(1)

Directive 91/629/EEC lays down minimum standards for the protection of calves confined for rearing and fattening. It provides that Member States are to ensure that inspections are carried out under the responsibility of the competent authority to check compliance with that Directive.

(2)

Directive 91/630/EEC lays down minimum standards for the protection of pigs confined for rearing and fattening. It provides that Member States are to ensure that inspections are carried out under the responsibility of the competent authority to check compliance with that Directive.

(3)

Directive 98/58/EC lays down minimum standards for the protection of animals bred or kept for farming purposes. It provides that Member States are to ensure that inspections to check compliance with that Directive are carried out by the competent authority and that Member States are to submit reports to the Commission concerning those inspections.

(4)

Commission Decision 2000/50/EC of 17 December 1999 concerning minimum requirements for the inspection of holdings on which animals are kept for farming purposes ( 5 ) provides that the reports which the Member States are to submit to the Commission pursuant to Directive 98/58/EC are to cover calves, pigs and laying hens. It also specified the information which the Member States are requested to submit for each species and category of animals.

(5)

Inspections of animals kept for farming purposes carried out in the Member States should not only cover requirements laid down in specific acts such as those concerning calves, pigs or laying hens but also general welfare requirements as laid down in Directive 98/58/EC. The reporting obligations of the Member States to the Commission should therefore include both general and specific requirements under the Community legislation.

(6)

Inspections of animals kept for farming purposes carried out in the Member States should also cover all other farmed species that are within the scope of Directive 98/58/EC. The reporting obligations of the Member States to the Commission should therefore be extended accordingly.

(7)

Directive 1999/74/EC lays down minimum standards for the protection of laying hens. It provides that Member States are to ensure that inspections to check compliance with that Directive are carried out by the competent authority.

(8)

Experience gained under Directives 91/629/EEC, 91/630/EEC, 98/58/EC and 1999/74/EC indicate discrepancies between Member States in planning, performing, recording and reporting inspections carried out under those Directives by the competent authority.

(9)

The collection of data on animal welfare inspections is essential for the Community to evaluate the impact of its policy in this field. In addition it is important that animal welfare rules are applied in a uniform manner, in particular because those rules may affect the competitiveness of some farming activities. Therefore it is necessary to update the minimum requirements for the inspection of production sites on which animals are kept for farming purposes.

(10)

Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules ( 6 ) provides in Title V for control plans including annual reports. The current reporting obligations of the Member States pursuant to Decision 2000/50/EC should be adapted to that Regulation, in particular with regard to the frequency and the deadline for reporting to the Commission.

(11)

Animal welfare conditions are affected by farming methods. Therefore they represented a useful basis for collecting information. In the case of laying hens, particular reference should be made to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2295/2003 of 23 December 2003 introducing detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EEC) No 1907/90 on certain marketing standards for eggs ( 7 ), as it defines additional requirements for alternative systems.

(12)

The present system of collection and analysis of information from the Member States generates an administrative burden both for the Commission and the Member States. It also creates risks for alteration of the data. Therefore it is necessary to conduct a feasibility study on an up-to-date information system at Community level to improve and facilitate the collection and the analysis of the data required here.

(13)

Decision 2000/50/EC should therefore be repealed and replaced by this Decision.

(14)

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