COMMISSION DECISION
of 20 September 2006
laying down the animal health conditions and certification requirements for imports of fish for ornamental purpose
(notified under document number C(2006) 4149)
(Text with EEA relevance)
(2006/656/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 91/67/EEC of 28 January 1991 concerning the animal health conditions governing the placing on the market of aquaculture animals and products (1), and in particular Article 19(3), Article 20(3) and Article 21(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
A list of third countries or parts thereof from which Member States are authorised to import live fish, their eggs and gametes for farming in the Community and the animal health conditions and certification requirements for such consignments are established by Commission Decision 2003/858/EC of 21 November 2003 laying down the animal health conditions and certification requirements for imports of live fish, their eggs and gametes intended for farming, and live fish of aquaculture origin and products thereof intended for human consumption (2).
(2)
Decision 2003/858/EC does not apply to tropical ornamental fish kept permanently in aquaria, and consequently the animal health conditions and certification requirements for tropical ornamental fish are not harmonised at Community level.
(3)
There is a significant trade in ornamental fish with third countries and concerns have been raised with regard to the application of Decision 2003/858/EC with respect to ornamental fish.
(4)
Certain third countries were included in Annex I to Decision 2003/858/EC for the purpose of export of cold-water ornamentals only. These countries should therefore appear in Annex I to this Decision.
(5)
Currently, 14 Member States have drawn up national animal health certificates with different animal health conditions for ornamental fish. For the sake of simplification, for the Community Border inspection posts, for European ornamental fish industry, as well as for third country trading partners, those animal health conditions and model certificates should be harmonised.
(6)
The specific animal health conditions and model certificates for ornamental fish, should be drawn up in line with the conditions and certificates laid down in Decision 2003/858/EC, taking into account the specific use of these animals in the Community, and animal health situation of the third country concerned, in order to prevent the introduction of disease that could cause significant impact to the farmed and wild fish stock in the Community if introduced and allowed to spread.
(7)
Council Directive 96/93/EC of 17 December 1996 on the certification of animals and animal products (3) lays down standards of certification. The rules and principles applied by third-country certifying officers should provide guarantees which are equivalent to those laid down in that Directive.
(8)
This Decision should apply without prejudice to Community or national provision on the conservation of species.
(9)
The Member States and Third countries need some time to adapt to the new import certification requirements. This Decision should therefore not be applicable immediately.
(10)
This Decision has been notified to Third countries for comments in accordance with the WTO agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
(11)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
Scope
1. This Decision establishes harmonised animal health rules for imports of ornamental fish into the Community.
2. This Decision shall apply to:
(a)
fish caught in the wild, imported for the purpose of being used as ornamental fish,
(b)
ornamental fish imported by transshippers and wholesalers,
(c)
ornamental fish imported into pet shops, garden centres, garden ponds, exhibition aquaria and similar businesses without direct contact with Community waters.
Article 2
Definitions
For the purposes of this Decision, in addition to the definitions in Article 2 of Directive 91/67/EEC, the following definitions shall apply:
(a)
‘ornamental fish’ means fish which are kept, reared, or placed on the market for ornamental purposes only;
(b)
‘cold-water ornamental fish’ means ornamental fish of species susceptible to one or more of the following diseases: epizootic haematopoietic necrosis (EHN), infectious salmon anaemia (ISA), viral haemorrhagic septicaemia (VHS), infectious haematopoietic necrosis (IHN), spring viraemia of carp (SVC), bacterial kidney disease (BKD), infectious pancreatic necrosis (IPN), Koi herpes virus (KHV) and infection with Gyrodactylus salaris;
(c)
‘tropical ornamental fish’ means ornamental fish other than cold-water ornamental fish;
(d)
‘transshippers’ means companies or persons which supply ornamental fish to a number of retailers or wholesalers, by importing the consignments on their behalf, and deliver the separate orders directly to the customers in the Community.
Article 3
Conditions for imports of cold-water ornamental fish
Member States shall authorise imports of cold-water ornamental fish into their territory only if:
(a)
the fish originate from a country listed in:
(i)
Annex I to Decision 2003/858/EC; or
(ii)
Part I of Annex I to this Decision;
(b)
the consignment complies with the guarantees, including those for packaging and labelling and the appropriate specific additional requirements laid down in the animal health certificate, drawn up in conformity with the model in Annex II, taking into account the explanatory notes in Annex III; and
(c)
the fish have been transported under conditions that do not alter their health status.
Article 4
Conditions for imports of tropical ornamental fish
Member States shall authorise imports of tropical ornamental fish into their territory only if:
(a)
the fish originate from a country listed in Part II of Annex I to this Decision;
(b)
the consignment complies with the guarantees, including those for packaging and labelling and the appropriate specific additional requirements, as laid down in the animal health certificate, drawn up in conformity with the model in Annex IV, taking into account the explanatory notes in Annex III; and
(c)
the fish have been transported under conditions that do not alter their health status.
Article 5
Control procedures
Ornamental fish imported from third countries shall be subject to veterinary checks at the border inspection post in the Member State of arrival in accordance with Article 8 of Council Directive 91/496/EEC (4) and the common veterinary entry document provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No 282/2004 (5) shall be completed accordingly.
Article 6
Preventing contamination of natural waters
1. Ornamental fish imported under this Decision shall not be released into fish farms, or other premises from which they could escape into, or otherwise contaminate, natural waters in the Community.
2. Transport water from imported consignments shall be handled in a way which ensures that it does not lead to contamination of natural waters within the Community.
Article 7
Date of application
This Decision shall apply six months after the date of publication.
Article 8
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 20 September 2006.