22.12.2009   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 343/74

(1)

Council Directive 90/539/EEC of 15 October 1990 on animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in, and imports from third countries of, poultry and hatching eggs (2) has been substantially amended several times (3). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified.

(2)

Poultry, being live animals, and hatching eggs, being animal products, are included in the list of products in Annex I to the Treaty.

(3)

In order to ensure the rational development of poultry production, thereby increasing productivity in that sector, certain animal health rules governing intra-Community trade in poultry and hatching eggs should be laid down at Community level.

(4)

The breeding and rearing of poultry is included in the farming sector. It constitutes a source of income for part of the farming population.

(5)

In order to encourage intra-Community trade in poultry and hatching eggs, there should be no disparities as regards animal health conditions in the Member States.

(6)

In order to encourage the harmonious development of intra-Community trade, a Community system should be laid down to govern imports from third countries.

(7)

The provisions of this Directive should not, in principle, apply to specific trade such as exhibitions, shows and contests.

(8)

In view of the nature of modern poultry farming, the best way to promote the harmonious development of intra-Community trade in poultry and hatching eggs is to monitor production establishments.

(9)

It should be left to the competent authorities of the Member States to approve establishments which satisfy the conditions laid down in this Directive and to ensure that the conditions are applied.

(10)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (4) provides for the marketing standards for products of the eggs and poultrymeat sectors. Commission Regulation (EC) No 617/2008 of 27 June 2008 laying down detailed rules for implementing Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards marketing standards for hatching eggs and farmyard poultry chicks (5) lays down detailed rules for implementing that Regulation as regards marketing standards for hatching eggs and farmyard poultry chicks, and in particular as regards the granting of a distinguishing number to each production establishment and for the marking of hatching eggs. For practical reasons, the same criteria for identifying production establishments and marking hatching eggs should be adopted for the purposes of this Directive.

(11)

Member States should designate the national reference laboratories and provide all the necessary details and updates. Member States should make that information available to the other Member States and the public.

(12)

In order to be the subject of intra-Community trade, poultry and hatching eggs should satisfy certain animal health requirements, so as to avoid the spread of contagious diseases.

(13)

Transport conditions should be laid down for the same reason.

(14)

Provision should be made for allowing the Commission to approve certain additional requirements in the light of the progress made by a Member State in eradicating certain poultry diseases, provided that those requirements in no case exceed those applied nationally by the Member State concerned. In this context, it could prove desirable to determine the status of the Member States or regions thereof with regard to certain diseases likely to affect poultry.

(15)

Although intra-Community trade transactions in very small quantities cannot, for practical reasons, be subject to all the Community requirements, certain essential rules should be complied with.

(16)

To ensure that the prescribed requirements are satisfied, provision should be made for the issue by an official veterinarian of a veterinary certificate to accompany the poultry and hatching eggs to their destination.

(17)

In respect of the organisation of, and the follow-up to, the checks to be carried out by the Member State of destination and the safeguard measures to be implemented, reference should be made to the general rules laid down in Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market (6).

(18)

Provision should be made for checks to be carried out by the Commission in cooperation with the competent authorities of Member States.

(19)

Defining Community arrangements applicable to imports from third countries requires a list to be drawn up of third countries or parts of third countries from which poultry and hatching eggs may be imported.

(20)

The choice of those countries should be based on criteria of a general nature such as the state of health of the poultry and other livestock, the organisation and powers of the veterinary services and the health regulations in force.

(21)

In addition, importation of poultry and hatching eggs should not be authorised from countries which are infected with contagious poultry diseases presenting a risk to Community livestock or which have been free from such diseases for too short a period.

(22)

The general conditions applicable to importation from third countries should be supplemented by special conditions drawn up on the basis of the health situation in each of them.

(23)

The presentation of a standard form of certificate upon importation of poultry and hatching eggs constitutes an effective means of verifying that the Community rules are being applied. Such rules may include special provisions which may vary according to the third country concerned. This should be taken into account in drawing up the standard forms of certificate.

(24)

Commission veterinary experts should be responsible for verifying that the rules are observed in third countries.

(25)

The checks carried out upon importation should cover the origin and the state of health of the poultry and hatching eggs.

(26)

Member States should be allowed, on the arrival of poultry and hatching eggs in the territory of the Community and during transit to their place of destination, to take all measures, including slaughter and disposal, required for the purpose of safeguarding public and animal health.

(27)

The constant development of poultry-rearing techniques means that periodic changes in the methods of poultry disease control will have to be made.

(28)

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (7).

(29)

This Directive is without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex VI, Part B,

1.

‘poultry’ means fowl, turkeys, 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 re-stocking 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; however, muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata) or their crosses may be 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 the production of meat and/or eggs for consumption (or for restocking supplies of game);

6.

‘slaughter poultry’ means poultry sent direct to a slaughterhouse for slaughter as soon as possible after arrival, and in any case within 72 hours;

7.

‘flock’ means all poultry of the same health status kept on the same premises or in the same enclosure and constituting a single epidemiological unit. In housed poultry this will include all birds sharing the same airspace;

8.

‘holding’ means a facility – which may include an establishment – used for the rearing or keeping of breeding or productive poultry;

9.

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

10.

‘authorised veterinarian’ means a veterinarian instructed by the competent veterinary authority, under its responsibility, to carry out the checks provided for in this Directive in a particular establishment;

11.

‘approved laboratory’ means a laboratory located in the territory of a Member State, approved by the competent veterinary authority, under its responsibility, for the purpose of carrying out the diagnostic tests provided for in this Directive;

12.

‘health inspection’ means a visit by the official veterinarian or authorised veterinarian for the purpose of inspecting the health status of all the poultry in an establishment;

13.

‘compulsorily notifiable diseases’ means the diseases listed in Annex V;

14.

‘outbreak’ means an outbreak as defined in Council Directive 82/894/EEC of 21 December 1982 on the notification of animal diseases within the Community (9);

15.

‘quarantine station’ means facilities where the poultry is kept in complete isolation and away from direct or indirect contact with other poultry, so as to permit long-term observation and testing for the diseases listed in Annex V;

16.

‘sanitary slaughter’ means the destruction, subject to all the necessary health safeguards including disinfection, of all poultry and products which are infected or suspected of being contaminated.

(a)

approved at the request of the Member State concerned, in order to take account of a change in the situation in that Member State, or

(b)

requested, in order to take account of progress in methods of disease prevention and control.

(a)

hatching eggs, day-old chicks, breeding poultry and productive poultry shall satisfy the conditions laid down in Articles 6, 15, 18 and 20. They shall also satisfy any conditions laid down pursuant to Articles 16 and 17.

In addition:

(b)

slaughter poultry shall fulfil the conditions set out in Articles 11, 15, 18 and 20 and those laid down pursuant to Articles 16 and 17;

(c)

poultry (including day-old chicks) intended for restocking supplies of game shall fulfil the conditions set out in Articles 12, 15, 18 and 20 and those laid down pursuant to Articles 16 and 17;

(d)

as regards salmonella, poultry intended for Finland and Sweden shall fulfil the conditions laid down pursuant to Article 13.

(a)

establishments which fulfil the following requirements:

(b)

a flock which at the time of consignment presents no clinical sign or suspicion of contagious poultry disease.

(a)

come from flocks which:

(b)

be marked in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 617/2008;

(c)

have been disinfected in accordance with the instructions of the official veterinarian.

(a)

have been hatched from hatching eggs satisfying the requirements of Articles 6 and 8;

(b)

satisfy the vaccination conditions in Annex III, if they have been vaccinated;

(c)

present, at the time of consignment, no suspicion of diseases on the basis of Annex II, Chapter II, B2(g) and (h).

(a)

have been held since hatching or for more than six weeks in one or more Community establishments as referred to in Article 6(a)(i);

(b)

satisfy the vaccination conditions in Annex III, if they have been vaccinated;

(c)

have been submitted to a health examination by an official veterinarian or authorised veterinarian during the 48 hours preceding consignment and, at the time of the examination, have presented no clinical sign or suspicion of contagious poultry disease.

(a)

where they have been held since hatching or for more than 21 days;

(b)

which is not the subject of any animal health restrictions applicable to poultry;

(c)

where the health examination carried out by the official veterinarian or authorised veterinarian during the five days preceding dispatch on the flock from which the consignment to be slaughtered is to be drawn has not revealed within that flock any clinical sign or suspicion of contagious poultry disease;

(d)

which is not located in an area which for animal health reasons is subject to restrictive measures in accordance with Community legislation as a result of the outbreak of a disease to which poultry is susceptible.

(a)

where it has been held since hatching or for more than 21 days and where it has not been placed in contact with newly-arrived poultry during the two weeks preceding consignment;

(b)

which is not the subject of any animal health restrictions applicable to poultry;

(c)

where the health examination carried out by the official veterinarian or authorised veterinarian during the 48 hours preceding dispatch on the flock from which the consignment is to be drawn has not revealed within that flock any clinical sign or suspicion of contagious poultry disease;

(d)

which is not located in an area which for animal health reasons is subject to prohibition in accordance with Community legislation as a result of an outbreak of disease to which poultry is susceptible.

(a)

have been held in the Community since hatching or for at least three months;

(b)

present no clinical signs of a contagious poultry disease at the time of consignment;

(c)

satisfy the vaccination conditions in Annex III, if they have been vaccinated;

(d)

are not the subject of any animal health restrictions applicable to poultry;

(e)

are not located in an area which for animal health reasons is subject to restrictive measures in accordance with Community legislation as a result of an outbreak of disease to which poultry is susceptible.

All birds in the consignment shall have been found negative in serological tests for Salmonella pullorum and Salmonella gallinarum antibodies, in accordance with Annex II, Chapter III, in the month preceding the consignment. In the case of hatching eggs or day-old chicks, the flock of origin shall be tested serologically for Salmonella pullorum and Salmonella gallinarum in the three months preceding the consignment at a level which gives 95 % confidence of detecting infection at 5 % prevalence.

(a)

hatching eggs shall come from flocks which are:

(b)

day-old chicks (including chicks intended for restocking supplies of game) shall not be vaccinated against Newcastle disease, and shall come from:

(c)

breeding and productive poultry shall:

(d)

slaughter poultry shall come from flocks which:

(a)

vaccination against Newcastle disease in poultry shall not have been authorised for the preceding 12 months, except for the compulsory vaccination of racing pigeons referred to in Article 17(3) of Council Directive 92/66/EEC of 14 July 1992 introducing Community measures for the control of Newcastle disease (11);

(b)

breeding flocks shall have been serologically monitored at least once a year for the presence of Newcastle disease according to the detailed rules adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 33(2);

(c)

the holdings shall contain no poultry which has been vaccinated against Newcastle disease in the previous 12 months, with the exception of racing pigeons vaccinated pursuant to Article 17(3) of Directive 92/66/EEC.

(a)

a serious epizootic of Newcastle disease which is not being brought under control; or

(b)

the removal of the legislative restrictions prohibiting systematic recourse to routine vaccination against Newcastle disease.

(a)

the distribution of the disease in its territory;

(b)

the reasons for the programme, taking into consideration the importance of the disease and the programme’s likely benefit in relation to its cost;

(c)

the geographical area in which the programme will be implemented;

(d)

the status categories to be applied to poultry establishments, the standards which must be attained in each category, and the test procedures to be used;

(e)

the programme monitoring procedures;

(f)

the action to be taken if, for any reason, an establishment loses its status;

(g)

the measures to be taken if the results of the tests carried out in accordance with the provisions of the programme are positive.

(a)

the nature of the disease and the history of its occurrence in that Member State;

(b)

the results of surveillance testing based on serological, microbiological or pathological investigations and on the fact that the disease must by law be notified to the competent authorities;

(c)

the period over which the surveillance was carried out;

(d)

where applicable, the period during which vaccination against the disease has been prohibited and the geographical area concerned by the prohibition;

(e)

the arrangements for verifying that the area concerned remains free from the disease.

(a)

unused purpose-designed disposable containers to be used only once and then destroyed; or

(b)

containers which may be re-used provided they are cleaned and disinfected beforehand.

(a)

contain only day-old chicks or hatching eggs of the same species, category and type of poultry, coming from the same establishment;

(b)

be labelled with:

(a)

which contain only poultry of the same species, categories and type, coming from the same establishment;

(b)

bearing the approval number of the establishment of origin as provided for in Annex II, Chapter I(2).

(a)

preclude the loss of excrement and minimise the loss of feathers during transit;

(b)

allow visual inspection of the poultry;

(c)

allow cleansing and disinfection.

(a)

conforms with the appropriate model laid down in Annex IV, completed in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 599/2004 of 30 March 2004 concerning the adoption of a harmonised model certificate and inspection report linked to intra-Community trade in animals and products of animal origin (12);

(b)

is signed by an official veterinarian;

(c)

is drawn up on the date of loading in the official language or languages of the Member State of dispatch and in the official language or languages of the Member State of destination;

(d)

is valid for five days;

(e)

consists of a single sheet;

(f)

is normally made out for a single consignee;

(g)

bears a stamp and a signature of a different colour from that of the certificate.

(a)

the state of health of the poultry, other domestic animals and wildlife in the third country, particular attention being paid to exotic animal diseases, and the health situation in the surrounding area, where either is liable to endanger public and animal health in the Member States;

(b)

the regularity and rapidity of the supply of information by the third country relating to the existence of contagious animal diseases in its territory, in particular the diseases on the list of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE);

(c)

the country’s rules on animal-disease prevention and control;

(d)

the structure of the veterinary services in the country and their powers;

(e)

the organisation and implementation of measures to prevent and control contagious animal diseases;

(f)

the guarantees which the third country can give with regard to compliance with this Directive;

(g)

compliance with Community rules on hormones and residues.

(a)

in which avian influenza and Newcastle disease, as defined in Council Directive 2005/94/EC of 20 December 2005 on Community measures for the control of avian influenza (13) and Directive 92/66/EEC respectively, are legally notifiable diseases;

(b)

free from avian influenza and Newcastle disease,

or

which, although they are not free from these diseases, apply measures to control them which are at least equivalent to those laid down in Directives 2005/94/EC and 92/66/EEC respectively.

(a)

prior to consignment have been held without interruption in the territory or part of the territory concerned of such country for a period to be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 33(2);

(b)

satisfy the animal health conditions adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 33(2) for imports of poultry and hatching eggs from the country in question. The conditions may differ according to the species or category of poultry.

(a)

be issued on the day of loading for consignment to the Member State of destination;

(b)

be drawn up in the official language or languages of the Member State of destination;

(c)

accompany the consignment in the original;

(d)

attest to the fact that the poultry or hatching eggs satisfy the requirements of this Directive and those adopted pursuant to this Directive with regard to importation from third countries;

(e)

be valid for five days;

(f)

consist of a single sheet;

(g)

be made out for a single consignee;

(h)

bear a stamp and a signature of a different colour from that of the certificate.