Commission Decision of 22 December 2006 amending Decision 2005/760/EC as regards certain protection measures in relation to highly pathogenic avian influenza and imports of birds other than poultry into the Community (notified under document number C(2006) 6969)   (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2006-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal disease, bird, health control, import restriction, infectious disease, surveillance concerning imports

L 7/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

12.1.2007

COMMISSION DECISION

of 22 December 2006

amending Decision 2005/760/EC as regards certain protection measures in relation to highly
pathogenic avian influenza and imports of birds other than poultry into the Community

(notified under document number C(2006) 6969)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/21/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(2)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June
1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable
in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products
with a view to the completion of the internal market (1), and in
particular Article 10(4) thereof,

(3)

Having regard to Council Directive 91/496/EEC of 15 July 1991
laying down the principles governing the organisation of
veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from
third
89/662/EEC,
90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC (2), and in particular Article
18(7) thereof,

amending Directives

countries

and

Having regard to Council Directive 97/78/EC of 18 December
1997 laying down the principles governing the organisation of
veterinary checks on products entering the Community from
third countries (3), and in particular Article 22(6) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

the virus,

Following the outbreak of avian influenza in south-
eastern Asia in 2004, caused by a highly pathogenic
strain of
the Commission adopted several
protection measures in relation to that disease. Those
measures included in particular Commission Decision
2005/760/EC of 27 October 2005 concerning certain
protection measures in relation to highly pathogenic
avian influenza in certain third countries for the import
of captive birds (4). Commission Decision 2005/760/EC
currently applies until 31 December 2006.

(1) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 29. Directive as last amended by Directive
2002/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ
L 315, 19.11.2002, p. 14).

(2) OJ L 268, 24.9.1991, p. 56. Directive as last amended by the 2003

Act of Accession.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Panel on
animal health and welfare (AHAW) has adopted on 27
October 2006 a Scientific Opinion on the animal health
and welfare risks associated with the import of wild birds
other than poultry into the Community (‘the Opinion’).
The Opinion became officially available on 14 November
2006.

such as

The Opinion has identified a number of areas whereby
improvements would significantly reduce any identified
health risk related to the import of birds other than
In particular, the Opinion points to the risks
poultry.
of
avian
spreading of viral diseases
the
influenza and Newcastle Disease via the import of birds
other
than poultry and identifies possible tools and
options which can reduce any identified animal health
risk related to the import of these birds. Because this
Scientific Opinion will guide the future policy of the
EU on the animal health and welfare aspects of these
imports, it is important to properly assess the scientific
input received by the Commission by giving careful
consideration to the conclusions and recommendations
laid down in the Opinion,
in order to put in place a
coherent system for these imports.

(4) With regard to the measures laid down in Decision
2005/760/EC, the Commission has started the evaluation
of the Opinion immediately after its release and a first
analysis of the Opinion and the possible modifications to
these measures has taken place during an expert working
group meeting in the framework of
the Standing
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on
the
14 November 2006 and in the meeting of
Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal
Health on 27 November 2006. However,
in the light
of the current world animal health situation regarding
avian influenza, in order to allow the Member States as
they indicated at the meeting of 27 November 2006 and
the Commission, in close cooperation with the Member
States,
to finalise this evaluation and to prepare the
measures to be laid down, the restrictions provided for
in Decision 2005/760/EC should be continued for a
short transitional period.

(5)

Decision 2005/760/EC should be amended accordingly.

(3) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998, p. 9. Directive as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(OJ L 165, 30.4.2004, p. 1); corrected by OJ L 191, 28.5.2004, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 285, 28.10.2005, p. 60. Decision as amended by Decision

(6)

2005/862/EC.

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

in this Decision are in
Standing
the

opinion

the

of

12.1.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 7/45

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 3

Article 1

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

In Article 6 of Decision 2005/760/EC the date ‘31 December
2006’ is replaced by ‘31 March 2007’.

Article 2

shall

immediately take the necessary
The Member States
measures to comply with this Decision and publish those
measures. They shall
immediately inform the Commission
thereof.

Done at Brussels, 22 December 2006.

For the Commission

Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission