. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/ALB/17 
30 August 2007  
 (07-3657) 
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 :  
Germany, Nordrhein-Wetsfalen Province, Belgium, Antwerpen Province and Spain, 
Andalucia Province  
5. Title, language and number of p ages of the notified document:  Order of Minister of 
Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection "On some protective measures against the blue 
tongue disease outbreak in Germany, Belgium a nd Spain" (available in Albanian, 2 pages)  
6. Description of content:  This Order of Minister of Agriculture, Food and Consumer 
Protection presents some protective measures against to the blue tongue disease outbreak in Germany, Belgium and Spain in the regions  mentioned above, stopping the import of all 
kinds of live animals of the ruminant family  and any kind of herbivores susceptible to the 
blue tongue virus to the territory of Republic of Albania;  for semen of ruminants and any 
kind of herbivores susceptible to the blue tongue virus;  the embryos/eggs of ruminants and 
any other kind of herbivores susceptible to th e blue tongue virus;  pathologic material and 
the biological products originating from rumi nants and of any other kind of herbivores 
susceptible to the blue tongue virus. 
7. Objective and rationale:  [ X ] food safety, [ X ] animal health, [   ] plant protection, 
[ X ] protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, [   ] protect territory from 
other damage from pests  The objective is to protect human and animal health by 
stopping the import of all kind of live animals of the ruminant family and any kind of herbivores susceptible to the blue tongue virus to the territory of Republic of Albania.  
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:  Protection of consumers 
and animals in the territory of Albania. G/SPS/N/ALB/17 
Page 2  
 
  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:    
10. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   Notifications taken 
from the World Organization for Animal Hea lth, according to International Terrestrial 
Animal Health Code.   
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  2 August 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