COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2021/460

of 16 March 2021

amending Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 as regards the entry for Ukraine in the list of third countries, territories, zones or compartments from which certain poultry commodities may be imported into and transit through the Union in relation to highly pathogenic avian influenza

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Directive 2002/99/EC of 16 December 2002 laying down the animal health rules governing the production, processing, distribution and introduction of products of animal origin for human consumption (1), and in particular the introductory phrase of Article 8, the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of Article 8, paragraph 4 of Article 8 and Article 9(4) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 2009/158/EC of 30 November 2009 on animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in, and imports from third countries of, poultry and hatching eggs (2), and in particular Articles 23(1), 24(2) and 25(2) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 (3) lays down veterinary certification requirements for imports into and transit, including storage during transit, through the Union of poultry and poultry products (‘the commodities’). It provides that the commodities are only to be imported into and transit through the Union from the third countries, territories, zones or compartments listed in columns 1 and 3 of the table in Part 1 of Annex I thereto.

(2) Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 also lays down the conditions for a third country, territory, zone or compartment to be considered as free from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

(3) Ukraine is listed in the table in Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 as a third country from which imports into and transit through the Union of certain poultry commodities are authorised from certain parts of its territory depending on the presence of HPAI. That regionalisation was set out in Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008, as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/352 (4), following the confirmation of an outbreak of HPAI of subtype H5N8 on 19 January 2020.

(4) Following the outbreak of HPAI, Ukraine has implemented a stamping out policy in order to control and limit the spread of that disease. In addition, Ukraine completed the requisite cleaning and disinfection measures following the implementation of the stamping out policy on the poultry holding where the HPAI outbreak was confirmed in January 2020. Ukraine has submitted updated information on the epidemiological situation on its territory and the measures it has taken to prevent the further spread of HPAI, which were evaluated by the Commission.

(5) On the basis of that evaluation it is concluded that that outbreak has been cleared and that there is no risk associated with the introduction into the Union of poultry commodities from the areas of Ukraine listed in Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 from where imports have been suspended by that Regulation, as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/352.

(6) On 4 December 2020, however, Ukraine confirmed the presence of HPAI of subtype H5 in a poultry holding on its territory. Due to that confirmed outbreak of HPAI, the whole territory of Ukraine can no longer be considered as free from that disease and the veterinary authorities of Ukraine can, therefore, no longer certify consignments of poultry commodities for import into, or transit through, the Union from the areas concerned by that outbreak. Following that outbreak, Ukraine has confirmed further HPAI outbreaks of subtype H5 in poultry holdings on its territory.

(7) The veterinary authorities of Ukraine have confirmed that following the outbreak in December 2020, they suspended issuing certificates for consignments of commodities intended for import into, or transit through, the Union and implemented a stamping-out policy in order to control HPAI and limit the spread of that disease.

(8) Furthermore, Ukraine has submitted information to the Commission on the epidemiological situation on its territory and indicated the areas placed under restrictions as well as the measures it has taken to prevent the further spread of HPAI outside those restricted areas. That information has now been evaluated by the Commission and on the basis of that evaluation, as well as the guarantees provided by Ukraine, it should be concluded that limiting the restrictions on the introduction into the Union of consignments of poultry commodities to the areas affected by HPAI, which the veterinary authorities of Ukraine have placed under restrictions due to the current outbreaks, should be sufficient to cover the risks associated with the introduction into the Union of such commodities.

(9) The entry for Ukraine in the table in Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 should, therefore, be amended to take account of the current epidemiological situation in that third country.

(10) Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(11) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 16 March 2021. For the Commission The President Ursula VON DER LEYEN

(1) OJ L 18, 23.1.2003, p. 11.

(2) OJ L 343, 22.12.2009, p. 74.

(3) Commission Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 of 8 August 2008 laying down a list of third countries, territories, zones or compartments from which poultry and poultry products may be imported into and transit through the Community and the veterinary certification requirements (OJ L 226, 23.8.2008, p. 1).

(4) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/352 of 3 March 2020 amending Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 as regards the entry for Ukraine in the lists of third countries, territories, zones or compartments from which certain poultry commodities may be imported into and transit through the Union in relation to highly pathogenic avian influenza (OJ L 65, 4.3.2020, p. 4).