(1)

Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) lays down the animal health requirements applicable to the non-commercial movement of pet animals and the rules applying to checks on such movement.

(2)

Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 lays down provisions applicable to the movement between Member States of dogs, cats and ferrets as listed in Parts A and B of Annex I thereto. Pursuant to Article 5(1)(a) of that Regulation, those pet animals must be identified by means of an electronic identification system (transponder). For an eight-year transitional period from the date of entry into force of that Regulation, those pet animals are to be regarded as identified also where they bear a clearly readable tattoo.

(3)

Article 4(1) and Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provide that, where the transponder does not comply with ISO Standard 11784 or with Annex A to ISO Standard 11785, the owner or the natural person responsible for the pet animal on behalf of the owner must provide the means necessary for reading the transponder at the time of any inspection.

(4)

In order to avoid any unnecessary disturbances, in particular as regards the movement of pet animals from third countries, it is necessary to make the references to those ISO Standards more precise before the use of transponders becomes mandatory. Due to the technical nature of those references, it is appropriate to include them in an Annex to Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 and amend Articles 4 and 14 of that Regulation accordingly.

(5)

In addition, Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provides that dogs, cats and ferrets must be accompanied by a passport issued by a veterinarian authorised by the competent authority, certifying valid anti-rabies vaccination, in accordance with the recommendations of the manufacturing laboratory, carried out on the animal in question, with an inactivated anti-rabies vaccine of at least one antigenic unit per dose (WHO standard). Since the adoption of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003, recombinant vaccines have also become available for the purposes of anti-rabies vaccination.

(6)

In order to allow the movement, in particular from third countries, of dogs, cats and ferrets vaccinated with recombinant vaccines, provision should also be made to authorise, for the purpose of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003, the use of such vaccines in accordance with certain technical requirements laid down in an Annex to that Regulation.

(7)

If administered in a Member State, the vaccines should have been granted a marketing authorisation in accordance with either Directive 2001/82/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 November 2001 on the Community code relating to veterinary medicinal products (4) or Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency (5).

(8)

If administered in a third country, the vaccines should comply with the minimum standards for safety as laid down in the relevant Chapter of the Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

(9)

In addition, science-based rules of a similar kind to those laid down for rabies should be adopted. They should provide for preventive health measures for the movement of pet animals regarding other diseases that may affect those animals, where those preventive measures are proportionate to the risk of spreading those diseases due to such movement.

(10)

Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provides that the entry of dogs and cats into Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom is to be subject to additional requirements, in view of the particular situation in those Member States with regard to rabies. That provision is to be applied as a transitional measure until 30 June 2010.

(11)

In accordance with those additional requirements, dogs and cats entering the territory of those Member States must be identified by means of a transponder unless the Member State of destination also recognises that the animal may be identified by means of a clearly readable tattoo. In addition, those requirements include mandatory antibody titration before entry of those pet animals into the territory of those Member States, to confirm a protective level of anti-rabies antibodies.

(12)

The Commission should be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of preventive health measures regarding diseases other than rabies, and modifications of technical requirements for the identification of animals and for the anti-rabies vaccination as laid down in the Annexes inserted, in accordance with this Regulation, into Regulation (EC) No 998/2003. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level.

(13)

Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 lays down the conditions for the movement of dogs, cats and ferrets from third countries depending on the prevailing rabies situation in the third country of origin and in the Member State of destination.

(14)

Article 8(1)(a)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provides that, in cases where pet animals are moved from certain third countries to Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom, the additional requirements provided for in Article 6 of that Regulation are to apply. Those third countries are listed in Section 2 of Part B and in Part C of Annex II to that Regulation.

(15)

Article 8(1)(b)(ii) of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provides that, in cases where pet animals are moved from other third countries, they are to be placed in quarantine unless they have been brought into conformity with the requirements of Article 6 of that Regulation after their entry into the Union.

(16)

In addition, Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provides that Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom as regards echinococcosis, and Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom as regards ticks, may make the entry of pet animals into their territory subject to compliance with the special rules applicable on the date of entry into force of that Regulation. That provision is to be applied as a transitional measure until 30 June 2010.

(17)

Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 provides that the Commission, after receipt of the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on the need to maintain the serological test, and based on experience gained and on a risk evaluation, is to submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report, together with appropriate proposals for determining the regime to be applied with effect from 1 July 2010 for Articles 6, 8 and 16 of that Regulation.

(18)

In order to determine that regime, the Commission carried out an impact assessment based on various recent consultations and on the Commission report that was adopted on 8 October 2007 in connection with Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 and took into account the recommendations made by EFSA.

(19)

On 11 December 2006, EFSA adopted an opinion entitled ‘Assessment of the risk of rabies introduction into the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Malta, as a consequence of abandoning the serological test measuring protective antibodies to rabies’ (6).

(20)

Based on 2005 data, EFSA identified that certain Member States have a non-negligible prevalence of rabies in pet animals. In addition, EFSA recommended that risk-mitigating measures be implemented with respect to the movement of pet animals from countries with non-negligible prevalence of rabies in pet animals.

(21)

Rabies in those Member States is primarily of sylvatic nature. Field evidence demonstrated that with the elimination of sylvatic rabies as a result of intensive programmes of oral vaccination of wildlife, the disease occurrence in domestic animals diminishes.

(22)

The Community has approved a number of programmes for the eradication, control and monitoring of rabies in those Member States, pursuant to Article 24(5) of Council Decision 90/424/EEC of 26 June 1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field (7). The Commission envisages ending EU support to national programmes in the territory of those Member States by the end of 2011.

(23)

In view of the EFSA opinion of 11 December 2006 and of the Community-supported programmes for the eradication of rabies in certain Member States, the transitional measure provided for in Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 should be extended until 31 December 2011.

(24)

On 18 January 2007, EFSA adopted an opinion entitled ‘Assessment of the risk of echinococcosis introduction into the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Malta and Finland as a consequence of abandoning the national rules’ (8).

(25)

On 8 March 2007, EFSA adopted an opinion entitled ‘Assessment of the risk of tick introduction into the UK, Ireland and Malta as a consequence of abandoning the national rules’ (9).

(26)

Those opinions show that the data available did not allow EFSA to demonstrate a particular status of the Member States applying the transitional measures with regard to certain ticks and the tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis and to quantify the risk of pathogen introduction through the non-commercial movement of pet animals.

(27)

In order to ensure consistency as regards the transitional measures, it is appropriate to extend the transitional measure provided for in Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 until 31 December 2011.

(28)

Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly,

1.

In Article 4(1), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘In the case referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph, where the transponder does not comply with the requirements set out in Annex Ia, the owner or the natural person responsible for the pet animal on behalf of the owner must provide the means necessary for reading the transponder at the time of any inspection.’;

2.

Article 5(1) is amended as follows:

3.

In the first subparagraph of Article 6(1), the introductory part and the first indent is replaced by the following:

4.

Article 8(1) is amended as follows:

5.

In Article 14, the second paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘In the case referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 4(1), where the transponder does not comply with the requirements set out in Annex Ia, the owner or the natural person responsible for the pet animal on behalf of the owner must provide the means necessary for reading the transponder at the time of any inspection.’;

6.

Article 16 is replaced by the following:

7.

The following Articles are inserted:

8.

Annexes Ia and Ib, as set out in the Annex to this Regulation, are inserted.