Proposal for a Council Directive on the identification and registration of pigs (Codified version)
Date: 2007-12-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural census, intra-EU trade, swine, veterinary inspection

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 20.12.2007 
COM(2007) 829 final 

2007/0294 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 

on the identification and registration of pigs 

(Codified version) 

(presented by the Commission) 

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

In  the  context  of  a  people’s  Europe,  the  Commission  attaches  great  importance  to 
simplifying  and  clarifying  Community  law  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  more 
accessible to the ordinary citizen, thus giving him new opportunities and the chance 
to make use of the specific rights it gives him. 

This aim cannot be achieved so long as numerous provisions that have been amended 
several times, often quite substantially, remain scattered, so that they must be sought 
partly  in  the  original  instrument  and  partly  in  later  amending  ones.  Considerable 
research work, comparing many different instruments, is thus needed to identify the 
current rules. 

For  this  reason  a  codification  of  rules  that  have  frequently  been  amended  is  also 
essential if Community law is to be clear and transparent. 

On  1  April  1987  the  Commission  therefore  decided1  to  instruct  its  staff  that  all 
legislative acts should be codified after no more than ten amendments, stressing that 
this  is  a  minimum  requirement  and  that  departments  should  endeavour  to  codify  at 
even  shorter  intervals  the  texts  for  which  they  are  responsible,  to  ensure  that  the 
Community rules are clear and readily understandable. 

The  Conclusions  of 
the  Edinburgh  European  Council 
(December 1992) confirmed this2, stressing the importance of codification as it offers 
certainty as to the law applicable to a given matter at a given time. 

the  Presidency  of 

Codification  must  be  undertaken  in  full  compliance  with  the  normal  Community 
legislative procedure. 

Given  that  no  changes  of  substance  may  be  made  to  the  instruments  affected  by 
codification, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission have agreed, 
by  an  interinstitutional  agreement  dated  20  December  1994,  that  an  accelerated 
procedure may be used for the fast-track adoption of codification instruments. 

is 

this  proposal 

to  undertake  a  codification  of  Council 
The  purpose  of 
Directive 92/102/EEC of 27 November 1992 on the identification and registration of 
animals3. The new Directive will supersede the various acts incorporated in it4; this 
proposal  fully  preserves  the  content  of  the  acts  being  codified  and  hence  does  no 
more than bringing them together with only such formal amendments as are required 
by the codification exercise itself. 

COM(87) 868 PV. 
See Annex 3 to Part A of the Conclusions. 
Carried out pursuant to the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the 
Council – Codification of the Acquis communautaire, COM(2001) 645 final. 
Annex I, Part A of this proposal. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

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3 

4 

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5. 

The codification proposal was drawn up on the basis of a preliminary consolidation, 
in all official languages, of Directive 92/102/EEC and the instruments amending it, 
carried out by the Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, by 
means  of  a  data-processing  system.  Where  the  Articles  have  been  given  new 
numbers,  the  correlation  between  the  old and  the  new  numbers  is  shown  in  a  table 
contained in Annex II to the codified Directive. 

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(cid:208) 92/102/EEC (adapted) 

2007/0294 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE  

on the identification and registration of ⌦ pigs ⌫  

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  and  in  particular 
Article 37 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament1, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

Council  Directive  92/102/EEC  of  27  November  1992  on  the  identification  and 
registration of animals2 has been substantially amended several times3. In the interests 
of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified. 

(cid:208)  

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 1 (adapted) 

(2)  ⌦ Pursuant to ⌫ Article  3(1)(c) of 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 
market4, animals for intra-Community trade must be identified in accordance with the 
requirements of Community rules and be registered in such a way that the original or 
transit  holding,  centre  or  organisation  can  be  traced.  Before  1 January 1993,  those 
identification and registration systems ⌦ had ⌫ to be extended to the movements of 
animals within the territory of each Member State. 

1 
2 

3 
4 

⌦ OJ C […], […], p. […]. ⌫ 
OJ  L  355,  5.12.1992,  p.  32.  Directive  as  last  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  21/2004  (OJ  L  5, 
9.1.2004, p. 8). 
See Annex I, Part A. 
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).  

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(3) 

(4) 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 2 

Article  14  of  Council  Directive  91/496/EEC  of  15  July  1991  laying  down  the 
principles  governing  the  organization  of  veterinary  checks  on  animals  entering  the 
Community  from  third  countries  and  amending  Directives  89/662/EEC,  90/425/EEC 
and 90/675/EEC5 states that the identification and registration provided for in Article 
3(1)(c) of Directive 90/425/EEC of such animals must, except in the case of animals 
for  slaughter  and  registered  equidae,  be  carried  out  after  the  said  checks  have  been 
made. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 4 (adapted) 

It  is  necessary  to  ensure  the  rapid  and  efficient  exchange  of  information  between 
Member  States  for  the  correct  application  of  this  Directive.  Community  provisions 
have been ⌦ laid down ⌫ by Council Regulation (EC) No 515/97 of 13 March 1997 
on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and 
cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of 
the  law  on  customs  ⌦ and ⌫  agricultural  matters6  and  by  Council  Directive 
89/608/EEC  of  21  November  1989  on  mutual  assistance  between  the  administrative 
authorities  of  the  Member  States  and  cooperation  between  the  latter  and  the 
Commission  to  ensure  the  correct  application  of  legislation  on  veterinary  and 
zootechnical matters7.  

(5) 

Keepers of animals ⌦ should ⌫ maintain up-to-date records of the animals on their 
holdings. Persons involved in the commerce of animals ⌦ should ⌫ keep records of 
their dealings .The competent authority ⌦ should ⌫ have access to these records on 
request. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 5 (adapted) 

(6) 

In order to permit movements of animals to be traced rapidly and accurately, animals 
⌦ should ⌫  be  able  to  be  identified.  A  decision  should  be  taken  at  a  later  date  to 
determine the nature of the mark and, pending such decision, the national systems of 
identification should be maintained for movements restricted to the national market.  

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 6 (adapted) 

5 

6 

7 

OJ  L  268,  24.9.1991,  p.  56.  .  Directive  as  last  amended  by  Directive  2006/104/EC  (OJ  L  363, 
20.12.2006, p. 352). 
OJ  L  82,  22.3.1997,  p.  1.  Regulation  as  amended  by  Regulation  (EC)  No  807/2003  (OJ  L  122, 
16.5.2003, p. 36). 
OJ L 351, 2.12.1989, p. 34. 

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(7) 

Provision should be made for the possibility of waiving the requirements for marks in 
the case of animals moving directly from a farm to a slaughterhouse. However, these 
animals  ⌦ should ⌫  in  any  case  be  identified  so  that  their  farm  of  origin  can  be 
traced. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 7 (adapted) 

(8) 

Provision should be made for the possibility of waiving the obligation to register the 
keepers of animals kept for personal purposes and, in order to take into account certain 
particular cases, the procedures for keeping registers. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 8 

(9) 

In the case of animals in which the mark has become illegible or been lost, a new mark 
enabling a link with the previous mark to be established ⌦ should ⌫ be applied. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 9 (adapted) 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 10 
(adapted) 

(10)  This  Directive ⌦ should ⌫  not  affect  specific  requirements  set  out  in  Commission 
Decision  89/153/EEC  of  13  February  1989  concerning  the  correlation  of  samples 
taken for residue examination with animals and their farms of origin8 or any relevant 
applicatory rules established in accordance with Directive 91/496/EEC. 

(11)  Provision  ⌦ should ⌫  be  made  for  a  management  committee  procedure  for  the 

adoption of any necessary implementing rules for this Directive. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC Recital 11 
(adapted) 

(12)  This  Directive  should  be  without  prejudice  to  the  obligations  of  the  Member  States 
relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law of the Directive set out in 
Annex I, Part B, 

(cid:208)  

8 

OJ L 59, 2.3.1989, p. 33. 

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HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

Article 1 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC (adapted) 

This  Directive  sets  out  the  minimum  requirements  for  the  identification  and  registration  of 
⌦ pigs ⌫, without prejudice to more detailed Community rules which may be established 
for disease eradication or control purposes. 

It shall apply without prejudice to Decision 89/153/EEC and to implementing rules laid down 
in accordance with Directive 91/496/EEC. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC 

Article 2 

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply: 

(a) 

‘animal’ means any animal of the ⌦ Suidae family, excluding feral pigs ⌫; 

(cid:208) 21/2004 Art. 15(1) (adapted) 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC (adapted) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

‘holding’ ⌦ means ⌫ any establishment, construction or, in the case of an open-air 
farm, any place in which animals are held, kept or handled; 

‘keeper’ ⌦ means ⌫ any natural or legal person responsible, even on a temporary 
basis, for animals; 

‘competent  authority’  ⌦ means ⌫  the  central  authority  of  a  Member  State 
competent to carry out veterinary checks or any authority to which it has delegated 
that competence for the purposes of implementing this Directive; 

‘trade’  ⌦ means ⌫  trade  as  defined  in  ⌦ point  (3)  of ⌫  Article  2  of 
Directive 90/425/EEC. 

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(cid:208) 92/102/EEC 

Article 3 

1. Member States shall ensure that: 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC (adapted) 

(a) 

the competent authority has an up-to-date list of all the holdings which keep animals 
covered by this Directive and are situated on its territory, specifying the ⌦ keepers 
of  the  animals ⌫;  such  holdings  must  remain  on  that  list  until  three  consecutive 
years  have  elapsed  with  no  animals  on  the  holding.  That  list  must  also  include  the 
mark or marks which permit the identification of the holding in accordance with the 
first subparagraph of Article 5(2) and Article 8; 

(b) 

the  Commission  ⌦ and ⌫  the  competent  authority  can  have  access  to  all 
information obtained under this Directive. 

(cid:208) 21/2004 Art. 15(2) (adapted) 

2.  Member  States  may  be  authorised ⌦ in  accordance  with ⌫  the  procedure  laid  down  in 
Article  18  of  Directive  90/425/EEC  to  exclude  from  the  list  in  paragraph  1(a)  ⌦ of  this 
Article ⌫  natural  persons  who  keep  one  single  ⌦ animal ⌫  which  is  intended  for  their 
own  use  or  consumption,  or  to  take  account  of  particular  circumstances,  provided  that  this 
animal is subjected to the controls laid down in this Directive before any movement. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC (adapted) 
(cid:206)1 21/2004 Art. 15(3)(a) 

Article 4 

1.  Member  States  shall  ensure  that  any  keeper  contained  in  the  list  provided  for  in  Article 
3(1)(a) keeps a register stating the number of animals present on the holding. 

That  register  shall  include  an  up-to-date  record  (cid:206)1 of  movements   (numbers  of  animals 
concerned  by  each  entering  and  leaving  operation)  at  least  on  the  basis  of  aggregate 
movements, stating as appropriate their origin or destination, and the date of such movements. 

The  identification  mark  applied  in  conformity  with  Articles  5  and  8  shall  be  stated  in  all 
cases. 

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In the case of pure-bred and hybrid pigs, which are entered in a herd-book in accordance with 
Council  Directive  88/661/EEC9,  an  alternative  registration  system  based  on  individual 
identification  allowing  the  animals  to  be  identified  may  be  recognised  ⌦ in  accordance 
with ⌫ the procedure laid down in Article 18 of Directive 90/425/EEC if it offers guarantees 
equivalent to a register. 

2. Member States shall also ensure that: 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC 

(a) 

(b) 

any  keeper  supplies  the  competent  authority,  upon  request,  with  all  information 
concerning  the  origin,  identification  and,  where  appropriate,  the  destination  of 
animals which he has owned, kept, transported, marketed or slaughtered; 

(cid:208) 21/2004 Art. 15(3)(c) 

any keeper of animals to be moved to or from a market or collection centre provides 
a  document,  containing  details  of  the  animals  in  question,  to  the  operator,  on  the 
market  or  in  the  collection  centre,  who  is  a  keeper  of  the  animals,  on  a  temporary 
basis. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC 

That  operator  may  use  the  documents  obtained  in  accordance  with  the  first 
subparagraph to carry out the obligations laid down in paragraph 1; 

(c) 

the  registers  and  information  are  available  on  the  holding  and  to  the  competent 
authority,  upon  request,  for  a  minimum  period  to  be  determined  by  the  competent 
authority but which may not be less than three years. 

9 

OJ L 382, 31.12.1988, p. 36. 

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Article 5 

1. Member States shall ensure that the following general principles are respected: 

(a) 

(b) 

identification marks must be applied before animals leave the holding of birth; 

no  mark  may  be  removed  or  replaced  without  the  permission  of  the  competent 
authority. 

Where a mark has become illegible or has been lost, a new mark shall be applied in 
accordance with this Article; 

(c) 

the keeper shall record any new mark in the register referred to in Article 4 in order 
to establish a link with the previous mark applied to the animal. 

2. Animals must be marked as soon as possible, and in any case before they leave the holding, 
with  an  eartag  or  tattoo  making  it  possible  to  determine  the  holding  from  which  they  came 
and enabling reference to be made to any accompanying document which must mention such 
eartag or tattoo and to the list referred to in Article 3(1)(a). 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC (adapted) 

(cid:208) 21/2004 Art. 15(4)(b) (adapted) 

Member  States  may  by  derogation  from  the  second  subparagraph  of  Article  3(1)(c)  of 
Directive  90/425/EEC,  apply  their  national  systems  for  all  movements  of  animals  in  their 
territories. Such systems must enable the holding from which they came and the holding on 
which  they  were  born  to  be  identified.  Member  States  shall  notify  the  Commission  of  the 
systems which they intend to introduce for this purpose. In accordance with the procedure laid 
down  in  Article  18  of  Directive  90/425/EEC,  a  Member  State  may  be  asked  to  make 
amendments to its system where it does not fulfil ⌦ that ⌫ requirement. 

Animals  bearing  a  temporary  mark  identifying  a  consignment  must  be  accompanied 
throughout  their  movement  by  a  document  which  enables  the  origin,  ownership,  place  of 
departure and destination to be determined. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC 

Article 6 

1. Where the competent authority of the Member State of destination decides not to keep the 
identification mark allocated to the animal in the holding of origin all charges incurred as a 
result  of  replacing  the  mark  shall  be  borne  by  that  authority.  Where  the  mark  has  been  so 
replaced,  a  link  shall  be  established  between  the  identification  allocated  by  the  competent 
authority  of  the  Member  State  of  dispatch  and  the  new  identification  allocated  by  the 

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competent  authority  of  the  Member  State  of  destination;  that  link  shall  be  recorded  in  the 
register provided for in Article 4. 

The option in the first subparagraph may not be invoked in the case of animals intended for 
slaughter which are imported under Article 8 without bearing a new mark in accordance with 
Article 5. 

2.  Where  the  animals  have  been  traded,  the  competent  authority  of  the  Member  State  of 
destination  may,  for  the  purposes  of  Article  5  of  Directive  90/425/EEC,  have  recourse  to 
Article 4 of Directive 89/608/EEC in order to obtain the information relating to the animals, 
their herd of origin and any movement to which they have been subject. 

Article 7 

Member  States  shall  ensure  that  any  information  relating  to  movements  of  animals  not 
accompanied by a certificate or a document required by veterinary or zootechnical legislation 
remains available to the competent authority, upon request, for a minimum period to be set by 
the latter. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC (adapted) 

Article 8 

Any  animal  imported  from  a  third  country  which  has  passed  the  checks  laid  down  by 
Directive 91/496/EEC and which remains within Community territory shall, within thirty days 
of undergoing ⌦ those ⌫ checks, and, in any event, before their movement, be identified by 
a mark complying with Article 5 ⌦ of this Directive ⌫ unless the holding of destination is a 
slaughterhouse situated on the territory of the competent authority responsible for veterinary 
checks and the animal is actually slaughtered within that 30-day period. 

A link shall be established between the identification established by the third country and the 
identification allocated to it by the Member State of destination. That link shall be recorded in 
the register provided for in Article 4. 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC 

Article 9 

Member  States  shall  adopt  necessary  administrative  and/or  penal  measures  to  punish  any 
infringement of Community veterinary legislation, where it is established that the marking or 
identification or the keeping of registers provided for in Article 4 has not been carried out in 
conformity with the requirements of this Directive. 

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

Article 10 

(cid:208)  

Article 11 

Directive 92/102/EEC, as amended by the acts listed in Annex I, Part A, is repealed, without 
prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition 
into national law of the Directive set out in Annex I, Part B. 

References  to  the  repealed  Directive  shall  be  construed  as  references  to  this  Directive  and 
shall be read in accordance with the correlation table set out in Annex II. 

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

Article 12 

(cid:208) 92/102/EEC 

Article 13 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

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(cid:207) 

ANNEX I 

Part A 

Repealed Directive with list of its successive amendments 
(referred to in Article 11) 

Council Directive 92/102/EEC 
(OJ L 355, 5.12.1992, p. 32) 

Point V.E.I.4.6. of Annex I to the 1994 Act of 
Accession 
(OJ C 241, 29.8.1994, p. 21) 

Council Regulation (EC) No 21/2004 
(OJ L 5, 9.1.2004, p. 8) 

only Article 15 

Part B 

List of time-limits for transposition into national law 
(referred to in Article 11) 

Directive 

92/102/EEC 

Time-limit for transposition1 

31.12.19932 

31.12.19953 

__________ 

1 

2 

3 

The  setting  of  the  deadline  for  transposition  into  national  law  at  1  January  1994  shall  be  without 
prejudice to the abolition of veterinary checks at frontiers provided for in Directive 90/425/EEC. (See 
Article 11(3) of Directive 92/102/EEC.) 
For  the  requirements  regarding  porcine  animals.  (See  the  first  indent  of  Article  11(1)  of 
Directive 92/102/EEC). 
For Finland, as concerns the requirements for bovine animals, swine, sheep and goats. (See the second 
indent of Article 11(1) of Directive 92/102/EEC). 

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ANNEX II 

CORRELATION TABLE 

Directive 92/102/EEC 

This Directive 

Articles 1, 2 and 3 

Article 4(1)(a) 

Article 4(2) 

Article 4(3) 

Articles 1, 2 and 3 

Article 4(1) 

_ 

Article 4(2) 

Article 5(1), points (a), (b) and (c) 

Article 5(1), points (a), (b) and (c) 

Article 5(1)(d) 

Article 5(3) 

Articles 6 to 9 

Article 10 

Article 11(1) 

Article 11(2) 

Article 11(3) 

_ 

_ 

Article 12 

_ 

_ 

_ 

Article 5(2) 

Articles 6 to 9 

_ 

_ 

Article 10 

_ 

Article 11 

Article 12 

Article 13 

Annex I 

Annex II 

____________ 

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