Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 49 U.K. Official controls at border control posts

1. To verify compliance with the applicable requirements laid down in the rules referred to in Article 1(2), the competent authorities shall perform official controls on the consignments of the categories of animals and goods referred to in Article 47(1) upon arrival of the consignment at the border control post. Those official controls shall include documentary checks, identity checks and physical checks.

2. Physical checks shall be performed where those checks concern:

(a) animals, except aquatic animals, or meat and edible meat offal, by an official veterinarian, who may be assisted by staff trained in accordance with the requirements established under paragraph 5 in veterinary matters and designated by the competent authorities for that purpose;

(b) aquatic animals, products of animal origin other than the ones referred to in point (a) of this paragraph, germinal products or animal by-products, by an official veterinarian or by staff trained in accordance with the requirements established under paragraph 5 and designated by the competent authorities for that purpose;

(c) plants, plant products and other objects, by an official plant health officer.

3. The competent authorities at border control posts shall systematically perform official controls on consignments of animals being transported and on means of transport to verify compliance with the animal welfare requirements laid down in the rules referred to in Article 1(2). Competent authorities shall put in place arrangements to give priority to official controls on animals being transported and to reduce delays on such controls.

4. The Commission may, by means of implementing acts, lay down rules on the practical arrangements for presentation of consignments of the categories of animals and goods referred to in Article 47(1), the transport units or sub-entities which can constitute an individual consignment and the maximum number of such transport units or sub-entities in each consignment, taking into account the need to ensure the rapid and efficient handling of the consignments and the official controls to be performed by the competent authorities and, where relevant, international standards. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 145(2).

5. The Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 144 to supplement this Regulation concerning rules establishing specific training requirements for staff referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article for the performance of the physical checks at the border control posts.