1996D0333 — EN — 07.02.2004 — 004.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSIONDECISION
of3May1996
establishing health certification of live bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and marine
gastropodsfromthirdcountrieswhicharenotcovered byaspecific decision
(TextwithEEArelevance)
(96/333/EC)
(OJ L 127, 25.5.1996, p. 33)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1CommissionDecision97/589/EC of 28 July 1997 L 238 47 29.8.1997
►M2CommissionDecision98/740/EC of 14 December 1998 L 354 65 30.12.1998
►M3CommissionDecision2001/65/EC of 23 Jan uary 2001 L 22 38 24.1.2001
►M4CommissionDecision2004/119/EC of 29 Jan uary 2004 L 36 56 7.2.2004
▼B
COMMISSIONDECISION
of3May1996
establishing health certification of live bivalve molluscs, echino-
derms, tunicates and marine gastropods from third countries
whicharenotcovered byaspecific decision
(TextwithEEArelevance)
(96/333/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Directive 91/492/EEC of 15 July 1991,
laying down the health conditions for the production and the placing
onthe market of live bivalve molluscs (1), as last amended by the Act
of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland, and in particular Article9 thereof,
Whereas the Commission has laid down the special conditions for the
importation of live bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates andmarine gastropods for certain third countries;
Whereas for the importationof live bivalve molluscs, echin oderms,
tunicates and marine gastropods from third countries not yet covered
by this type of decision, it is advisable initially to establish a standar-
dized model of a health certificate to avoid disruptions to trade;
Whereas the adoptionof a stan dard health certificate would have posi-
tive effects on operators and for the control services and wouldfacilitate the free circulationof live bivalve molluscs, echin oderms,tunicates and marine gastropods within the Community;
Whereas the model of health certificate established by this Decisionis
provisional and applicable for a period of two years during which indi-vidual decisions may be adopted; whereas the provisional certificate
will therefore no longer apply to any third country for which an indivi-
dual decisionhas beenadopted;
Whereas the veterinary checks on imported bivalve molluscs, echino-
derms, tunicates and marine gastropods have to be carried out inaccordance with Council Directive 90/675/EEC of 10 December 1990,laying down the principles governing the organization of veterinarychecks on products entering the Community from third countries (
2),
as last amended by Directive 95/52/EC (3); whereas those checks entail
the presentation of a health certificate accompanying the importedproducts;
Whereas the adoptionof a stan dard model of health certificate should
be without prejudice to any specific import conditions that may beadopted for a third country after on-the-spot assessment of the healthsituationby Commissionexperts;
Whereas, inaccordan ce with Article 8 of Directive 91/492/EEC, the
health certificate should attest that the conditions of production, purifi-
cation, storage, packaging and transport of live bivalve molluscs,
echinoderms, tunicates and marine gastropods intended for theCommunity are at least equivalent to those laid down for the Commu-nity products;
Whereas the measures provided for inthis Decisionshould be without
prejudice to measures adopted hereafter for the protectionof an imalhealth;
Whereas the measures provided for inthis Decisionare inaccordan ce
with the opinion of the Standing Veterinary Committee,1996D0333 — EN — 07.02.2004 — 004.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 268, 24. 9. 1991, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 373, 31. 12. 1990, p. 1.
(3) OJ No L 265, 8. 11. 1995, p. 16.
▼B
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
Consignments of live bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and
marine gastropods brought into the territories defined in Annex I ofDirective 90/675/EEC for direct humancon sumptionshall have been
harvested from approved production areas approved and inspected by
the competent authority of the third country, shall come from an estab-lishment inspected and approved by the competent authority of thethird country, and shall be accompanied by the original of a numberedhealth certificate attesting that the health conditions of production,handling, where necessary purification, packaging and identification of
the products are at least equivalent to those set out in Directive 91/492/
EEC.
The model of that health certificate is laid down in Annex I to this
Decision.
Article 2
Consignments of live bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and
marine gastropods introduced into the territories defined in Annex I ofDirective 90/675/EEC for purificationinanapproved purificationcentre, or for re-laying in an approved re-laying zone, or processing in
an approved processing establishment, shall have been harvested from
approved production areas checked and approved by the competentauthority of the third country, shall be accompanied by the original ofa numbered health certificate attesting that the health conditions ofproduction, harvesting and transportation of the batches are at least
equivalent to those established by Directive 91/492/EEC.
The model of that health certificate is laid down in Annex II to this
Decision.
Article 3
1. The health certificate referred to in Articles 1 and 2 shall consist
of a single sheet of paper and shall be drawn up in at least one of theofficial languages of the country of entry into the Community, and, ifnecessary, in one of the languages of the country of destination.
2. The health certificates shall bear the name, designation and signa-
ture of the official inspector as well as the official seal of thecompetent authority, all of which shall be in a colour different from
that of the other printing on the certificate.
Article 4
The health certificates provided for by this Decisionshall n ot apply to
live bivalve molluscs, echinoderms, tunicates and marine gastropodsfrom a third country for which the individual conditions of importationare laid downelsewhere.
Article 5
This Decisionshall apply from 1 July 1996 ►
M4to 31 December
2005◄.
Article 6
This Decisionis addressed to the Member States.1996D0333 — EN — 07.02.2004 — 004.001 — 3
▼B
ANNEX I
HEALTHCERTIFICATE(MODEL)
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▼B
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▼B
ANNEX II
HEALTHCERTIFICATE(MODEL)
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▼B
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