2006/968/EC: 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
Date: 2006-12-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: approval, data processing, electronic equipment, goat, international standard, management information system, sheep, traceability

30.12.2006

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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,

(5)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

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 Regu-
lation (EC) No 1782/2003 and Directives 92/102/EEC and
64/432/EEC (1), and in particular Article 9(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

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.

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.

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
those animals for
procedures should be applied 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 Regu-
lation.

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.

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

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

readers, minimum requirements

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

to the

different

conditions

geographic

Due
and
husbandry systems under which ovine and caprine
animals are kept in the Community, the Member States
additional
should have
performance tests
specific
national conditions.

taking into account

the possibility

to require

their

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.

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

standards. The essential elements of

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

standards

test

The measures provided for
accordance with
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

in this Decision are in
Standing
the

opinion

the

of

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HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 2

Article 1

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

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

the guidelines and

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(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.

Done at Brussels, 15 December 2006.

For the Commission

Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Guidelines and procedures for the approval of identifiers and readers for the electronic identification of ovine
and caprine animals pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 21/2004

ANNEX

CHAPTER I

Definitions

For the purpose of these Guidelines, the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

‘Country code’ means a 3-digit numeric code representing the name of a country in accordance with ISO standard
3166;

(b) ‘National identification code’ means a 12-digit numeric code to identify an individual animal at national level;

(c)

‘Transponder code’ means the 64-bit electronic code programmed in the transponder and containing inter alia the
country code and national identification code and used for the electronic identification of animals;

(d) ‘Identifier’ means a read-only passive transponder applying the HDX- or FDX-B technology as defined in ISO
standards 11784 and 11785 and incorporated in different means of identification as referred to in Annex A of
Regulation (EC) No 21/2004;

(e)

‘Reader’ means a synchronising or non-synchronising transceiver which is, at least, capable of:

(i) reading identifiers; and

(ii) displaying the country code and the national identification code;

(f)

‘Synchronising transceiver’ means a transceiver, which fully complies with ISO standard 11785 and is able to detect
the presence of other transceivers;

(g)

‘Non-synchronising transceiver’ means a transceiver, which does not comply with clause 6 of ISO standard 11785
and is not able to detect the presence of other transceivers.

CHAPTER II

Identifiers

1.
The competent authority shall only approve the use of identifiers which have at least been tested, with favourable
results, in accordance with the methods specified in the International Agreement on Recording Practices of the Interna-
tional Committee on Animal Recording (ICAR Recording Guidelines), as referred to in the following points (a) and (b), on
their:

(a) conformance with the ISO standards 11784 and ISO 11785, in accordance with the method specified in Section
‘Conformance evaluation of RFID devices, Part 1: ISO 11784/11785 — conformance of transponders

10.2.6.2.1,
including granting and use of a manufacturer code’; and

(b) achievement of performance at the reading distances as laid down in the third indent of Section A.6 of the Annex to
Regulation (EC) No 21/2004, in accordance with the method specified in Section 10, Appendix 10.5 ‘Performance
ISO 11784/11785 — performance of
evaluation of RFID devices, Part 1:
include
measurements of:

transponders’ which shall

(i) the activation field strength;

(ii) the dipole moment; and

(iii) the bit length stability for FDX-B and frequency stability for HDX.

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The tests referred to in point 1 shall be carried out on a minimum quantity of 50 identifiers of each model to be

2.
tested.

The structure of the transponder code shall be in accordance with ISO standard 11784 and the descriptions set out

3.
in the following table:

Bit(s) No

No of digits

No of combinations

Description

1

2-4

5-9

10-15

16

17-26

27-64

1

1

2

2

1

4

12

2

8

32

64

2

This bit indicates whether the identifier is used for animal
cation or not. In all animal applications this bit shall be ‘1’

identifi-

Retagging counter (0 to 7).

User Information field. This bit shall contain ‘04’ codifying the CN-
code for sheep and goats in accordance with Chapter 1, Section I, Part
II of the Annex to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (1).

Empty — All zeros (reserved zone for future applications).

This bit indicates the presence or not of a data block (for the use in
animals this bit shall be ‘0’ = no data block).

1 024

Country code as defined in point (a) of Chapter 1

274 877 906 944 National identification code as defined in point (b) of Chapter 1. If the
national identification code is less than 12 digits, the space between
the national
identification code and the country code shall be
completed with zeros.

(1) OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1.

4.
The competent authority may require additional tests for robustness and endurance of identifiers according to the
procedures described in Part 2 of the Technical Guidelines of the Joint Research Centre of the Commission (JRC).

The competent authority may require other performance criteria to ensure the functionality of identifiers under the

5.
specific geographic, climatic and management conditions of the Member State concerned.

CHAPTER III

Readers

1.
The competent authority shall only approve the use of readers which have at least been tested on their conformance
with ISO standards 11784 and 11785, with favourable results, in accordance with the methods specified in the ICAR
Recording Guidelines, as referred to in the following points (a) and (b), by the conformance test for:

(a) synchronising transceivers in conformity with the methods specified in Section 10.3.5.2 ‘Conformance evaluation of

RFID devices, Part 2: ISO 11784/11785 — conformance of transceivers’; or

(b) non-synchronising transceivers in conformity with the methods specified in Section 10.4.5.2 ‘Conformance evaluation
of RFID devices, Part 3: Conformance test for non-synchronising transceivers for reading ISO 11784/11785 trans-
ponders’.

2.

The competent authority may require:

(a) additional tests on mechanical and thermal robustness and endurance of readers according to the procedures

described in Part 2 of Technical Guidelines of the JRC; and

(b) electromagnetic performance tests as specified in the ICAR Recording Guidelines, Section 10, Appendix 10.6.2
‘Performance evaluation of RFID devices, Part 2: ISO 11784/11785 — performance of handheld transceivers’.

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CHAPTER IV

Test laboratories

The competent authority shall designate test laboratories for carrying out the tests provided for in Chapters II

1.
and III.

However, the competent authority may only designate laboratories that operate and are assessed and accredited in
accordance with the following European standards (‘EN standards’) or equivalent standards:

(a) EN ISO/IEC 17025 ‘General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories’;

(b) EN 45002 ‘General criteria for the assessment of testing laboratories’; and

(c) EN 45003 ‘Calibration and testing laboratory accreditation system — General requirements for operation and

recognition’.

2. Member States shall draw up and keep up-to-date lists of test laboratories designated by the competent authorities
and make such information available to the other Member States and the public on a website.