zone or compartment for a period of at least 12 months preceding the certification by the official veterinarian;

(b) no vaccination against Newcastle disease using vaccines that do not comply with the criteria for recognised Newcastle disease vaccines set out in Annex VI has been carried out for at least the period referred to in point (a) of this paragraph.

(a) a stamping out policy has been implemented to control the disease;

(b) adequate cleansing and disinfection has been carried out on all previously infected establishments;

(c) during a period of at least three months following the completion of the stamping out policy and cleansing and disinfection referred to in points (a) and (b):

(i) the competent authority of a the third country can demonstrate the absence of that disease in the third country, territory, zone or compartment by intensified investigations including laboratory testing in relation to the outbreak;

(ii) no vaccination against Newcastle disease using vaccines that do not comply with the criteria for recognised Newcastle disease vaccines set out in Annex VI has been carried out.

(a) the third country, territory, zone or compartment allows the use of vaccines which comply with the general criteria set out in Part I of Annex VI, but not with the specific criteria set out in Part II of that Annex;

(b) the additional health requirements set out in Part I of Annex VII are complied with.

(a) breeding and productive poultry other than ratites, hatching eggs and day-old chicks thereof, the requirements set out in Annex VIII;

(b) ratites for breeding and production, hatching eggs and day-old chicks thereof, the requirements set out in Annex IX.

(a) they shall be marked with a stamp bearing the ISO code of the third country of origin and the approval number of the establishment of origin;

(b) each package of specified pathogen-free eggs must only contain eggs from the same third country of origin, establishment and consignor, and must bear at least the following particulars:

(i) the information shown on the eggs as provided for in point (a);

(ii) a clearly visible and legible indication that the consignment contains specified pathogen-free eggs;

(iii) the consignor’s name or business name and address.

(c) specified pathogen-free eggs imported into the Community must be transported directly to their final destination after import controls have been completed satisfactorily.

(a) loaded onto a means of transport carrying other poultry and day-old chicks of a lower health status;

(b) in the course of transport to the Community, shall not be moved through nor unloaded in a third country, territory, zone or compartment from which imports of such poultry and day-old chicks into the Community are not authorised.

(a) the consignment is sealed with a serially numbered seal by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry in Latvia, Lithuania or Poland;

(b) the documents accompanying the consignment, as provided for in Article 7 of Directive 97/78/EC, are stamped with the words ‘ONLY FOR TRANSIT TO RUSSIA VIA THE EU’ on each page by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry in Latvia, Lithuania or Poland;

(c) the procedural requirements provided for in Article 11 of Directive 97/78/EC are complied with;

(d) the consignment is certified as acceptable for transit on the common veterinary entry document issued by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry in Latvia, Lithuania or Poland.

(a) the consignment is sealed with a serially numbered seal by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry in Lithuania;

(b) the documents accompanying the consignment, as provided for in Article 7 of Directive 97/78/EC, are stamped with the words ‘ONLY FOR TRANSIT TO RUSSIA VIA LITHUANIA’ on each page by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry in Lithuania;

(c) the procedural requirements provided for in Article 11 of Directive 97/78/EC are complied with;

(d) the consignment is certified as acceptable for transit on the common veterinary entry document issued by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry in Lithuania.

(a) the consignment is sealed with a serially numbered seal by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry;

(b) the documents accompanying the consignment, as provided for in Article 7 of Directive 97/78/EC, are stamped with the words ‘ONLY FOR TRANSIT TO THIRD COUNTRIES VIA THE EU’ on each page by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry;

(c) the procedural requirements provided for in Article 11 of Directive 97/78/EC are complied with;

(d) the consignment is certified as acceptable for transit on the Common Veterinary Entry Document referred to in Article 2(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 136/2004 ( 5 ) by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry.

(a) Veterinary certificates based on the models in Part 2 of this Annex and following the layout of the model that corresponds to the commodity concerned shall be issued by the exporting country, territory, zone or compartment. They shall contain, in the order appearing in the model, the attestations that are required for any third country and, where applicable, those additional health requirements required for the exporting country, territory, zone or compartment.

(b) A separate, single certificate must be presented for each consignment of the commodity concerned, exported to the same destination from a territory appearing in columns 2 and 3 of Part 1 of this Annex and transported in the same railway wagon, lorry, aircraft or ship.

(c) The original of certificates shall consist of a single page printed on both sides or, where more text is required, such that all the pages form a whole and cannot be separated.

(d) The certificate shall be drawn up in at least one official language of the EU Member State where the border inspection takes place and in one official language of the EU Member State of destination. However, those Member States may allow another Community language instead of their own, accompanied, if necessary, by an official translation.

(e) Where additional pages are attached to the certificate for the purposes of identifying the items making up the consignment, such additional pages shall also be considered to form part of the original of the certificate, provided the signature and stamp of the certifying official veterinarian appear on each page.

(f) Where the certificate, including any additional pages as provided for in (e), comprises more than one page, each page shall be numbered ‘–x(page number) of y(total number of pages)–’ on the bottom and shall bear the code number of the certificate allocated by the competent authority on the top.

(g) The original of the certificate must be completed and signed by an official veterinarian not more than 24 hours prior to loading of the consignment for imports to the Community, unless otherwise stated. To that end, the competent authorities of the exporting country shall ensure that principles of certification equivalent to those laid down in Directive 96/93/EC are followed.

(h) The original of the certificate must accompany the consignment as far as the EU border inspection post.

(i) The certificate shall be valid for 10 days from the date of issue, unless otherwise stated.

(j) Poultry and day-old chicks shall not be transported with other poultry and day-old chicks that are either not intended for the European Community or of a lower health status.

(k) Poultry and day-old chicks shall not in the course of transport to the Community be moved through nor unloaded in a third country, territory, zone or compartment from which imports of such poultry and day-old chicks into the Community are not authorised.