1995D0408 — EN — 05.01.2001 — 003.001 — 1
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►B COUNCIL DECISION
of 22 June 1995
on the conditions for drawing up, for an interim period, provisional lists of third country
establishments from which Member States are authorized to import certain products of animal
origin, fishery products or live bivalve molluscs
(95/408/EC)
(OJ L 243, 11.10.1995, p. 17)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Decision of17 December 1996 (97/34/EC) L 13 33 16.1.1997
►M2Council decision 98/603/EC of19 October 1998 L 289 36 28.10.1998
►M3Council Decision 2001/4/EC of19 December 2000 L 2 21 5.1.2001
▼B
COUNCIL DECISION
of 22 June 1995
on the conditions for drawing up, for an interim period, provisional
lists of third country establishments from which Member States areauthorized to import certain products of animal origin, fishery
products or live bivalve molluscs
(95/408/EC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion ofthe European Parliament (2),
Whereas products ofanimal origin, f ishery products and live bivalve
molluscs are included in the list ofproducts set out in Annex II to the
Treaty; whereas health rules applying to production and marketing have
been laid down at Community level;
Whereas Community arrangement have been defined in respect of
imports from third countries; whereas these arrangements require thedrawing up oflists ofthird country establishments f rom which importsofcertain products are permitted in accordance with Article 14.B (2) (a)ofCouncil Directive 71/118/EEC of15 February 1971 on healthproblems affecting the production and placing on the market of fresh
poultrymeat (
3), Article 4 (1) ofCouncil Directive 72/462/EEC of12
December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems uponimportation ofbovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, f resh meator meat products from third countries (
4), Article 9 (3) (c) ofCouncil
Directive 91/492/EEC of15 July 1991 laying down the health conditionsfor the production and placing on the market of live bivalve molluscs (
5),
Article 11 (4) (c) ofCouncil Directive 91/493/EEC of22 July 1991
laying down the health conditions for the production and placing on themarket off ishery products(
6), Article 16 (3) (a) ofCouncil Directive 92/
45/EEC of16 June 1992 on public health and animal health problemsrelating to the killing ofwild game and the placing on the market ofwild
game meat (
7), Article 23 (3) (a) ofCouncil Directive 92/46/EEC of16
June 1992 laying down the health rules for the production and placingon the market ofraw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products (
8)
and Article 10 (3) (b) ofCouncil Directive 92/118/EEC of17 December1992 laying down animal health and public health requirementsgoverning trade in and imports into the Community ofproducts not
subject to the said requirements laid down in specific Community rules
referred to in Annex A (I) to Directive 89/662/EEC, and, as regardspathogens, to Directive 90/425/EEC (
9);
Whereas, in order to allow the time necessary to carry out Community
inspections in third countries to verify that their establishments complywith Community provisions and to avoid a disruption in trade from third1995D0408 — EN — 05.01.2001 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 208, 28. 7. 1994, p. 9.
(2) OJ No C 276, 3. 10. 1994, p. 13.
(3) OJ No L 55, 8. 3. 1971, p. 23. Directive as last amended by Directive 92/116/
EEC (OJ No L 62, 15. 3. 1993, p. 1).
(4) OJ No L 302, 31. 12. 1972, p. 28. Directive as last amended by Regulation
(EEC) No 1601/92 (OJ No L 173, 27. 6. 1992, p. 13).
(5) OJ No L 268, 24. 9. 1991, p. 1. Directive as last amended by the EEA
Agreement.
(6) OJ No L 268, 24. 9. 1991, p. 15. Directive as last amended by the EEA
Agreement.
(7) OJ No L 268, 14. 9. 1992, p. 35. Directive as last amended by Directive 92/
116/EEC (OJ No L 62, 15. 3. 1993, p. 1).
(8) OJ No L 268, 14. 9. 1992, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Commission
Decision 94/330/EC (OJ No L 146, 11. 6. 1994, p. 23).
(9) OJ No L 62, 15. 3. 1993, p. 49. Directive as last amended by Commission
Decision 94/723/EC (OJ No L 288, 9. 11. 1994, p. 48).
▼B
countries, a simplified approval system should be applied for an interim
period;
Whereas during the interim period the guarantee ofconf ormity with
Community provisions for the protection of public and animal health
should be undertaken by the competent authority ofthe third country
concerned; whereas establishments may only be entered on the listswhere the third country concerned has provided the necessary assuranceson compliance with Community rules;
Whereas, it is appropriate to make provisions for a procedure
establishing close and effective cooperation between the Commissionand the Member States within the Standing Veterinary Committee;
Whereas provision should be made for the possibility for the Council to
extend the current provisional measures in order to avoid any
interruption in traditional flows of trade,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. This Decision shall apply to the drawing up ofprovisional lists of
third country establishments from which Member States are authorized
to import the products defined in Article 2 (2) (a) of Council Directive90/675/EEC of10 December 1990 laying down the principles governingthe organization ofveterinary checks on products entering theCommunity from third countries (
1). These lists ofestablishments shall
be valid pending the drawing up ofdef initive lists ofestablishments in
accordance with the provisions ofthe various directives governing thehealth rules applicable to each ofthe products concerned.
2. However, Article 2 ofthis Decision shall not apply to the drawing
up oflists ofthird country establishments f rom which Member States areauthorized to import fresh meat as defined in Article 1, third paragraphofDirective 72/462/EEC.
Article 2
1. The Commission may, in accordance with the procedure provided
for in Article 4, draw up provisional lists of third country establishments
from which imports are authorized for each of the products covered by
Article 1 where the following conditions are met:
(a) the establishments must be situated in a third country or part ofa
third country appearing on the list ofthird countries f rom whichimports ofthe products concerned are authorized;
(b) the establishment must be situated in a third country or part ofa
third country for which the relevant import conditions and
certification requirements for the products concerned have beenestablished in accordance with the provisions ofthe specif icdirectives;
(c) the competent authority ofthe third country concerned has provided
the Commission with satisfactory guarantees that the establishments
appearing on the list or lists meet the relevant Community healthrequirements and has officially approved the establishmentappearing on the lists for exportation to the Community;
(d) the competent authority ofthe third country must have a real power
to suspend the activities for exportation to the Community of anestablishment for which that authority has provided guarantees, inthe event ofnon-compliance with the said guarantees;
(e) a Community or Member State inspection mission has checked the
structure and organization ofthe competent authority responsible f or
the approval ofthe establishment as well as the powers available tothat competent authority and the guarantees that it can provide in1995D0408 — EN — 05.01.2001 — 003.001 — 3
(1) OJ No L 373, 31. 12. 1990, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Regulation
(EEC) No 1601/92 (OJ No L 173, 27. 6. 1992, p. 13).
▼B
regard to the implementation ofCommunity rules. These checks
must include on the spot inspection ofa certain number ofestablishments appearing on the list or lists provided by the third
country.
2. For fishery products as defined in Article 2 (1) of Directive 91/
493/ECC, the Commission shall, in accordance with the procedure
provided for in Article 4, draw up a list of third countries or parts ofthird countries from which the import of fishery products is authorizedwhere the competent authority ofthe third country has provided theCommission with guarantees at least equivalent to those provided for by
Directive 91/493/EEC.
3. The Commission may, in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 5, modify or complete the lists provided for in paragraphs 1
and 2 to take account ofnew inf ormation received.
4. Where the conditions set out in paragraph 1 (e) have not been
fulfilled, the Commission may, provided that all the other conditions aremet, draw up provisional lists ofestablishments f rom which imports areauthorized in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 4.However, imports from establishments on such lists will not be eligiblefor reduced physical checks provided for under Article 8 (3) of Directive
90/675/EEC pending the results of the information furnished under
Article 8 (3) ofthat Directive on imports f rom those establishments ofthat third country.
Article 3
1. The procedure laid down in Article 5 may also be used:
(i) to amend the lists ofapproved establishments drawn up in
accordance with Article 4 ofDirective 72/462/EEC in accordancewith information provided by the third country concerned;
(ii) to amend the lists ofestablishments and/or lists off actory vessels
drawn up in accordance with Article 11 (5) ofDirective 91/493/
ECC in accordance with information provided by the third countryconcerned;
(iii) to amend the lists ofestablishments drawn up in accordance with
Article 9 (3) (c) and the lists ofthe production areas demarcated inaccordance with Article 9 (3) (b) (ii) ofDirective 91/492/EEC inaccordance with information provided by the third countryconcerned;
(iv) to amend the lists ofestablishments drawn up in accordance with
Article 10 (3) (b) ofDirective 92/118/EEC.
2. Where it seems necessary, the Commission shall carry out an on-
the-spot inspection prior to amending a list.
Article 4
1. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to be followed,
matters shall, without delay, be referred to the Standing Veterinary
Committee set up by Decision 68/361/EEC (
1) hereafter referred to as the
‘Committee’, by its chairman, either on his own initiative or at therequest ofthe representative ofa Member State.
2. The representative ofthe Commission shall submit to the
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shalldeliver its opinion on such measures within a time limit which the
chairman shall lay down according to the urgency ofthe matter. The
opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2)ofthe Treaty in the case ofdecisions which the Council is required toadopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of therepresentatives ofthe Member States shall be weighted in the mannerset out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.1995D0408 — EN — 05.01.2001 — 003.001 — 4
(1) OJ No L 255, 18. 10. 1968, p. 23.
▼B
3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged ifthey are
in accordance with the opinion ofthe Committee.
(b) Ifthe measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion
ofthe Committee, or ifno opinion is delivered, the Commission
shall, without delay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to
the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualifiedmajority.
If, within three months from the date of referral to the Council, the
Council has not acted, the Commission shall adopt the proposedmeasures save where the Council has rejected the said measures by asimple majority.
Article 5
1. The Commission shall inform the Member States of the
modifications proposed by the third country concerned to the lists ofestablishments within f ive working days ofthe receipt ofthe proposed
modifications.
2. The Member States shall have seven working days, from receipt of
the modifications to the lists of establishments referred to in paragraph1, to send any written comments to the Commission.
3. (i) Where written comments are made by at least one Member State,
the Commission shall inform the Member States within fiveworking days and include the point on the next meeting ofthe
Standing Veterinary Committee for decision in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 4.
(ii) Where no comments are received from the Member States within
the time limit laid down in paragraph 2, the modifications to thelist shall be considered to have been accepted by the Member
States. The Commission shall inform the Member States within
five working days, and imports shall be authorized from suchestablishments five working days after receipt of this informationby the Member States.
4. The Commission shall regularly, and at intervals ofnot less than
six months, adopt the decisions necessary to update the lists ofestablishments, and shall publish them in the Official Journal of the
European Communities .
Article 6
Decision 94/941/EEC (SIC! 94/941/EC) (
1) is hereby repealed.
Article 7
Acting in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 4, the
Commission may adopt the transitional measures necessary to facilitatethe creation and orderly application ofprovisional establishment lists in
accordance with this Decision.
Article 8
For the purpose ofthis Decision, Article 19 ofDirective 90/675/EEC
relating to safeguard measures shall apply. In case of repeated breaches,the Commission will withdraw the establishment in question from theprovisional list.
Article 9
This Decision shall apply until ►
M331 December 2003 ◄, unless the
Council acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from theCommission decides to extend its validity.1995D0408 — EN — 05.01.2001 — 003.001 — 5
(1) OJ No L 366, 31. 12. 1994, p. 34.
▼B
Article 10
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.1995D0408 — EN — 05.01.2001 — 003.001 — 6