. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/ALB/27 
10 October 2007  
 (07-4333) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCY MEASURES  
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   ALBANIA
 
If applicable, name of local government involved:    
2. Agency responsible:   Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item number(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where applicable):  All live animals of the ruminant family and any kind of herbivores 
susceptible to the blue tongue virus 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  
Province of Suffolk, England  
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  Order of the Minister of 
Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection "On some protective measures against the 
outbreak of blue tongue virus in England" (available in Albanian, 2 pages)  
6. Description of content:   This Order of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Consumer 
Protection presents some protective measures ag ainst the outbreak of blue tongue virus in 
Suffolk province of England, stopping the import of all kind of live animals of the ruminant family and any kind of herbivores susceptible to the blue tongue virus from the Province of Suffolk in England to the territory of the Republic of Albania, stopping the import of 
semen of ruminants and any kind of herbivor es, embryos/eggs of ruminants and any kind 
of herbivores, pathologic material and the biol ogical products originating from ruminants 
and of any other kind of herbivores suscep tible to the blue tongue virus.  
7. 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 objective is to protect animal health by stopping the export of the 
ruminant family and any kind of herbivor es susceptible to the blue tongue virus from 
England (Province of Suffolk) to the territory of the Republic of Albania. 
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:  Protection of animals in 
the territory of Albania. 
9. International standard, guideline or recommendation:  
[   ] Codex Alimentarius Commission, [ X ] World Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE), [   ] International Plant Protection Convention, [   ] None  
If an international standard, guideline or recommendation exists, give the 
appropriate reference and briefly identify deviations:    G/SPS/N/ALB/27 
Page 2  
 
  10. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   Notifications taken 
from the World Organization for Animal Hea lth, dated 27 September 2007, related to the 
outbreak of blue tongue virus in England (S uffolk Province), based on the International 
Terrestrial Animal Health Code, Law "On Se rvice and Veterinary Inspection" No 9038 
dated 4 November 2004. 
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  8 October 2007    
12. Agency or authority designated to handl e comments: [ X ] National notification 
authority, [ X ] National enquiry point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  
13. Texts available from: [ X ] National notification authority, [ X ] National enquiry 
point, or address, fax number and E-mail address (if available) of other body:  
 General Directorate of Standardization  
 WTO Enquiry Point - Albania 
 Tel: +(355 4) 22 62 55 
 Fax: +(355 4) 24 71 77  E-mail: info@dps.gov.al  Website:  http://www.dps.gov.al