DECISION OF THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE

No 282/2019

of 13 December 2019

amending Annex I (Veterinary and phytosanitary matters) and Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification) to the EEA Agreement [2020/301]

THE EEA JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (‘the EEA Agreement’), and in particular Article 98 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)	Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 of 30 September 2019 laying down rules for the functioning of the information management system for official controls and its system components (the IMSOC Regulation) (1) is to be incorporated into the EEA Agreement.

(2)

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 repeals, with effect from 14 December 2019, Commission Decisions 92/486/EEC (2), 2004/292/EC (3) and 2005/123/EC (4), Commission Regulation (EU) No 16/2011 (5), and Commission Implementing Decisions (EU) 2015/1918 (6) and (EU) 2018/1553 (7), which are incorporated into the EEA Agreement and which are consequently to be repealed under the EEA Agreement with effect from 14 December 2019.

(3)	This Decision concerns legislation containing provisions regarding plant health. Legislation regarding plant health falls outside the scope of the EEA Agreement and provisions regarding plant health shall therefore not apply to the EFTA States.

(4)	This Decision concerns legislation regarding live animals other than fish and aquaculture animals. Legislation concerning these matters shall not apply to Iceland, as specified in paragraph 2 of the Introductory Part of Chapter I of Annex I to the EEA Agreement.

(5)

This Decision concerns legislation regarding veterinary matters, feedingstuffs and foodstuffs. Legislation regarding veterinary matters, feedingstuffs and foodstuffs shall not apply to Liechtenstein as long as the application of the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products is extended to Liechtenstein, as specified in the sectoral adaptations to Annex I and the introduction to Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement. This Decision is therefore not to apply to Liechtenstein.

(6)

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 lays down rules for the functioning of the IMSOC, established by Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8). In order to ensure homogeneity and the uniform application of official control rules in the EEA, the EFTA States and the EFTA Surveillance Authority shall have access to the IMSOC.

(7)	Annexes I and II to the EEA Agreement should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Annex I to the EEA Agreement shall be amended as follows:

(1)

the following point is inserted after point 11bc (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1666) in Part 1.1 of Chapter I:

‘11bd.

32019 R 1715: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 of 30 September 2019 laying down rules for the functioning of the information management system for official controls and its system components (the IMSOC Regulation) (OJ L 261, 14.10.2019, p. 37).

The provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

(a)	The competent authorities of the EFTA States shall have the same access to the IMSOC as competent authorities of the EU Member States.

(b)	The EFTA Surveillance Authority shall have access to the IMSOC.’;

(2)

the following point is inserted after point 31qc (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1666) of Chapter II:

‘31qd.

The provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

(a)	The competent authorities of the EFTA States shall have the same access to the IMSOC as competent authorities of the EU Member States.

(b)	The EFTA Surveillance Authority shall have access to the IMSOC.’;

(3)

the text of points 11a (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1918) in Part 1.1 of Chapter I, 12 (Commission Decision 92/486/EEC) and 118 (Commission Decision 2004/292/EC) in Part 1.2 of Chapter I, 54 (Commission Regulation (EU) No 16/2011) in Part 6.2 of Chapter I, 31ja (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1918) and 47a (Commission Regulation (EU) No 16/2011) of Chapter II, shall be deleted with effect from 14 December 2019.

Article 2

Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement shall be amended as follows:

(1)

the following point is inserted after point 164c (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1666):

‘164d.

The provisions of the Regulation shall, for the purposes of this Agreement, be read with the following adaptations:

(a)	The competent authorities of the EFTA States shall have the same access to the IMSOC as competent authorities of the EU Member States.

(b)	The EFTA Surveillance Authority shall have access to the IMSOC.’;

(2)	the text of points 54zzzia (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1918) and 54zzzzzm (Commission Regulation (EU) No 16/2011) shall be deleted with effect from 14 December 2019.

Article 3

The text of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 in the Icelandic and Norwegian languages, to be published in the EEA Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union, shall be authentic.

Article 4

This Decision shall enter into force on 14 December 2019, provided that all the notifications under Article 103(1) of the EEA Agreement have been made (*1), or on the day of the entry into force of Decision of the EEA Joint Committee No 210/2019 of 27 September 2019 (9), whichever is the later.

Article 5

This Decision shall be published in the EEA Section of, and in the EEA Supplement to, the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels, 13 December 2019.

For the EEA Joint Committee

The President

Gunnar PÁLSSON

(1) OJ L 261, 14.10.2019, p. 37.

(2) OJ L 291, 7.10.1992, p. 20.

(3) OJ L 94, 31.3.2004, p. 63.

(4) OJ L 39, 11.2.2005, p. 53.

(5) OJ L 6, 11.1.2011, p. 7.

(6) OJ L 280, 24.10.2015, p. 31.

(7) OJ L 260, 17.10.2018, p. 22.

(8) OJ L 95, 7.4.2017, p. 1.

(*1) No constitutional requirements indicated.

(9) Not yet published in the Official Journal.