EN Official Journal of the European Union L 401/41

COMMISSION DECISION

of 15 December 2006

implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 as regards guidelines and procedures for the electronic identification of ovine and caprine animals

(notified under document number C(2006) 6522)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2006/968/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 of 17 December 2003 establishing a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals and amending Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC and 64/432/EEC (1), and in particular Article 9(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 provides that each Member State is to establish a system for the identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals in accordance with that Regulation.

(2) Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 also provides that all animals on a holding born after 9 July 2005 are to be identified by two means of identification. The first means of identification are eartags and the second means of identification are set out in point 4 of Section A of the Annex to that Regulation. One of the second means of identification is an electronic transponder. In addition, Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 provides that, as from 1 January 2008 or another date that may be fixed by the Council, electronic identification as a second means of identification is to be obligatory for all animals.

(3) Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 provides for the adoption by the Commission of guidelines and procedures for the implementation of the electronic identification in order to improve its implementation. Those guidelines and procedures should be applied for those animals for which electronic identification is already used as the second means of identification and for all animals as from the date provided for in Article 9(3) of that Regulation.

(4) In order to ensure that the identifiers to be applied to ovine and caprine animals for the purpose of Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 are readable in all Member States, minimum requirements concerning certain conformance and performance tests should be laid down in this Decision for the approval of identifiers.

(5) In order to provide guidance to the Member States as regards readers, minimum requirements concerning certain conformance and performance tests should be laid down in this Decision taking into account that Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 does not foresee that every operator must possess a reader.

(6) Due to the different geographic conditions and husbandry systems under which ovine and caprine animals are kept in the Community, the Member States should have the possibility to require additional performance tests taking into account their specific national conditions.

(7) The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published standards dealing with aspects of radio frequency identification (RFID) of animals. In addition, the International Committee on Animal Recording (ICAR) has developed procedures aimed to verify the compliance of certain RFID characteristics with ISO standards. Those procedures have been published in the International Agreement on Recording Practices in the version as approved by the ICAR General Assembly, June 2004. The ISO standards are accepted and used internationally and should therefore be taken into account in this Decision.

(8) The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the Commission has developed Technical Guidelines specifying tests for assessing the performance and reliability of RFID devices that are published on the JRC website as JRC technical standards. The essential elements of those guidelines should be taken into account in this Decision.

(9) The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) has published technical standards dealing with the accreditation of test laboratories. Those standards (EN standards) are accepted and used internationally and should therefore be taken into account in this Decision.

(10) The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The Annex to this Decision sets out the guidelines and procedures for the electronic identification of animals:

(a) for the second means of identification, as provided for in Article 4(2)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 and referred to in the fourth indent of point 4 of Section A of the Annex to that Regulation; and

(b) provided for in the first subparagraph of Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No 21/2004.

Article 2

This Decision shall apply from the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 15 December 2006. For the Commission Markos KYPRIANOU Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 8.