. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/SPS/N/EEC/335 
28 October 2008  
 (08-5221) 
Committee on Sanitary a nd Phytosanitary Measures Original:   English 
  
 
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
  
If applicable, name of local government involved:     
2. Agency responsible:  Commission of the European Communities. Health & Consumer 
Protection Directorate-General  Directorate D – Animal Health and Welfare 
3. Products covered (provide tariff item numb er(s) as specified in national schedules 
deposited with the WTO; ICS numbers should be provided in addition, where 
applicable):  HS Code 1602.90.31:  Meat of wild lepor idae not containing offal, except for 
unskinned and uneviscerated wild leporidae;  meat of wild land mammals other than 
ungulates and leporidae, not containi ng offal;  meat of farmed rabbits 
4. Regions or countries likely to be affected, to the extent relevant or practicable :  
Member States of the European Communities (E C) and third countries exporting the products 
concerned to the EC 
5. Title, language and number of pages of the notified document:  European Commission 
document SANCO/1823/2008 " Draft Commission laying down a li st of third countries or 
parts thereof, for imports into, or transit through, the Community of meat of wild leporidae, of 
certain wild land mammals and of farmed rabbits and the veterinary certification 
requirements " (available in English, 22 pages) 
http://members.wto.org/crnattach ments/2008/sps/EEC/08_3473_00_e.pdf  
6. Description of content:  This proposal aims primarily to update the current legislation by 
repealing the following act:  
• Commission Decision 2000/585/EC  drawing up a list of third countries from which 
Member States authorise imports of rabbit me at and certain wild and farmed game meat, 
laying down the animal and public health and the veterinary certifi cation conditions for 
such imports (OJ L 251, 6 October 2000, p. 1)  
The proposed regulation takes into account the public health requirements laid down in 
Regulations (EC) Nos 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, 853/2004 on specific hygiene 
rules for food of animal origin, 854/2004 on spec ific rules for the organisation, of official 
controls on products of animal origin in tended for human consumption and 882/2004 on 
official controls performed to ensure the veri fication of compliance with feed and food law, 
animal health and animal welfare rules. 
The proposed Regulation in Part 1 of Annex I la ys down a list of third countries and parts 
thereof from which the commodities ma y be imported into the Community. G/SPS/N/EEC/335 
Page 2  
 
  The model veterinary certificates, set out in th is Regulation, for imports into and transit, 
including storage during transit, through the Communi ty of meat of wild leporidae, of certain 
wild land mammals and of farmed rabbits are compatible with the Traces system. 
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    
8. 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:  Terrestrial Animal Health Code and Manual of 
Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals  of the World Organisation for Animal 
health (OIE) available respectively at: 
http://www.oie.int/eng/norme s/mcode/en_s ommaire.htm   (latest edition) 
http://www.oie.int/eng/nor mes/en_mmanual.htm?e1d10   (latest edition) 
9. Relevant documents and language(s) in which these are available:   European Commission 
Document SANCO/1823/2008 (available in English). 
When adopted it will be published at  the Official Journal available at: 
http://eur-lex.europa.e u/JOYear.do?year=2008  
10. Proposed date of adoption:  November 2008 
11. Proposed date of entry into force:  1 May 2009 
12. Final date for comments:  Sixty (60) days after th e date of notification 
Agency or authority designated to handle comments:  [ X ] National notification 
authority, [   ] 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: 
sps@ec.europa.eu