Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2618 of 23 November 2023 amending certain Annexes to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 as regards the approval or withdrawal of the disease-free status of certain Member States or zones thereof as regards certain listed diseases and the approval of eradication programmes for certain listed diseases
Date: 2023-11-23
Institutions: Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
Subjects: Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, animal disease, sheep, veterinary inspection, viral disease








L_202302618EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
Series L













2023/2618


24.11.2023







            COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2023/2618
of 23 November 2023
         
amending certain Annexes to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 as regards the approval or withdrawal of the disease-free status of certain Member States or zones thereof as regards certain listed diseases and the approval of eradication programmes for certain listed diseases
(Text with EEA relevance)


THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,


Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on transmissible animal diseases and amending and repealing certain acts in the area of animal health (‘Animal Health Law’) (1), and in particular Articles 31(3), 36(4) and 42(4) thereof,

Whereas:







(1)


Regulation (EU) 2016/429 lays down disease-specific rules for the diseases listed in accordance with Article 5(1) thereof and lays down how those rules are to be applied to different categories of listed diseases. Regulation (EU) 2016/429 provides for the Member States to establish compulsory eradication programmes for the listed diseases referred to in Article 9(1), point (b), thereof, and for optional eradication programmes for listed diseases referred to in Article 9(1), point (c), thereof, and for the approval of such programmes by the Commission. That Regulation also provides for the approval or withdrawal by the Commission of the disease-free status of Member States or zones or compartments thereof regarding certain listed diseases referred to in Article 9(1), points (b) and (c), thereof.












(2)


Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 (2) supplements Regulation (EU) 2016/429 and lays down the criteria for granting, maintaining, suspending, and withdrawing disease-free status for Member States or zones or compartments thereof, and the requirements for the approval of compulsory or optional eradication programmes for Member States or zones or compartments thereof.












(3)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 (3) lays down implementing rules for the listed diseases, referred to in Article 9(1), points (a), (b) and (c), of Regulation (EU) 2016/429, of animals, as regards the disease-free and non-vaccination status of certain Member States or zones or compartments thereof, and the approval of eradication programmes for those listed diseases. More particularly, it lists in the Annexes thereto, the Member States or zones or compartments thereof with disease-free status, and it also lists the existing approved compulsory or optional eradication programmes. The changing epidemiological situation of the Aujeszky’s disease virus (ADV) and the bluetongue virus (serotypes 1-24) (BTV) in certain Member States makes it necessary to amend Annexes VI and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 to reflect the current situation.












(4)


For infection with ADV and infection with BTV, certain Member States have recently applied to the Commission to have disease-free status granted or optional eradication programmes approved for certain zones of their territory. Certain Member States have also notified outbreaks of infection with BTV. Accordingly, this situation should be reflected in Annexes VI and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620.












(5)


For infection with ADV, Portugal has submitted to the Commission information demonstrating that the conditions for the recognition of disease-free status from infection with ADV laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 are fulfilled for the Autonomous Region of the Azores. Following the assessment by the Commission, that application has been shown to comply with the criteria laid down in Part II, Chapter 4, of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 for the granting of disease-free status from infection with ADV. Therefore, that zone should be listed in Part I of Annex VI to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620, as having disease-free status from infection with ADV.












(6)


As regards infection with BTV, Belgium and the Netherlands have notified to the Commission several outbreaks of infection with BTV serotype 3 affecting the whole territory of those Member States, Germany has notified to the Commission an outbreak of infection with BTV serotype 3 affecting the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Spain has notified to the Commission several outbreaks of infection with BTV serotype 4 in the province of Ciudad Real in the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha, also affecting the surrounding provinces of Albacete, Cuenca and Toledo. As the whole territory of Belgium, the whole territory of Germany, the whole territory of the Netherlands, and parts of those provinces in Spain are recognised as having disease-free status and are listed in Part I of Annex VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620, such disease-free status from infection with BTV should be withdrawn, and the entries for the whole territory of Belgium and for the whole territory of the Netherlands should be deleted, and the entries for Germany and for Spain in that list should be amended accordingly.












(7)


As regards infection with BTV, Spain has also informed the Commission that it has extended the territorial scope of the optional eradication programme already approved for the zone listed in Part II of Annex VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 with the addition of a zone comprising the whole of the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real and Toledo in the Autonomous Community of Castilla-La Mancha. Therefore, that zone should be added to the entry for Spain in Part II of Annex VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620, as a zone with an approved eradication programme for infection with BTV.












(8)


Annexes VI and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 should, therefore, be amended accordingly.












(9)


The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,





HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:



Article 1
Annexes VI and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 are amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.


Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.




This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 23 November 2023.


For the Commission


The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN
            





(1)  
            OJ L 84, 31.3.2016, p. 1.

(2)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 of 17 December 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards rules for surveillance, eradication programmes, and disease-free status for certain listed and emerging diseases (OJ L 174, 3.6.2020, p. 211).

(3)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 of 15 April 2021 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the approval of the disease-free and non-vaccination status of certain Member States or zones or compartments thereof as regards certain listed diseases and the approval of eradication programmes for those listed diseases (OJ L 131, 16.4.2021, p. 78).




ANNEX
Annexes VI and VIII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 are amended as follows:






(1)


in Annex VI, in Part I, the following entry for Portugal is inserted between the entry for Poland and the entry for Slovenia:







Member State




Territory





‘Portugal


Região Autónoma dos Açores’














(2)


Annex VIII is amended as follows:






(a)


Part I is amended as follows:






(i)


the entry for Belgium is deleted;










(ii)


the entry for Germany is replaced by the following:







Member State




Territory





‘Germany


Whole territory except Bundesland Nordrhein-Westfalen’














(iii)


the entry for the Netherlands is deleted;










(iv)


the entry for Spain is replaced by the following:







Member State




Territory





‘Spain


Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía: Province of Almería
Province of Granada, the following districts: Alhama de Granada (Alhama/Temple), Baza (Altiplanicie Sur), Guadix (Hoya-Altiplanicie de Guadix), Huescar (Altiplanicie Norte), Iznalloz (Montes Orientales), Loja (Vega/Montes Occ.), Orgiva (Alpujarra/Valle de Lecrin), Santa Fe (Vega de Granada)
Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón
Comunidad Autónoma de Asturias
Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias Comunidad Autónoma de Cantabria
Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-La Mancha:
Province of Guadalajara
Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León, except the following areas:
Province of Salamanca
Ávila, Arenas de San Pedro, Candeleda, Cebreros, El Barco de Ávila, El Barraco, Navaluenga, Navarredonda de Gredos, Piedrahíta, San Pedro del Arroyo, Sotillo de la Adrada in the Province of Ávila
Alcañices, Bermillo de Sayago, Puebla de Sanabria in the Province of Zamora
Comunidad Autónoma de Cataluña
Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia except the following areas:
Province of Orense
Province of Pontevedra
Sarria, Chantada and Terra de Lemos-Quiroga in the Province of Lugo
Comunidad Autónoma de La Rioja
Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid, except the following districts:
Navalcarnero, San Martín de Valdeiglesias
Comunidad Autónoma de Murcia
Comunidad Autónoma de Navarra
Comunidad Autónoma de País Vasco
Comunidad Autónoma de Valencia’


















(b)


Part II is replaced by the following:









                  ‘PART II

Member States or zones thereof with an approved eradication programme for infection with BTV








Member State


Territory


Date of initial approval as referred to in Article 15(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689




Spain


Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía:
Provinces of Cádiz, Córdoba, Huelva, Jáén, Málaga, Sevilla
Province of Granada: Motril (Costa de Granada)
Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-La Mancha, except the Province of Guadalajara
Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León:
Province of Salamanca
Province of Ávila, the following districts: Ávila, Arenas de San Pedro, Candeleda, Cebreros, El Barco de Ávila, El Barraco, Navaluenga, Navarredonda de Gredos, Piedrahíta, San Pedro del Arroyo, Sotillo de la Adrada
Province of Zamora, the following districts: Alcañices, Bermillo de Sayago, Puebla de Sanabria
Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura
Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia:
Province of Orense
Province of Pontevedra
Sarria, Chantada and Terra de Lemos-Quiroga in the Province of Lugo
Comunidad Autónoma de Islas Baleares
Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid, the following districts:
Navalcarnero, San Martín de Valdeiglesias


21 February 2022’







ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2023/2618/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)