OF COMMUNITY MEASURES .
30 IN THAT CONTEXT , ARTICLE 11 ( 1 ) DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE INTENDED TO PRESERVE THE SITUATION IN EXISTENCE AT THE TIME OF THE DIRECTIVE ' S ENTRY INTO FORCE . THAT PROVISION MUST BE UNDERSTOOD AS LEAVING THE MEMBER STATES POWER TO LAY DOWN HEALTH CONTROL PROVISIONS FOR FRESH POULTRYMEAT , PENDING THE ADOPTION OF COMMUNITY MEASURES . HENCE IT CANNOT HAVE THE EFFECT OF RELIEVING MEMBER STATES OF THEIR OBLIGATION TO COMPLY WITH THE PROHIBITIONS LAID DOWN IN ARTICLES 30 AND 36 OF THE TREATY IN THE FIELD COVERED BY ARTICLE 11 ( 1 ) OF THE DIRECTIVE .
31 THE QUESTION TO BE RESOLVED MUST THEREFORE BE EXAMINED ESSENTIALLY BY REFERENCE TO ARTICLE 36 OF THE TREATY , WHICH EXPRESSLY PROVIDES THAT RESTRICTIONS ON IMPORTS MUST BE ' ' JUSTIFIED ' ' ON GROUNDS OF THE PROTECTION OF ANIMAL HEALTH .
32 ACCORDING TO THE COMMISSION , THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE IMPORT PROHIBITION IMPOSED BY IRELAND IS NOT JUSTIFIED ON SUCH GROUNDS . IN SUPPORT OF THAT VIEW IT CLAIMS THAT , ACCORDING TO THE STATISTICS AVAILABLE , THE INCIDENCE OF NEWCASTLE DISEASE IN THE COMMUNITY HAS FALLEN DRAMATICALLY IN RECENT YEARS . SINCE 1976 THERE HAS BEEN NO OUTBREAK OF THE DISEASE IN FRANCE , WHILE ONLY ONE HAS BEEN DECLARED IN GREAT BRITAIN ; A LARGE PROPORTION OF THE POULTRY FLOCK IN THOSE TWO COUNTRIES HAD NOT , HOWEVER , BEEN VACCINATED . THE COMMISSION INFERS FROM THAT THAT FIELD VIRUS , THAT IS TO SAY VIRUS OTHER THAN THAT USED FOR VACCINE , THE PRESENCE OF WHICH MAY BE MASKED BY VACCINATION , IS EXTREMELY RARE , OR EVEN NON-EXISTENT , IN MOST MEMBER STATES .
33 AFTER POINTING OUT THE EXTREMELY CONTAGIOUS NATURE OF NEWCASTLE DISEASE AND THE VERY SERIOUS ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES WHICH ITS APPEARANCE WOULD HAVE FOR THE COUNTRY , IRELAND GOES ON TO CLAIM THAT THE HIGH STANDARD OF HEALTH OF THE POULTRY FLOCK IN IRELAND IS PRECISELY THE RESULT OF THE POLICY ADOPTED BY THE IRISH GOVERNMENT IN THAT SPHERE , A POLICY BASED ON THE COMPULSORY SLAUGHTER OF CONTAMINATED BIRDS IN THE EVENT OF AN OUTBREAK OF THE DISEASE , THE PROHIBITION OF VACCINATION ON THE GROUND THAT VACCINATION COULD MASK THE PRESENCE OF CONTAGIOUS VIRUS AND THE PROHIBITION OF IMPORTS OF LIVE POULTRY AND POULTRYMEAT FROM COUNTRIES WHICH PERMIT VACCINATION . THAT PROHIBITION THUS CONSTITUTES , IN IRELAND ' S VIEW , A NECESSARY COROLLARY OF THE SLAUGHTER POLICY WHICH IT HAS CHOSEN ; IT WAS NOT INTRODUCED FOR REASONS OF COMMERCIAL POLICY .
34 IRELAND STRESSES IN THIS CONNECTION THAT THE IRISH GOVERNMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ANIMAL HEALTH IN IRISH TERRITORY ; THAT RESPONSIBILITY IMPLIES A POWER TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE TWO SYSTEMS WHICH HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO COMBAT NEWCASTLE DISEASE - THAT BASED ON COMPULSORY SLAUGHTER AND THE PROHIBITION OF VACCINATION AND THAT BASED ON GENERALIZED OR SELECTIVE VACCINATION . IF THE EFFECT OF THE CHOICE MADE