Proposal for a Council Decision correcting Directive 2008/73/EC 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, 90/426/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 90/428/EEC, 90/429/EEC, 90/539/EEC, 91/68/EEC, 91/496/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
Date: 2009-02-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal health, dissemination of information, health control, livestock farming, simplification of legislation, trading operation, veterinary inspection, veterinary legislation, zootechnics

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.2.2009 
COM(2009) 45 final 

2009/0016 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

correcting Directive 2008/73/EC 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, 
90/426/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 90/428/EEC, 90/429/EEC, 90/539/EEC, 91/68/EEC, 
91/496/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  

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

Council Directive 2008/73/EC amended a number of Council acts to provide for, inter alia, 
uniform publication rules of lists of national reference laboratories officially approved by the 
Member States for diagnostic tests of animal diseases and lists of establishments or authorities 
officially  approved  for  intra-Community  trade  or  imports  into  the  Community  in  the 
veterinary and zootechnical fields. 

Directive  2008/73/EC  entered  into  force  on  3  September  2008.  Directive  2008/73/EC 
provides that Member States are to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative 
provisions necessary to comply with it by 1 January 2010. However, that Directive does not 
provide for the Member States to apply those provisions from that date. 

For the sake of legal certainty and in order to ensure a uniform date of applications of those 
measures in all Member States, Member States should apply those measures from that date.  

As the measures should apply from 1 January 2010, Directive 2008/73/EC should uniformly 
also apply from that date in all Member States.  

However,  certain  amendments  introduced  by  Directive  2008/73/EC  that  do  not  require 
transposition by Member States should not be affected by this Decision. Those amendments 
concern respectively the adoption of specific animal health measures in accordance with the 
procedure  laid  down  in  Council  Decision  1999/468/EC  of  28  June  1999  laying  down  the 
procedures  for  the  exercise  of  implementing  powers  conferred  on  the  Commission1  and 
correct an outdated reference. 

In  order  to  ensure  a  smooth  transition  to  the  new  simplified  procedures  of  listing  and 
publishing  information  in  the  veterinary  and  zootechnical  fields,  it  should  be  provided  that 
transitional provisions may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Council 
Decision 1999/468/EC. 

Directive 2008/73/EC should therefore be corrected accordingly. 

1 

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. 

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2009/0016 (CNS) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL DECISION 

correcting Directive 2008/73/EC 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, 
90/426/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 90/428/EEC, 90/429/EEC, 90/539/EEC, 91/68/EEC, 
91/496/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  

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 Commission2, 

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament3, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Council  Directive  2008/73/EC4  amended  a  total  of  23  Council  acts  to  provide,  inter 
alia, for simplified procedures of listing and publishing information in the veterinary 
and zootechnical fields. 

Directive 2008/73/EC entered into force on 3 September 2008. Member States are to 
bring  into  force  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions  necessary  to 
comply with that Directive by 1 January 2010 at the latest. However, that Directive did 
not provide that the Member States were to apply those provisions from that date. 

For  the  sake  of  legal  certainty,  Directive  2008/73/EC  should  be  corrected  to  ensure 
that  the  amendments  made  to  the  various  Council  acts  by  that  Directive,  in  order  to 
provide for those simplified procedures, are uniformly applied by the Member States 
from  1  January  2010.  Directive  2008/73/EC  should  therefore  be  corrected  so  that  it 
also  applies  from  that  date.  Accordingly,  that  Directive  should  also  be  corrected  in 
order to provide that the Member States are to apply those provisions from that date. 

(4) 

However,  certain  other  amendments  made  by  Directive  2008/73/EC  to  Council 
Directives 64/432/EC5 and 90/426/EEC6 do not concern the simplified procedures and 
therefore they do not require a deferred date of application by the Member States of 

2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ C […], […], p. […]. 
OJ L 219, 14.8.2008, p. 40. 
OJ 121, 29.7.1964, p. 1977/64. 
OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 42. 

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1 January  2010.  Those  amendments  concern  respectively  the  adoption  of  specific 
animal  health  measures  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid  down  in  Council 
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of 
implementing  powers  conferred  on  the  Commission7  and  correct  an  outdated 
reference. 

(5) 

In order to ensure a smooth transition to the new simplified procedures of listing and 
publishing information in the veterinary and zootechnical fields, it should be provided 
that  transitional  provisions  may  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedure  laid 
down in Council Decision 1999/468/EC. 

(6) 

To  ensure  legal  certainty  and  continuity  this  Decision  should  apply  from  the 
3 September 2008, the date of entry into force of Directive 2008/73/EC. 

(7) 

Directive 2008/73/EC should therefore be corrected accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

Directive 2008/73/EC is corrected as follows: 

(1) 

(2) 

Paragraph 2 of Article 20 shall be deleted. 

The following Articles 23a and 23b are inserted: 

"Article 23a 
Transitional provisions 

Transitional provisions may be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to 
in Article 23b(2). 

Article 23b 
Committee procedure 

1. 

The  Commission  shall  be  assisted  by  the  Standing  Committee  on  the  Food 
Chain  and  Animal  Health  set  up  by  Article  58  of  Regulation  (EC)  No 
178/2002. 

2.  Where  reference  is  made  to  this  paragraph,  Articles  5  and  7  of  Decision 

1999/468/EC shall apply. 

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at 
three months." 

7 

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. 

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(3) 

Article 24(1) shall be replaced by the following: 

"1.  Member  States  shall  bring  into  force  the  laws,  regulations  and  administrative 
provisions  necessary  to  comply  with  this  Directive  by  1  January  2010  at  the 
latest. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those 
provisions. 

They shall apply those provisions from 1 January 2010. 

When Member States adopt those provisions, they shall contain a reference to 
this  Directive  or  shall  be  accompanied  by  such  reference  on  the  occasion  of 
their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is 
to be made." 

(4) 

Article 25 shall be replaced by the following: 

"Article 25 
Entry into force and applicability  

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

It  shall  apply  from  1  January  2010,  with  the  exception  of  Article  1(1)  and  (5)  and 
Articles 7, 23a and 23b." 

This Decision shall apply from 3 September 2008. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Article 4 

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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