COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/1752

of 23 November 2020

amending Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 as regards the entry for Australia in the list of third countries, territories, zones or compartments from which certain poultry commodities may be imported into or 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 point 1 of Article 8, point 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) Australia 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 the commodities are not restricted due to the presence of HPAI.

(4) On 31 July 2020, Australia confirmed to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) the presence of HPAI of subtype H7N7 in a poultry holding in Lethbridge, Victoria. Due to that confirmed outbreak of HPAI, Australia can no longer be considered as free from that disease and the veterinary authorities of Australia are not in the position to certify consignments of the commodities intended for import into or transit through the Union.

(5) The entry for Australia 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 due to the current outbreak of HPAI. For reasons of clarity and legal certainty, it is appropriate to indicate in the same Annex, the date as of which that third country could no longer be considered as free from HPAI. This also ensures that, where Australia eventually regains freedom from HPAI and an opening date is established, consignments of such products produced after the closing date and before that opening date will not be eligible for introduction into the Union.

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

(7) 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, 23 November 2020. 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).