Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1215 of 11 June 2026 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 as regards infection with bluetongue virus (serotypes 1-24) and the approval or withdrawal of the disease-free status of certain Member States or zones thereof
Date: 2026-06-11
Institutions: Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission
Subjects: Finland, Ireland, Spain, Sweden, animal disease, disease prevention, sheep, veterinary inspection, viral disease








L_202601215EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
L series













2026/1215


7.8.2026







            COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2026/1215
of 11 June 2026
         
amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 as regards infection with bluetongue virus (serotypes 1-24) and the approval or withdrawal of the disease-free status of certain Member States or zones thereof
(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 Article 31(4), second subparagraph, and Articles 36(4) and 42(4) thereof,

Whereas:







(1)


Regulation (EU) 2016/429 lays down disease-specific rules for the prevention and control of the listed diseases, defined in Article 4, point (18), thereof, and it specifies how those rules are to be applied to different categories of listed diseases. Regulation (EU) 2016/429 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 (a), (b) and (c), thereof. In addition, Regulation (EU) 2016/429 provides for 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 the listed diseases referred to in Article 9(1), point (c), thereof, and for the approval of such programmes by the Commission.












(2)


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












(3)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 (3) categorises each listed disease as a category A, B, C, D or E disease, which is subject to the corresponding disease-specific rules referred to in Article 9(1), points (a) to (e), of Regulation (EU) 2016/429. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882, as amended by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/169 (4), categorises infection with bluetongue virus (serotypes 1-24) (‘infection with BTV’) as a category D+E disease. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/169 applies from 1 November 2026. However, before that amendment, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 categorised infection with BTV as a C+D+E disease, and it was therefore subject to the disease-specific rules referred to in Article 9(1), points (c), (d) and (e), of Regulation (EU) 2016/429. As a result of that re-categorisation, the rules for infection with BTV concerning optional eradication programmes and disease-free status, laid down in Articles 2, 12, 37 to 45, 66, 70, 72 and 81 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689, and in Part II of Annex V thereto, are no longer relevant, as they only apply to category C diseases.












(4)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 (5) 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 approved disease-free status or approved eradication programmes for those listed diseases.












(5)


In particular, Article 9 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 provides that the Member States or zones thereof with disease-free status from infection with BTV are listed in Part I of Annex VIII thereto, and the Member States or zones thereof with an approved optional eradication programme for infection with BTV are listed in Part II of that Annex. However, Article 9 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620, and Annex VIII thereto, are no longer relevant following the re-categorisation of infection with BTV in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882, and should therefore be deleted.












(6)


In addition, due to changes in the epidemiological situation in the Union as regards infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (‘MTBC’), infection with Bonamia ostreae, and infection with Newcastle disease virus, it is necessary to amend Annexes II, X and XVII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 in order to reflect those changes.












(7)


As regards infection with MTBC, Spain applied to the Commission pursuant to Article 36(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/429 for the approval of disease-free status for the province of Huesca in the Autonomous Community of Aragon, and provided evidence demonstrating that the conditions for the recognition of disease-free status laid down in Article 36(1) of Regulation (EU) 2016/429, as supplemented by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689, are fulfilled. Following the assessment of that information, the Commission considers that the condition in Article 36(1), point (d)(ii), of Regulation (EU) 2016/429, as supplemented by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689, for the approval of the disease-free status of that zone in Spain, is fulfilled. Therefore, the province of Huesca in the Autonomous Community of Aragon in Spain should be listed as free from infection with MTBC in Part I of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620. Annex II to that Implementing Regulation should, therefore, be amended accordingly.












(8)


As regards infection with Bonamia ostreae, Ireland and Sweden have notified the Commission of outbreaks of that listed disease in previously disease-free zones. In particular, Bertrabhoy Bay in Ireland, and the whole territory of Sweden, have disease-free status from infection with Bonamia ostreae, and are listed in Part I of Annex XVII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620. Due to the confirmed outbreaks of that disease, the approval of the disease-free status from infection with Bonamia ostreae should be withdrawn from Bertrabhoy Bay in Ireland and from a zone in the Southwest coast of Sweden. Therefore, the entries for Ireland and Sweden in that Annex should be amended accordingly.












(9)


As regards the disease-free status from infection with Newcastle disease virus without vaccination, Sweden has notified the Commission that vaccination will start to be implemented in its territory. Currently, the whole territory of Sweden has disease-free status from infection with Newcastle disease virus without vaccination and is listed in Annex X to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620. Because of the change in the vaccination policy for infection with Newcastle disease virus communicated by Sweden, the approval of the disease-free status without vaccination from that disease should be withdrawn from the whole territory of that Member State. Therefore, the entry for Sweden in that Annex should be amended accordingly.












(10)


As the amendments made to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/169 concerning the new categorisation of infection with BTV as a category D+E disease apply from 1 November 2026, the deletion of Article 9, and Annex VIII to, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 should also apply from that date.












(11)


Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 should, therefore, be amended accordingly.












(12)


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
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 is amended as follows:






(a)


Article 9 is deleted;










(b)


Annexes II, VIII, X and XVII 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.
Article 1, point (a), and point (2) of the Annex shall apply from 1 November 2026.




This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 11 June 2026.


For the Commission


The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN
            





(1)  
            OJ L 84, 31.3.2016, p. 1, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/429/oj.

(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, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_del/2020/689/oj).

(3)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 of 3 December 2018 on the application of certain disease prevention and control rules to categories of listed diseases and establishing a list of species and groups of species posing a considerable risk for the spread of those listed diseases (OJ L 308, 4.12.2018, p. 21, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2018/1882/oj).

(4)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/169 of 26 January 2026 amending the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 concerning the categorisation of infection with bluetongue virus (serotypes 1-24) as a listed disease (OJ L, 2026/169, 27.1.2026, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/169/oj).

(5)  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, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2021/620/oj).




ANNEX
Annexes II, VIII, X and XVII to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/620 are amended as follows:






(1)


in Part I of Annex II, the entry for Spain is replaced by the following:






‘Spain


Comunidad Autónoma de Aragón: provincia de Huesca
Comunidad Autónoma de Canarias
Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla y León: provincias de Burgos, León, Valladolid
Comunidad Autónoma de Cataluña
Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia
Comunidad Autónoma de Islas Baleares
Comunidad Autónoma de Murcia
Comunidad Autónoma del País Vasco
Comunidad Autónoma del Principado de Asturias’














(2)


Annex VIII is deleted;










(3)


in Annex X, the table is replaced by the following:






‘Finland


Whole territory’














(4)


Part I of Annex XVII is amended as follows:






(a)


the entry for Ireland is replaced by the following:






‘Ireland


The whole coastline of Ireland, except: Cork Harbour; Galway Bay; Ballinakill Harbour; Clew Bay; Achill Sound; Loughmore, Blacksod Bay; Lough Foyle; Lough Swilly; Kilkieran Bay and Bertrabhoy Bay’














(b)


the entry for Sweden is replaced by the following:






‘Sweden


Whole territory except the coastal area from Altarefjorden in the north until Sälö fjord in the south.’















ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2026/1215/oj
ISSN 1977-0677 (electronic edition)