1997R2629 — EN — 16.02.1999 — 003.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No2629/97
of29December 1997
laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 as
regardseartags,holdingregistersandpassportsintheframeworkofthesystemfortheidentifica-
tionandregistration ofbovineanimals
(TextwithEEArelevance)
(OJ L 354, 30.12.1997, p. 19)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Commission Regulation (EC) No 1177/98 of 5 June 1998 L 163 19 6.6.1998
►M2Commission Regulation (EC) No 2194/98 of 12 October 1998 L 276 4 13.10.1998
►M3Commission Regulation (EC) No 331/1999 of 12 February 1999 L 40 27 13.2.1999
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No2629/97
of29December 1997
layingdowndetailedrulesfortheimplementationofCouncilRegu-
lation (EC) No 820/97 as regards eartags, holding registers andpassports in the framework of the system for the identification
andregistrationofbovineanimals
(TextwithEEArelevance)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 of 21 April 1997
establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovineanimals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products(
1), and
in particular Article 10 (a), (b) and (c) thereof,
Whereas eartags should include information on the Member State of
origin together with information on the individual animal; whereas themost appropriate codified form of suchinformation is th e two-lettercountry code together with a maximum of 12 digits; whereas certainMember States should be authorized to maintain their current system
during a transitional period;
Whereas bar codes may be authorized in addition to the country code
and up to 12 digits;
Whereas it is appropriate to define certain minimum uniform rules for
the design and lay-out of eartags;
Whereas the provisions concerning the content of the eartags should be
reviewed in the light of the establishment of the computerized database
provided for in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 820/97;
Whereas that information contained in the passport and the register
must be in a form which allows animals to be traced;
Whereas that information must be consistent with that to be included in
the computerized database provided for in Council Directive 64/432/EEC of 26 June 1964 on health problems affecting intra-Communitytrade in bovine animals and swine(
2), as last amended by Directive
97/12/EC(3);
Whereas in view of the control measures relating to Community aid
schemes, it is necessary to include in the passport certain informationrelating to the premiums, as provided in Article 4 (b) of Council Regu-lation (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968, on the common organization
of the market in beef and veal(
4), as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 2321/97(5);
Whereas in view of the timetable for the application of Regulation
(EC) No 820/97, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of
urgency;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accor-
dance with the opinion of the Committee for the EuropeanAgricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,1997R2629 — EN — 16.02.1999 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 117, 7. 5. 1997, p. 1.
(2) OJ 121, 29. 7. 1964, p. 1977/64.
(3) OJ L 109, 25. 4. 1997, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 148, 26. 6. 1968, p. 24.
(5) OJ L 322, 25. 11. 1997, p. 25.
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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
Eartags
Article 1
1. Eartags shall contain at least the name, the code or the logo of the
competent authority or of the central competent authority of theMember State which allocated the eartags, and the characters provided
for in paragraph2.
2. The characters on the eartags shall be as follows:
(a) the first two positions shall identify the Member State of the
holding where the animal is first identified. For this purpose the
two-letter country code set out in the Annex shall be used;
(b) the characters following the country code shall be numeric and
shall not exceed 12. However, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal andthe United Kingdom may maintain their current system of analpha-numeric code for the 12 digits following the country codeuntil 31 December 1999.
3. In addition to the information provided for in paragraph 1, a bar
code may be authorized by the central competent authorities of theMember States.
4. In addition to the information provided for in paragraph 1, the
Italian central competent authority may use a maximum of three
supplementary characters. Those characters shall not form part of the
numeric code provided for by point (b) of paragraph2.
5. Keepers shall be authorised to acquire in advance, if they so wish
and in compliance with the applicable national provisions, the appro-priate quantity of ear-tags to cover their needs for a period of nomore than one year. In the case of holdings which have no more than
five animals, the competent authority may provide in advance five
pairs of ear-tags.
Article 2
Eartags shall meet the following requirements:
(a) they shall be of flexible plastic material;
(b) they shall be tamper-proof and easy to read throughout the lifetime
of the animal;
(c) they shall not be re-usable;
(d) they shall be of a design which will remain attached to the animal
without being harmful to it;
(e) they shall carry only non-removable inscriptions, as provided for in
Article 1.
Article 3
The model of the eartag shall be as follows:
(a) eacheartag sh all consist of two parts, a male part and a female
part;
(b) each part of the eartag shall contain only the information provided
for in Article 1;
(c) the length of the eartag shall be at least 45 mm for each part;
(d) the width of the eartag shall be at least 55 mm for each part;
(e) the characters shall have a minimum height of 5 mm.1997R2629 — EN — 16.02.1999 — 003.001 — 3
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Article 4
Member States may choose other material or model for the second
eartag and may decide to add further information provided that theprovisions of Article 1 (1) and (2) are complied with.
Article 5
Member States shall communicate to each other and to the Commission
the models of the first and the second eartag referred to in Articles 3and 4.
CHAPTER II
Passportsandregisters
Article 6
1. The passport shall contain at least the following:
(a) the information referred to in Article 14 (3) C (1), first to seventh
indents of Directive 64/432/EEC;
(b) the information referred to in:
— Article 14 (3) C (2), second indent of Directive 64/432/EEC, or
— Article 14 (3) C (2), first indent if the database provided for by
Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 820/97 is fully operational;
(c) the signature of the keeper(s), with the exception of the transporter.
When the database is fully operational as provided for in Article 6
(3), first indent, of Regulation (EC) No 820/97, only the signature
of the last keeper shall be provided;
(d) the name of issuing authority;
(e) the date of issue of the passport.
2. Without prejudice to the provisions of Chapter I.A.1 of the Annex
to Council Directive 91/628/EEC(1), if a calf under four weeks of age
is moved, Member States may provide for it to be accompanied by atemporary document containing at least the information set out in para-graph 1 in the format approved by the competent authority.
The temporary document shall be issued by the first keeper of the calf
and shall be completed by each subsequent keeper with the exception
of transporters. The keeper shall submit the temporary document to the
competent authority before the animal is four weeks old, or withinseven days if the animal dies or is slaughtered before it is four weeksold. Where the calf is still alive, the competent authority shall issue apassport within 14 days of receipt of the temporary document. Such
passports must show details of all movements made by the calf as
recorded on the temporary document.
Provided that the navel is healed, the calf may not move more than
twice between holdings, accompanied by the temporary document. For
the purpose of this paragraph, movement between two holdings througha market or calf collection centre shall count as one movement,provided that the market or the calf collection centre can provide,upon request, to the competent authorities a full record of the transac-
tions carried out within the framework of that market or centre.
3. In respect of the requirement for each keeper of animals to notify
the movement, birth and death of the animal in accordance with the
second indent of Article 7 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 820/97, the rele-
vant period shall be determined by the Member State but in the case ofbirths shall not in any case exceed 15 days from the date when theanimal is tagged and as from 1 January 2000 shall not exceed sevendays from the date when the animal is tagged.1997R2629 — EN — 16.02.1999 — 003.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 340, 11. 12. 1991, p. 17.
▼M3
4. In derogation to point 1(a), the information provided for by the
second and fifthindents of Article 14, paragraph3, point C.1 of Direc-tive 64/432/EEC is not compulsory for passports of bovine animals
born before 1 January 1998. The derogation foreseen in this paragraph
takes effect without prejudice to the obligation to mention the above-mentioned pieces of information on passports of bovine animals bornin the territory of a Member State where such a requirement is foreseenby its national rules. Member States shall communicate to each other
and to the Commission the rules applied regarding the information
mentioned in this paragraph.
Article 7
In addition to the information referred to in Article 6, the following
information concerning the premium situation of the male animal, asprovided for in Article 4 (b) of the Council Regulation (EC) No 805/68, shall be added to the passport:
(a) application or grant: first-age bracket;
(b) application or grant: second-age bracket.
Article 8
The register shall contain at least the following:
(a) the up-to-date information provided for in Article 14 (3) C (1), first
to fourthindents of Directive 64/432/EEC;
(b) the date of death of the animal on the holding;
(c) in the case of animals departing from the holding, the name and
address of the keeper, with the exception of the transporter, or theidentification code of the holding, to whom/which the animal wastransferred, as well as the date of departure;
(d) in the case of animals arriving on the holding, the name and
address of the keeper, with the exception of the transporter, or theidentification code of the holding, from whom/which the animalwas transferred, as well as the date of arrival;
(e) the name and signature of the representative of the competent
authority who has checked the register and the date on which thecheck was carried out.
Article 9
Member States shall communicate to each other and to the Commission
the model of the passport and the holding register used within theirterritory.
CHAPTER III
General
Article 10
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in
theOfficial Journal of the European Communities .
It shall apply from 1 January 1998.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1997R2629 — EN — 16.02.1999 — 003.001 — 5
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ANNEX
Austria AT
Belgium BE
Denmark DKFinland FI
France FR
Germany DEGreece EL
Ireland IE
Italy ITLuxembourg LU
Netherlands NL
Portugal PTSpain ES
Sweden SE
United Kingdom UK1997R2629 — EN — 16.02.1999 — 003.001 — 6