EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 as regards electronic identification of bovine animals and deleting the provisions on voluntary beef labelling, makes necessary to amend accordingly Council Directive 64/432/EEC as regards computer databases which are part of the surveillance networks in the Member States. The elements of the computer databases laid down in Directive 64/432/EEC do not include so far any reference to electronic means of identification.

Therefore, Council Directive 64/432/EEC as regards computer databases which are part of the surveillance networks in the Member States should be amended taking into account the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 as regards electronic identification of bovine animals and deleting the provisions on voluntary beef labelling. Based on this, the two proposals are presented under the same legislative package.

This draft Directive of the European Parliament and the Council has no financial implications for the budget of the European Union.

Directive 64/432/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly.

2011/0228 (COD)

Proposal for a

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

amending Council Directive 64/432/EEC as regards computer databases which are part of the surveillance networks in the Member States

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 43(2),

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee[1],

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

Whereas:

(1) Council Directive 64/432/EEC of 26 June 1964 on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine[2] applies to trade in bovine animals and swine within the Union. That Directive provides that the competent authority in a Member State may introduce a system of surveillance networks. Those networks include a computer database which is to contain at least a number of elements laid down in Directive 64/432/EEC, inter alia the identification code of each animal.

(2) Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No 1760/2000 of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products[3], lays down rules on the use of electronic means of identification of bovine animals.

(3) The elements of the computer databases laid down in Directive 64/432/EEC do not include any reference to electronic means of identification.

(4) In the interest of consistency of Union legislation, such element should be added to the list of elements to be included in the computer databases laid down in Directive 64/432/EEC.

(5) Directive 64/432/EEC should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

In Article 14(3), in part C, point (1) of Directive 64/432/EEC, shall be replaced as follows:

"(1) for each animal:

– the unique identification code,

– date of birth,

– sex,

– breed or colour of coat,

– identification code of the mother or, in the case of an animal imported from a third country, the unique identification code of the individual means of identification allocated to the animal by the Member State of destination in accordance to Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000,

– identification number of the holding where born,

– identification numbers of all holdings where the animal has been kept and the dates of each change of holding,

– date of death and slaughter,

– the type of electronic identifier, if applied to the animal."

Article 2

1. Member States shall adopt and publish, by [**] at the latest, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions and a correlation table between those provisions and this Directive.

They shall apply those provisions from […].

When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President

[1] OJ C xx, xx.xx. xxxx, p. xx.

[2] OJ 121, 29.7.1964, p. 1977/64.

[3] OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.