Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Directive simplifying procedures of listing and publishing information in the veterinary and zootechnical fields and amending Directives 64/432/EEC, 77/504/EEC, 88/407/EEC, 88/661/EEC, 89/361/EEC, 89/556/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 90/428/EEC, 90/429/EEC, 90/539/EEC, 91/68/EEC, 92/35/EEC, 92/65/EEC, 92/66/EEC, 92/119/EEC, 94/28/EC, 2000/75/EC, Decision 2000/258/EC and Directives 2001/89/EC, 2002/60/EC, and 2005/94/EC COM(2008) 120 final — 2008/0046 (CNS)
Date: 2008-05-29
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: animal health, dissemination of information, health control, livestock farming, simplification of legislation, trading operation, veterinary inspection, veterinary legislation

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.8.2008

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a Council Directive
simplifying procedures of listing and publishing information in the veterinary and zootechnical
fields and amending Directives 64/432/EEC, 77/504/EEC, 88/407/EEC, 88/661/EEC, 89/361/EEC,
89/556/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 90/428/EEC, 90/429/EEC, 90/539/EEC, 91/68/EEC, 92/35/EEC, 92/65/EEC,
92/66/EEC, 92/119/EEC, 94/28/EC, 2000/75/EC, Decision 2000/258/EC and Directives 2001/89/EC,
2002/60/EC, and 2005/94/EC

COM(2008) 120 final — 2008/0046 (CNS)

(2008/C 224/19)

On 11 April 2008, the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 37 of the Treaty establishing the European Community on the:

Proposal for a Council Directive simplifying procedures of
listing and publishing information in the veterinary and
zootechnical fields and amending Directives 64/432/EEC, 77/504/EEC, 88/407/EEC, 88/661/EEC, 89/361/EEC,
89/556/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 90/428/EEC, 90/429/EEC, 90/539/EEC, 91/68/EEC, 92/35/EEC, 92/65/EEC,
92/66/EEC, 92/119/EEC, 94/28/EC, 2000/75/EC, Decision 2000/258/EC and Directives 2001/89/EC,
2002/60/EC, and 2005/94/EC.

On 21 April 2008, the Bureau of the European Economic and Social Committee instructed the Section for
Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment to undertake the preparatory work.

In view of the urgency of the matter, the European Economic and Social Committee, at its 445th plenary
session held on 28 and 29 May 2008 (meeting of 29 May), appointed Mr Nielsen as rapporteur-general and
unanimously adopted the following opinion.

1. Conclusions

The EESC fully recognises the need identified by the
1.1
Commission to harmonise and simplify procedures for listing
and publishing information in the veterinary and zootechnical
fields. Hence, the rules for the listing, update, transmission and
publication of information should be amended as quickly as
possible.

1.2 Member States should continue to be responsible for
compiling information and making it available to the other
Member States and to the public at large. Harmonisation and
simplification should be achieved through the regulatory proce-
dure and, in the interests of clarity and consistency, this new
procedure should also apply in the zootechnical field.

However,

1.3
is unnecessarily
the Commission proposal
complicated and bureaucratic. It should be possible to secure
the sought-after simplification and harmonisation more quickly
and more easily by providing the Commission directly with the
desired legal basis, including the remit to undertake the process
of simplification and harmonisation in cooperation with the
Member States using the regulatory procedure. In that way, the
objective can be reached more quickly and more directly,
thereby enabling the quickest possible application of the proce-
dures for the listing, update, transmission and publication of
information. Moreover, the information available on Member
States' websites should be made more easily accessible and more
readily understandable for all.

This is all the more necessary given the overall desire
1.4
that has been expressed for simpler, more readily accessible
legislation in the EU as a whole, and not least the Commission's
intention to draw up a common legislative programme in the

veterinary field,
in conjunction with the new Animal Health
Strategy, which seeks to consolidate EU legislation in the veter-
inary and zootechnical fields. If the proposal is implemented as
it stands, this consolidation of legal instruments into a common
framework will necessitate a revisiting of the entire issue in just
a few years' time and will again mean new and time-consuming
changes in Member States' legislation and administrative prac-
tice.

In this connection, there is also a need to specify as
1.5
quickly as possible the procedures to be followed for
the
approval of — and the update of information on — assembly
centres and the requirements to be met by the national reference
laboratories.

2. Background

Trade in live animals and breeding material

2.1
in the EU
requires approval and monitoring by the institutions, businesses,
installations and associations concerned (referred to hereinafter
as relevant bodies) (1). It is vital to maintain adequate security and

(1) These include:

— state-run laboratories responsible for matters relating to serious
contagious animal diseases (monitoring, test methods and prepa-
redness, use of reagents, vaccine testing etc.);

— bovine and porcine semen collection centres, semen storage
centres, sperm banks and embryo collection or production
teams;

— breeding organisations and associations officially approved for
flock books or stud

maintaining or establishing herd books,
books;

— all kinds of approved assembly centres for bovine, porcine,

caprine and ovine animals, poultry establishments;

— approved dealers and registered premises used by dealers in

connection with their business.

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avoid any risk of spreading contagious animal diseases. The rele-
vant bodies therefore have to meet a range of conditions and
must be approved by the Member States to conduct internal EU
trade in live animals and breeding material, including, not least,
genetic material
from animals in the form of semen and
embryos.

approved laboratories situated in third countries. Lastly, transi-
tional measures are proposed to ensure continuity in the serolo-
gical tests for rabies vaccines (4).

3. General comments

2.2
time
EU veterinary legislation has grown up over
through the successive adoption of a significant number of legal
instruments. As a result, a number of different procedures are in
place for Member State registration of the relevant bodies and
for the listing, update, transmission and publication of informa-
tion. This makes the practical use of the information difficult
for the national authorities and for the stakeholder organisations
and operators. In some cases, there is no legal basis for the
reporting involved.

2.3
The proposal seeks to harmonise and simplify the rules
using the regulatory procedure (2), thus easing the administrative
burden by putting in place more systematic, coherent and
uniform rules for the registration, listing, update, transmission
information. This formally requires the
and publication of
amendment of 20 directives and one decision. (3) In the interests
of clarity and consistency, the Commission feels that this new
procedure should also apply in the zootechnical field and to
breeding associations approved for maintaining or establishing
herd books, flock books or stud books in the Member States,
and to trade in equidae intended for competitions and to partici-
pation in such competitions.

2.4
Bodies in third countries also have to meet a range of
conditions for the export of semen and embryos to the EU.
These are monitored by the national authorities of the third
country concerned and in line with Community veterinary
inspections, where appropriate. In the case of concerns with
regard to the information communicated by the third countries,
safeguard measures are to be adopted in accordance with Direc-
the
tive 97/78/EC. For
Commission considers that the procedure should also apply to
authorities in third countries approved for
the purpose of
keeping a herd book, a flock book or a stud book in accordance
with Community zootechnical legislation.

reasons of clarity and consistency,

The Commission feels that,

in contrast to the current
2.5
position, the Member States should be responsible for drawing
up and updating information on approved national reference
laboratories and other approved laboratories. On the other
hand, under the current proposal, the Commission will continue
to be responsible for drawing up and publishing information on

(2) Regulatory procedure under Articles 5 and 7 of Council Decision
1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission.

(3) Directives 64/432/EEC, 77/504/EEC, 88/407/EEC, 88/661/EEC,
89/361/EEC, 89/556/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 90/428/EEC, 90/429/EEC,
90/539/EEC,
92/66/EEC,
92/35/EEC,
92/119/EEC, 94/28/EC, 2000/75/EC, 2001/89/EC, 2002/60/EC,
2005/94/EC and Decision 2000/258/EC

91/68/EEC,

92/65/EEC,

3.1
EU veterinary and zootechnical legislation is exception-
ally complex and comprehensive, not only because the provi-
sions have been drawn up gradually to meet developments, but
also because of the complex nature of the diseases involved and
the need for reliable preventive action and monitoring. The
outbreak and spread of infectious animal diseases may have a
significant economic and social impact, and it is vital, therefore,
to secure the optimum operation both of the legislation in place
and of the relevant administrative procedures. There is also an
increased global risk as a result of
the constant population
growth and pressure on livestock production, coupled with
communication.
more
Climate change too is leading to changes in the geographical
distribution of diseases.

and increasing

international

trade

the EESC feels that

transmission and publication of

3.2
The EESC thus feels that there is a clear need to act
without delay to simplify and harmonise the rules for the
listing, update,
information.
However,
the desired objective can be
achieved more quickly and much more straightforwardly by
removing the existing provisions on the procurement and publi-
cation of information from the relevant legislative instruments
and replacing them with a single piece of legislation that gives
the Commission the requisite legal basis and remit to start work
on simplification and harmonisation as quickly as possible and
to carry it through using the regulatory procedure. This has the
same result without the need to wait for the time-consuming
administrative implementation in Member States' legislation and
administrative practice.

3.3
the
The Commission's current proposal provides for
introduction of new provisions into each of the 21 legislative
instruments, with repeated allusions to new rules, which in turn
refer to the use of the regulatory procedure. This seems an
unnecessarily complicated approach, whereby the procedural
rules are first adopted through appropriate references in each of
the 21 legislative instruments, followed by a delay while the
necessary implementing provisions are adopted in the national
legislation and administration of the 30 EEA countries. Only at
the end of that process does the Commission have the requisite
remit, and the real work of drawing up the common rules using
the regulatory procedure can begin.

3.4
This matter is all the more important given the overall
desire that has been expressed for simpler, more readily acces-
sible legislation in the EU as a whole, and not least the Commis-
sion's proposal to draw up a common legislative programme in
the veterinary field, in conjunction with the new Animal Health

(4) Council Decision 2000/258/EC of 20 March 2000 designating a
specific institute responsible for establishing the criteria necessary for
standardising the serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies
vaccines, including which tests may replace the existing IF tests or
national provisions.

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aspects

forms of

and the model

Commission should, without delay, start developing the tech-
nical
information
concerned. It is also important to provide a clear link from the
Commission's home page to the information compiled and
updated by the Member States. Otherwise, there is a risk that
Member States will continue to present
the information in
different ways, making it difficult for the authorities and other
stakeholders to make use of it in practice.

the

the approval and update of

There is also a need to specify the procedures to be
4.3
followed for
information on
approved assembly centres. Thus, uncertainty about compliance
with the rules for the unloading of animals during long-distance
transport is due to gaps in the information on useable assembly
centres. The rules are frequently misleading as to the species and
number of animals that can be accommodated in the assembly
centres.

4.4
No reason is given for the Commission's proposal to
allow Member States to approve reference laboratories. This is
probably due to a desire to reduce the Commission's workload
and the expediency of obliging the Member States to shoulder
this responsibility. However, it is necessary as soon as possible
to specify the requirements to be met by the national reference
laboratories, in the light, among other things, of international
standards for laboratory facilities, quality assurance and metho-
dology.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

Strategy, which seeks to consolidate EU legislation in the veter-
inary and zootechnical fields (5). It would be quicker and more
straightforward to replace the existing rules directly and give the
Commission, through the adoption of a legal instrument to that
effect, the remit it needs to begin work as quickly as possible
without waiting for the introduction of amended rules as part
of the national implementation of the 21 legislative instruments
concerned, with the delays and administrative complications
that would entail.

The EESC therefore feels that

3.5
the Council and the
Commission should seize the opportunity to make good use of
the planned common legislative framework in this area. Other-
wise, the provisions will have to be revised again in conjunction
with the consolidation of the legislation, with the concomitant
administrative complications that this will entail for the Member
States, which will again have to revise their legislation and
administrative practice.

4. Specific comments

The Commission proposal

4.1
repeatedly uses the term
‘listing’, which gives the impression that this is an agreed term.
The main thrust of the proposal, however, relates to procedures
for the listing, update, transmission and publication of the rele-
vant information and the laying-down of a model form of this
information using the regulatory process.

4.2
more easily accessible and more readily understandable,

To make the information on Member States' websites
the

Brussels, 29 May 2008

(5) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the
Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions on a new Animal Health Strategy for the
European Union (2007-2013) where ‘Prevention is better than cure’,
COM(2007) 539 final.