Commission Regulation (EC) No 354/2006 of  28 February 2006  amending Regulation (EC) No 639/2003 laying down detailed rules pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 as regards requirements for the granting of export refunds related to the welfare of live bovine animals during transport
Date: 2006-02-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal welfare, cattle, export refund, live animal, transport of animals, veterinary inspection

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Official Journal of the European Union

1.3.2006

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 354/2006

of 28 February 2006

amending Regulation (EC) No 639/2003 laying down detailed rules pursuant to Council Regulation
(EC) No 1254/1999 as regards requirements for the granting of export refunds related to the
welfare of live bovine animals during transport

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of
17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in
beef and veal (1), and in particular Article 33(12) thereof,

Whereas:

In order

only be carried out by a veterinarian.
to
strengthen the effectiveness of these checks it should be
provided that they may only be carried out by a veter-
inarian who holds a formal qualification in veterinary
medicine within the meaning of Council Directive
78/1026/EEC of 18 December 1978 concerning the
mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other
evidence of formal qualifications in veterinary medicine,
including measures to facilitate the effective exercise of
the right of establishment and freedom to provide
services (4).

(1)

(2)

In an exchange of letters between the Commission of the
European Communities and the Office international des
épizooties (OIE) (2), the two parties agreed to act in colla-
boration. With the support of the Community, the OIE
subsequently adopted,
in May 2005, principles and
specific guidelines for the welfare of animals subject to
international trade, and in particular in relation to sea,
land and air transport, as Section 3.7 of the Terrestrial
Animal Health Code. In order to give effect to Article
3.7.2.1 of the Guidelines for the Transport of Animals by
Sea and Article 3.7.3.1 of
the
Transport of Animals by Land, which define the respon-
sibilities of the Competent Authorities, it is appropriate
to strengthen the instruments for the monitoring and
the welfare performance by improving
evaluation of
the reporting system of inspections performed by the
Member States targeting animal welfare conditions for
the animals exported from the Community.

the Guidelines

for

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

Alternatively, without prejudice to the respective compe-
the Community and the Member States,
tences of
the
Member States should be required to verify that
international control and supervisory agencies check
that veterinarians holding a qualification not covered
by Directive 78/1026/EEC possess the knowledge of
the
by Council Directive
91/628/EEC of 19 November 1991 on the protection
of animals during transport and amending Directives
90/425/EEC and 91/496/EEC (5).

requirements

imposed

Regulation (EC) No 639/2003 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

an appropriate
This Regulation should apply after
timeframe for the implementation of the amendments.

The Management Committee for Beef and Veal has not
delivered an opinion within the time-limit set by its
chairman,

To facilitate an in-depth evaluation on the application of
Commission Regulation (EC) No 639/2003 (3), Member
States should be required to provide detailed statistical
information on cases of non-payment of export refunds.
To this end, information should be concentrated at the
level of the paying agencies, which will also contribute to
gain additional
should therefore be
provided that the veterinarian authority responsible for
the exit point forwards a copy of the inspection report of
the exit point to the paying agency.

transparency.

It

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 639/2003 is amended as follows:

1. In Article 2(2), the third subparagraph is replaced by the

following:

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 639/2003 provides for checks to be
carried out after leaving the customs territory of
the
that checks may
Community. Moreover,

it provides

‘The veterinarian authority responsible for the exit point shall
keep this report for at least three years. A copy of this report
shall be sent to the paying agency.’

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 21. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1913/2005 (OJ L 307, 25.11.2005, p. 2).

(2) OJ C 215, 27.8.2004, p. 3.
(3) OJ L 93, 10.4.2003, p. 10. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1979/2004 (OJ L 342, 18.11.2004, p. 23).

(4) OJ L 362, 23.12.1978, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive
2001/19/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ
L 206, 31.7.2001, p. 1).

(5) OJ L 340, 11.12.1991, p. 17. Directive as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 806/2003 (OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 1).

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Official Journal of the European Union

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2. In Article 3(2), the second subparagraph is replaced by the

following:

‘The checks provided for in paragraph 1 shall be carried out
by a veterinarian holding a diploma, certificate or other
formal qualification in veterinary medicine
evidence of
as
in Article 2 of Council Directive
to
referred
78/1026/EEC (*). However, the Member States, which have
approved the international control and supervisory agencies,
referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall
verify that these agencies check that veterinarians holding a
qualification not covered by that Directive possess
the
imposed by Directive
requirements
knowledge of
the
91/628/EEC. These
in a
carried out
checks
reasonable, objective and impartial manner through appro-
priate procedures.

shall be

___________
(*) OJ L 362, 23.12.1978, p. 1.’

‘(d)

(da)

the reasons for the non-payment and the recovery of
the refund for the animals referred to in points (b) and
(c), as well as the number of those animals recorded
under category B, C and D respectively as referred to
in Annexes I, II and III;

the numbers of penalties for each category defined in
Article 6(1) and (2) with the corresponding numbers
of animals and amounts of refund not paid;’.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Union.

3. In Article 8, point (d) is replaced by the following:

Article 1(1) and (2) shall apply to the export declarations
accepted from 1 January 2007.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 February 2006.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission