Council Resolution of 25 June 1996 on measures to be implemented under veterinary policy
Date: 1996-06-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU policy, application of EU law, health control, information system, veterinary legislation, vocational training













EUR-Lex - 31996Y0713(01) - EN






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31996Y0713(01)

Council Resolution of 25 June 1996 on measures to be implemented under veterinary policy  


Official Journal C 203 , 13/07/1996 P. 0001 - 0003 





COUNCIL RESOLUTIONof 25 June 1996on measures to be implemented under  veterinary policy(96/C  203/01)IConsidering that the implementation of the  decisions taken in the context of the completion of the single market and the implementation of the  World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements have, in a relatively short space of time, wrought  profound changes in institutional relationships and legislative procedures within the European  Union and between the latter and third countries; and considering that the simplification and  transparency of decisions, at the levels of adoption, implementation, monitoring and communication  to the outside world are vital if we are to overcome the widespread difficulties in applying them  and the growing failure to understand the rules adopted by the Union, the Council has agreed to: (a) ask the Commission to associate consumer and producer associations more effectively in  discussions preparatory to the drafting of legislative proposals in the context of an ad hoc  advisory committee with competence for matters relating to veterinary legislation, open to this  form of association; (b) adopt the requisite means for providing widespread, constant communication and information of  the citizens of the Union, in comprehensible terms, of measures taken to safeguard and protect  public health and veterinary hygiene; (c) organize access to the existing corpus of information within the Community bodies and at  national level through the creation of a network of information and legislative documentation  centres. IIConsidering that the WTO agreements have changed the ground rules for  Community legislation and result in new consequences where problems arise on the Community's  internal market; considering that the principle of equivalence recognized in the WTO requires  Member States to conform, both within the Union and vis-à-vis third countries, to the guarantees  necessary to ensure that the level of health protection in the Union is maintained, The Council considers that these principles create new needs and place new demands on the  Commission and the Member States, in order to bring about: - simplification of legislation as a first step towards improved understanding and implementation,  while guaranteeing a high level of health protection; - increased cooperation in defining the Union's position vis-à-vis third countries; - greater coherence between Community harmonization of legislation and rules relating to sanitary  and phytosanitary measures (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT); - improved organizational and operational criteria within the Commission's veterinary departments,  taking into account the process of achieving equivalence of the Member States' veterinary services  and adhering to the principle of subsidiarity; - a much more effective response to the demand for uniform application of the rules made by  operators.IIIConsidering that supervision of the application of Community  rules is primarily the responsibility of the official veterinary services; considering that these  services must therefore have equivalent powers in each country of the Union; and considering that  it is for the Commission to ensure that these Community rules are uniformly applied, The Council invites the Commission to take the necessary steps to draw up criteria which the  official veterinary services must apply to the various spheres of their activity (administrative  authorities, national laboratories), the ultimate aim being to compile quality handbooks,  entrusting this specific and delicate task to a group of consultants, so that practical suggestions  may speedily be made to it and translated into recommendations; The Council considers that these objectives could be achieved through: - regular consultation of the chief veterinary officers in the course of coordination prior to  decisions relating to agreements between the Union and third countries, - revision of Community legislation on the new SPS and TBT rules, to be entrusted to a working  party made up of qualified individuals, - revision and improvement of the procedures of the Standing Veterinary Committee so that common  positions may be established more easily and more quickly on matters subject to notification under  the WTO Agreement so that the Commission may adopt, at the earliest opportunity, the legislative  acts which have the object of technical agreement within the Standing Veterinary Committee after  notification of the WTO and also so that the Member States may be associated in drawing up a  Community position on third country legislation and notifications. The compatibility of the Union's  legislation with that of third countries should be checked by the Commission, - adoption by the Commission of recommendations for the work of the Commission departments, in  order to harmonize the assessment procedures used by the Commission and the Member States, - adoption of guidelines to ensure the certainty and uniformity of application of veterinary  directives by the competent authorities of the Member States, - application of the principle of regionalization through more flexible management of Community  health marking, allowing for suspension of marking in regions in difficulty without loss of overall  Community status. IVConsidering that a proper information system is indispensable to facilitate  and improve the activities and decision-making processes of the veterinary services and that, to  ensure the transparency of the Union's markets, the rational implementation of preventive measures  and the monitoring of consistency of action in relations with third countries are vital, The Council considers that to achieve the implementation of a veterinary information system in the  Union covering the different sectors of activity (internal movement of animals, imports from third  countries, epidemiological surveillance networks) it is necessary to: (a) increase the effectiveness of the Animo system; (b) submit to the Council by 1 October 1996 a scheme for implementing the Shift system (system for  health control of imports from third countries at frontier inspection posts) together with a  precise timetable; (c) indicate the common position to be put forward by the Community in international bodies, in  particular Codex, the International Office of Epizootics (IOE) and the WTO, regarding the  management of risk assessment in compliance with the Treaty rules; (d) set out at Community level the arrangements for crisis management, in particular the conditions  for setting up crisis units which are capable at any time of mobilizing the operational staff to be  sent to the area concerned. VConsidering that training activities are a key factor in achieving consistent  quality in the veterinary services that will be able to provide adequate responses to the demand  for protection within the Union, and that the responsibility for defining requirements for both  initial and continuing training of public veterinary officials lies with the veterinary services,  which must put adequate resources into training activities; Considering that closer collaboration between national administrations and universities is also  needed to ensure that university degree and postgraduate curricula conform to the Union's new  requirements; The Council believes that the most urgently needed measures are therefore: - the definition of a common programme for the initial and continuing training of staff in the  monitoring services, with consistency between the real requirements of the public veterinary  services and university curricula, which should include an applied epidemiology course, - a marked increase in Community training courses for the staff of the Member States' veterinary  services on the application of Community rules and agreements on equivalence with third countries, - uniform training for prospective official veterinarians, continuing training for such official  veterinarians and coordination of the measures to be taken to ensure uniform application of this  objective, - access to such training for official veterinarians from third countries and in particular from  countries applying for accession and the ACP States, - the setting up of a training network and programmes for cooperation with neighbouring third  countries with a view to strengthening the peripheral health protection of the Union. VIConsidering that the ability of a public service to cope with the demands of  applying the current considerable numbers of directives and decisions does not depend solely on  internal operational rules and the professionalism of the service, but also on the availability of  adequate human and material resources; Considering that the veterinary services of the Member States responsible for applying Community  rules should be adapted to the level of the decisions taken in the course of creating the  conditions for a single market; Considering that the imbalance currently evident in this respect is particularly worrying as the  veterinary services in most Member States are responsible for protection of the health of consumers  and the health of the Community animal population; Considering that the recent crisis makes it a matter of urgency to restore consumer confidence and  re-establish the image of Community animals and products on the world market, The Council invites the Commission to make a thorough assessment of the real needs of the  veterinary services within the Member States in relation to present and future objectives,  determining financial requirements and providing funding to both indirect measures (veterinary  legislation must make the connection between contributions requested and the funding of the  activities of the services) and direct measures (increase in the services' budget for execution and  monitoring). VIIThe Council invites the Commission to organize itself in the most effective  manner so as to fulfil its role as guarantor of the Treaty and of the uniform application of the  rules, The Council takes note of the submission of a proposal for the establishment of a European  veterinary and phytosanitary inspection agency, and agrees to examine it as a matter of priority. VIIIThe Council invites the Commission to submit to it and to the European  Parliament before 1 December 1996 an action plan for implementation of this resolution.