. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/ALB/41 
13 December 2007  
 (07-5543) 
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):  Live animals of the ruminant family an d all kind of herbivores susceptible to 
blue tongue virus, semen of ruminants, embryo s/eggs of ruminants and pathologic material 
and the biological products originating from ruminants 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  
France, Pyrenees-Atlantiques region  
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 new hotbed of blue tongue disease in France" (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 
the region of Pyrenees-Atlantiques (France), stopping the import and transit of all kind of live animals of the ruminant family and all kind of herbivores, stopping the import of 
semen of ruminants and of any kind of other herbivores, embryos/eggs of ruminants and of 
any kind of herbivores, pathologic material and the biological products originating from ruminants and of any other kind of herbivores susceptible to blue tongue virus from the region of Pyrenees-Atlantiques (France) into the territory of Republic of Albania.  
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 from blue tongue virus by 
stopping the import and transit of live animals of the ruminant family and all kind of 
herbivores susceptible to blue tongue virus fro m France (Pyrenees-Atlantiques region) into 
the territory of Republic of Albania. 
8. Nature of the urgent problem(s) and reason for urgent action:  Protection of animal 
health in the territory of Albania. G/SPS/N/ALB/41 
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, dated 23 November 2007, related to the 
outbreak of blue tongue virus in France (P yrenees-Atlantiques region), according to the 
International Terrestrial Animal Health Code.  Law "On Service and Veterinary 
Inspection" No 9038 dated 4 November 2004. 
11. Date of entry into force/period of application (as applicable):  3 December 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: [   ] National notifica tion 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