. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/SPS/N/NLD/41
14 June 1999
(99-2361)
Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Original:  English
NOTIFICATION
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  THE NETHERLANDS
If applicable, name of local government involved:           
2. Agency responsible:  Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers may be provided in addition, whereapplicable).  Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or
practicable:  Walkers (cursorial birds)
4. Title and number of pages of the notified document:  Ordinance on the Identification and
Registration of Walkers (cursorial birds)
5. Description of content:  The present Ordinance concerns revision of the Ordinance on the
Identification and Registration of Walkers 1996.  In order to prevent further infection in the
event of an outbreak of an infectious animal disease, the enterprise from which the infected
animal originally came and the enterprises through which it has since passed must be able to
be quickly and easily traced.  For these reasons, walkers  must be marked with an electronicchip, while each owner shall be obliged to notify any transfer of walkers to the Commodity
Board.
Dutch walker slaughterhouses may slaughter wa lkers which originate from a member States
or third country and which are not marked with a chip.  In addition to revising the
Ordinance on the Identification and Registration of Walkers 1996, the present Ordinance
contains amendments.
On account of these amendments, the draft is being notified.The amendments relate to the following:
− the wing mark shall no longer apply (Article 3, paragraph 2 of the old Ordinance);
all walkers shall be marked with a chip (Article 1, 3)
− the various sectorial impediments with regard to this point shall no longer apply;
the Ordinance shall apply to all those who keep walkers (Article 1)
− the deadlines for notifying the Commodity Board of when walkers are received and
released have been made somewhat shorter (Article 4)
− slaughterhouses shall also be subject to mandatory notification (Article 7)G/SPS/N/NLD/41
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6. Objective and rationale: [     ] food safety,  [  X ] animal health,  [     ] plant protection,
[    ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease,
[    ] protect territory from other damage from pests
The Ordinance has been drawn up with a view to preventing and combating infectious
animal diseases.  Introducing an identification and registration system should enable theorigin of any diseases and identity of any (possibly) infected animals to be established.
The reason for introducing an identification and registration system for walkers also lay in
the broadening scope of Directive 90/539/EEC on poultry.
7. An international standard, guideline or recommendation does not exist [  X ].
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the appropriate
reference and briefly identify deviations:           
8. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:  Regulation available
in Dutch
9. Proposed date of adoption:  27 July 1999
10. Proposed date of entry into force:  28 July 1999
11. Final date for comments:  26 July 1999
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [     ] National notification
authority, [  X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if
available) of other body:           
12. Texts available from: [     ] National notification authority, [  X ] National enquiry point
or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body: