(1)

Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 98/2013 lists explosives precursors which are subject to harmonised rules concerning their availability to the general public and ensuring the appropriate reporting of suspicious transactions, disappearances and thefts throughout the supply chain.

(2)

Substances listed in Annex II are available to the members of the general public but are subject to the reporting obligation that covers both professional users throughout the supply chain and members of the general public.

(3)

Member States have demonstrated that aluminium powder has been used in, and acquired for, the production of homemade explosives in Europe.

(4)

The marketing and use of aluminium powder is currently not harmonised at Union level. However, at least one Member State already limits its availability to the general public, and the World Customs Organisation monitors shipments worldwide to identify instances of illicit trade for the purpose of manufacturing improvised explosives precursors.

(5)

Developments in the misuse of aluminium powder do not currently justify restricting access by the members of the general public, in view of the level of threat or the volume of trade associated with this substance.

(6)

Increased control is necessary to allow national authorities to prevent and detect the possible illicit use of these substances as explosives precursors, and this can be achieved through the reporting mechanism established under Regulation (EU) No 98/2013.

(7)

In the light of the risk posed by the availability of aluminium powder, and considering that the reporting obligation will have no significant impact on economic operators or consumers, it is justified and proportionate to add this substance to Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 98/2013,

(a)

the header of the second column is replaced by the following:

‘Combined Nomenclature (CN) code (1)’;

(b)

the following substance is added:

(1)

Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 98/2013 lists explosives precursors which are subject to harmonised rules concerning their availability to the general public and ensuring the appropriate reporting of suspicious transactions, disappearances and thefts throughout the supply chain.

(2)

Substances listed in Annex II are available to the members of the general public but are subject to the reporting obligation that covers both professional users throughout the supply chain and members of the general public.

(3)

Annex II already covers a number of nitrate salts, in view that they can be misused as explosives precursors. Magnesium nitrate, which is supplied in its hexahydrate form, is a substance with similar properties but it is not yet covered.

(4)

Magnesium nitrate hexahydrate currently serves as a non-controlled alternative to the nitrate salts listed in Annex II. In addition, there have been reports in recent years of its misuse as an explosive precursor outside of the Union.

(5)

Developments in the misuse of magnesium nitrate hexahydrate do not currently justify restricting access by the members of the general public, in view of the level of threat or the volume of trade associated with this substance.

(6)

Increased control is necessary to allow national authorities to prevent and detect the possible illicit use of this substance as explosives precursor, and this can be achieved through the reporting mechanism established under Regulation (EU) No 98/2013.

(7)

In the light of the risk posed by the availability of magnesium nitrate hexahydrate, and considering that imposing the reporting obligation on it will have no significant impact on economic operators or consumers, it is justified and proportionate to add this substance to Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 98/2013,

(1)

Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 98/2013 lists explosives precursors which are subject to harmonised rules concerning their availability to the general public and ensuring the appropriate reporting of suspicious transactions, disappearances and thefts throughout the supply chain.

(2)

Substances listed in Annex II are available to the members of the general public but are subject to the reporting obligation that covers both professional users throughout the supply chain and members of the general public.

(3)

Member States have demonstrated that aluminium powder has been used in, and acquired for, the production of homemade explosives in Europe. Magnesium powder is a substance with properties very similar to aluminium.

(4)

The marketing and use of aluminium and magnesium powders is currently not harmonised at Union level. However, at least one Member State already limits their availability to the general public, and the World Customs Organisation monitors the shipments of aluminium powder worldwide, to identify instances of illicit trade for the purpose of manufacturing improvised explosives precursors.

(5)

Developments in the misuse of aluminium and magnesium powders do not currently justify restricting access by the members of the general public, in view of the level of threat or the volume of trade associated with these substances.

(6)

Increased control is necessary to allow national authorities to prevent and detect the possible illicit use of these substances as explosives precursors, and this can be achieved through the reporting mechanism established under Regulation (EU) No 98/2013.

(7)

Aluminium powder is the subject of a separate delegated act which adds it to Annex II. This would leave magnesium powder as a realistic non-controlled alternative.

(8)

In the light of the risk posed by the availability of magnesium powder, and considering that the reporting obligation will have no significant impact on economic operators or consumers, it is justified and proportionate to add this substance to Annex II of Regulation (EU) No 98/2013,

(1)

Article 4 of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 establishes the criteria for granting tariff preferences under the general arrangement of the Generalised Scheme of Preferences (‘GSP’).

(2)

Points (a) and (b) of Article 4(1) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 provide, respectively, that a country that has been classified by the World Bank as a high-income or an upper-middle income country for three consecutive years, or a country that benefits from a preferential market access arrangement which provides the same tariff preferences as the GSP, or better, for substantially all trade, should not benefit from GSP.

(3)

The list of beneficiary countries of the general GSP referred to in point (a) of Article 1(2) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 is established in Annex II to that Regulation. Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 provides that Annex II is to be reviewed by 1 January of each year. The review should take into account changes in the economic, development or trade conditions of beneficiary countries in relation to the criteria laid down in Article 4.

(4)

Pursuant to Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, a GSP beneficiary country and economic operators are to be given sufficient time for an orderly adaptation to the country's GSP status revision. Therefore, the GSP arrangement is to continue for one year after the date of entry into force of a change in a country's status as referred to in Article 4(1)(a) and for two years after the date of application of a preferential market access arrangement, as referred to in Article 4(1)(b).

(5)

Tonga was classified by the World Bank as upper middle-income country in 2013, 2014 and 2015. Therefore, Tonga was removed from the list of GSP beneficiary countries in Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 as from 1 January 2017 by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/1979 (2). In 2016, however, Tonga was classified by the World Bank as a lower middle-income country. Therefore, Tonga should be reinserted into Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012, with application from 1 January 2017.

(6)

The implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), signed by the Union and Ukraine on 27 June 2014, as part of their broader Association Agreement, has been provisionally applied from 1 January 2016. As the DCFTA provides better tariff preferences as the GSP for substantially all trade, Ukraine should be removed from the list of GSP beneficiary countries in Annex II with application from 1 January 2018,

(1)

the following alphabetical code and the corresponding country are inserted in columns A and B, respectively:

(2)

the following alphabetical code and the corresponding country are deleted from columns A and B, respectively:

(1)

The Union fishing fleet register is a necessary tool for implementing the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy. That register should contain all Union fishing vessels.

(2)

Currently the rules governing the national fishing fleet registers and the Union fishing fleet register are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 26/2004 (2).

(3)

Member States should record the information on ownership, on vessel and gear characteristics and on the activity of Union fishing vessels flying their flag and submit to the Commission such information in accordance with Article 24(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013. The Commission should maintain a Union fishing fleet register containing the information received from the Member States.

(4)

The Member States are responsible for the accuracy of the information contained in the national fishing fleet register. To this end the Members States should constantly monitor the quality of such information and ensure that it is regularly updated and can be checked at any time by the Commission through specific queries.

(5)

The processing by the Member States' competent authorities of personal data included in the national fishing fleet registers is subject to Union law rules on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, in particular Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), and to the relevant national implementing legislation. The characteristics and external marking recorded in the register kept by each Member State should be specified in accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2930/86 (4) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (5).

(6)

In order to monitor the activities of vessels between Member States and to ensure an unequivocal link between the information contained in the Union fishing fleet register and the data from other information systems relating to fishing activities, a unique identification number should be allocated to each Union fishing vessel, which under no circumstances may be reassigned or altered.

(7)

To ensure the effective application of this Regulation it is appropriate to introduce new tools and procedures in order to simplify further data management between Member States and the European Commission and to guarantee access to updated data more frequently.

(8)

For the management of the capacity of fishing fleets and their activity, the Union fishing fleet register should be made available to Member States in its entirety and to the public in a limited version. This limited version should exclude personal data in order to protect such data but include fishing vessels identifiers for the purposes of strengthening access to and transparency of information for the public.

(9)

Processing of personal data in the framework of this Regulation by the Union institutions and bodies and access by the Member States to the information in the Union fishing fleet register is subject to Union law on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, in particular Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6) in particular as regards the requirements of confidentiality and security of processing, the transfer of personal data from the national systems of Member States to the Commission, the lawfulness of processing, and the rights of data subjects to information, access to and rectification of their personal data.

(10)

The new tool for data exchanges developed by the Commission should be used for all electronic data exchanges.

(11)

As Article 24(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 provides that Member States send to the Commission the information on ownership and on vessel and gear characteristics of Union fishing vessels flying their flag, those data should also be included in this Regulation.

(12)

Regulation (EC) No 26/2004 should be repealed.

(13)

Sufficient time should be given to Member States to adapt their national registers to the new data requirements laid down in this Regulation.

(14)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

(a)

lays down the obligations of the Commission for establishing and maintaining the Union fishing fleet register;

(b)

lays down the obligations of Member States regarding the collection and validation of data in their national fishing fleet register and the transmission of those data to the Commission;

(c)

determines the minimum information on vessel characteristics and activity which must appear in the national fishing fleet registers.

(a)

‘fishing vessel’ means any vessel as defined in the Article 4 paragraph 1(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(b)

‘Union fishing vessel’ means: a fishing vessel as defined in the Article 4 paragraph 1(5) of Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013;

(c)

‘Union fishing fleet’ means all Union fishing vessels flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Union;

(d)

‘aquaculture vessel’ means a vessel equipped exclusively for harvesting, transport, handling and/or landing of aquaculture products;

(e)

‘event’ means any entry to or exit from the fleet of a vessel or change in one of its characteristics as listed in Annex I;

(f)

‘transmission’ means a digital transfer of one or more events between the Member States and the Commission;

(g)

‘Transportation layer’ means the electronic network for fisheries data exchanges as made available by the Commission to all Member States and the body designated by it to exchange data in a standardised way;

(h)

‘census date’ means the date on which the first event has been communicated by a Member State to the Commission, as laid down in Annex II;

(i)

‘snapshot’ means the list of events recorded for vessels in the fishing fleet register of a Member State in a defined period of time;

(j)

‘legal owner’ means any natural or legal person that appears on the vessel's registration documents as having the legal title of ownership of the vessel;

(k)

‘operator’ means a natural or legal person as defined in Article 4(19) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (7);

(l)

‘common fleet register (CFR) number’ means the unique identification number of the vessel in the Union fishing fleet, irrespective of any national fishing fleet numbers;

(m)

‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person as defined in Article 2(a) of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001;

(n)

‘national fishing fleet register’ means the register which each Member State keeps of all the fishing vessels flying its flag;

(o)

‘Union fishing fleet register’ means the register, kept by the Commission, containing information on all Union fishing vessels.

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 provides for the authorisation of additives for use in animal nutrition and for the grounds and procedures for granting such authorisation.

(2)

In accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 an application was submitted for the authorisation of a preparation of Bacillus subtilis (DSM 27273). That application was accompanied by the particulars and documents required under Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003.

(3)

That application concerns the authorisation of a preparation of Bacillus subtilis (DSM 27273) as a feed additive for weaned piglets and weaned minor porcine species to be classified in the additive category ‘zootechnical additives’.

(4)

The European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) concluded in its opinion of 20 October 2015 (2) that, under the proposed conditions of use, the preparation of Bacillus subtilis (DSM 27273) does not have an adverse effect on animal health, human health or the environment. It was also concluded that the preparation has a potential to improve performance in weaned piglets. This conclusion can be extrapolated to weaned minor porcine species when the additive is used at the same dose. The Authority does not consider that there is a need for specific requirements of post-market monitoring. It also verified the report on the method of analysis of the feed additive in feed submitted by the Reference Laboratory set up by Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003.

(5)

The assessment of the preparation of Bacillus subtilis (DSM 27273) shows that the conditions for authorisation, as provided for in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003, are satisfied. Accordingly, the use of that preparation should be authorised as specified in the Annex to this Regulation.

(6)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

(1)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 lists the persons, groups and entities covered by the freezing of funds and economic resources under that Regulation.

(2)

On 3 February 2017, the Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council decided to remove one natural person from its list of persons, groups and entities to whom the freezing of funds and economic resources should apply. Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 881/2002 should therefore be amended accordingly,

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in Annex XVI, Part A thereto.

(2)

The standard import value is calculated each working day, in accordance with Article 136(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, taking into account variable daily data. Therefore this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union,

(1)

Decision 2000/258/EC designates the Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments (AFSSA) in Nancy, France, as the specific institute responsible for establishing the criteria necessary for standardising the serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines. The AFSSA has now been integrated into the Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail (ANSES) in France.

(2)

Decision 2000/258/EC provides, inter alia, that the ANSES is to appraise laboratories in third countries that have applied for approval to carry out serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines.

(3)

The competent authority of Brazil has submitted an application for the approval of the laboratory ‘LANAGRO/PE’ in Recife, and the ANSES has established and submitted to the Commission a favourable appraisal report dated 19 October 2016 for this laboratory.

(4)

The laboratory ‘LANAGRO/PE’ in Recife should therefore be authorised to carry out serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines in dogs, cats and ferrets.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

LANAGRO/PE (Laboratório Nacional Agropecuário em Pernambuco)

Rua Manoel de Medeiros, s/no

Dois Irmãos — CEP: 52171-030

Recife/PE

BRAZIL

(1)

Article 2 of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 provides that the commercial service offered by the system established under the Galileo programme must allow for the development of applications for professional or commercial use by means of improved performance and data with greater added value than those obtained through the open service.

(2)

The commercial service is one of the essential elements of the system established under the Galileo programme insofar as, on the one hand, the other Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) do not include such a service and, on the other hand, it should generate income in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013. Access to this service should be subject to a fee. The pricing policy of the commercial service is not covered by this decision and should be defined at a later date.

(3)

The commercial service should be supplied in accordance with contracts, to be concluded with one or more service providers.

(4)

The technical and operational specifications of the commercial service should be established now, since once the specifications have been adopted, it will take several years for the service to become operational. The development of specifications has been the subject of a number of studies, experiments and consultations with stakeholders in recent years. It is also the result of a compromise between, on the one hand, the need to provide real value added for the benefit of users and the wish to minimise the modifications to be made to the system, as modifications involve risks, and respect the time schedule specified in Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013 on the other hand.

(5)

Consequently, in order to allow for the development of applications for professional or commercial purposes, it is essential, and technically feasible, for the commercial service to make two major improvements to the open service, namely greater precision in terms of geolocation and reinforced authentication capacity. Furthermore, in order to better meet the various needs of the different communities of users of the commercial service, it is vital for these two improvements to be offered to them independently of each other.

(6)

High precision in terms of geolocation should extend the scope of the applications of satellite navigation technology. It is therefore important to enhance the quality of the data provided by the system under the Galileo programme so that the positioning error is reduced to less than a decimetre, in nominal conditions of use. It should be noted that the signals issued by other global navigation satellite systems, such as the global positioning system (GPS) of the United States, could also contribute to meeting this objective.

(7)

The authentication capacity should increase the degree of safety and prevent risks of falsification and fraud in particular. Additional features must therefore be incorporated into satellite signals in order to assure users that the information which they receive does come from the system under the Galileo programme and not from an unrecognised source. For instance, the authentication capacity of the commercial service would on the one hand integrate the capacity to authenticate data linked to geolocation, which will be contained in the signals of the open service, offered free of charge, and would on the other hand, with a view to improved protection, also comprise unique identification of the signals thanks to the reading of encrypted codes also contained in the signals, access to which would be subject to a fee.

(8)

Before embarking on the operational development of the commercial service, an exhaustive risk analysis should be carried out. This analysis should take place before the ‘GNSS Service Centre Delta Critical Design Review’, scheduled for 1 June 2017, is given the green light.

(9)

The commercial service should provide value added compared to the open service, in order to allow for the development of applications for commercial or professional purposes, and should thus be accessible to as many users as possible and include commercial encryption. With this in mind, use of EU classified information (EUCI) by the Commercial Service Provider or the end user is not planned for either the open service or the commercial service. However, if such use were required, it should be decided upon in accordance with the security rules set out in Article 17(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013, on the basis in particular of a security risk analysis, taking full account of the opinions of the experts of the Member States. This decision should also take into account a cost-benefit analysis.

(10)

The specifications subject to this decision are in line with the radionavigation rules set at international level, and in particular with the standards set by the International Telecommunications Union and the provisions of the agreement concluded on 26 June 2004 between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and the United States on the other, on the promotion, provision and use of GALILEO and GPS satellite-based navigation systems and related applications.

(11)

Consequently, technical and operational specifications should be established to allow the commercial service offered by the system under the Galileo programme to fulfil the function referred to in Article 2(4)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013, bearing in mind that Council Decision 2014/496/CFSP (2) is also still fully applicable.

(12)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in line with the opinion of the committee established pursuant to Article 36(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1285/2013,