Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2018/320Dangos y teitl llawn

Article 1 Subject and scope

This Decision lays down the animal health protection measures for intra-Union trade in consignments of salamanders and the introduction of such consignments into the Union.

Article 2 Definitions

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply:

(a)

‘salamanders’ means all amphibians of the order Caudata;

(b)

‘Bsal’ means the fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (kingdom fungi, Phylum Chytridiomycota, order Rhizophydiales);

(c)

‘epidemiological unit’ means a group of salamanders with the same likelihood of exposure to Bsal;

(d)

‘quarantine’ means the keeping of salamanders in isolation with no direct or indirect contact with salamanders outside their epidemiological unit, for the purposes of ensuring that there is no spread of Bsal while the animals in isolation are undergoing observation for a specified length of time and testing and, if appropriate, treatment;

(e)

‘operator’ means any natural or legal person having salamanders under its responsibility, including for a limited duration of time, but excluding pet keepers;

(f)

‘appropriate establishment’ means premises:

(i)

where salamanders are kept in quarantine before being dispatched to another Member State or after their introduction into the Union; and

(ii)

which are registered by the competent authority prior to the date of commencement of any quarantine;

(g)

‘appropriate diagnostic test’ means a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay containing species-specific STerF and STerR primers amplifying a 119 nucleotide long fragment of Bsal DNA;

(h)

‘common veterinary entry document’ or ‘CVED’ means the document notifying the arrival of animals into the Union as provided for in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 282/2004 and drawn up in accordance with the model set out in Annex I thereto and managed by the integrated computerised veterinary system known as Traces;

(i)

‘confirmed case of Bsal’ means the confirmation of the presence of Bsal or its genetic material on or in the tissues of salamanders by the appropriate diagnostic test;

Article 3 Animal health conditions for intra-Union trade in salamanders

1. Member States shall prohibit the dispatch of consignments of salamanders to another Member State, except where such consignments comply with the following animal health conditions:

(a) they are accompanied by an animal health certificate which complies with the model animal health certificate set out in Part A of Annex I;

(b) the salamanders must not show clinical signs of Bsal, in particular they must show no skin lesions and ulcers at the time of examination by the official veterinarian; that examination must be carried out within a period of 24 hours prior to the time of dispatch of the consignment to the Member State of destination;

(c) the salamanders must come from a population where there have been no mortalities due to Bsal and no clinical signs of Bsal, in particular skin lesions and ulcers must not have been observed by the operator;

(d) the consignment must consist of:

(i)

at least 62 salamanders which have undergone quarantine as one epidemiological unit in an appropriate establishment which complies with the minimum conditions set out in Annex II for a period of at least 6 weeks immediately prior to the date of the issuing of the animal health certificate set out in Part A of Annex I and skin swab samples from the salamanders in the consignment must have been tested for Bsal with negative results during the fifth week of the period of quarantine with the appropriate diagnostic test, in accordance with the sample sizes set out in point 1(a) of Annex III; or

(ii)

salamanders which have been treated to the satisfaction of the competent authority against Bsal in accordance with point 1(b) of Annex III.

2. Where consignments of salamanders have been introduced into the Union from a third country and they have already undergone quarantine in an appropriate establishment of destination in accordance with Article 6, Member States shall only authorise their dispatch to another Member State where such consignments comply with the following conditions:

(a) the animal health conditions laid down in paragraph 1(a), (b) and (c);

(b) the salamanders have been kept in quarantine in the appropriate establishment which complies with the minimum conditions set out in Annex II, between the end of the period of quarantine following their introduction into the Union and the issuing of the animal health certificate set out in Part A of Annex I.

Article 4 Animal health conditions for the introduction into the Union of consignments of salamanders

Member States shall prohibit the introduction into the Union of consignments of salamanders from a third country, except where such consignments comply with the following conditions:

(a)

they come from third countries listed in one of the following:

(i)

Annex I to Decision 2004/211/EC;

(ii)

Part 2 of Annex II to Decision 2007/777/EC;

(iii)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008;

(iv)

Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 119/2009;

(v)

Part 1 of Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 206/2010;

or

(vi)

Annex I to Regulation (EU) No 605/2010;

(b)

they are accompanied by an animal health certificate which complies with the model animal health certificate set out in Part B of Annex I;

(c)

the salamanders must not show clinical signs of Bsal, in particular there must be no signs of skin lesions and ulcers at the time of examination by the official veterinarian; and that examination must have been carried out within a period of 24 hours prior to the time of dispatch of the consignment to the Union;

(d)

before issuing the animal health certificate referred to in point (b), the epidemiological unit comprising the salamanders in the consignment must have been isolated from other salamanders at the latest at the time of the examination for the purposes of issuing of animal health certificate and they must not have been in contact with other salamanders since that time.

Article 5 Attestation regarding the appropriate establishment of destination

Member States shall ensure that border inspection posts do not accept the entry into the Union of consignments of salamanders unless importers or their agents provide a written attestation, in an official language of the Member State of the border inspection post of entry into the Union, which is signed by the natural or legal person responsible for the appropriate establishment of destination, stating:

(a)

the name and address of the appropriate establishment of destination;

(b)

that the appropriate establishment of destination complies with the minimum conditions set out in Annex II;

(c)

that the consignment of salamanders will be accepted for quarantine.

Article 6 Quarantine rules for consignments of salamanders introduced into the Union

Member States shall ensure that:

1.

The official or approved veterinarian responsible for the appropriate establishment of destination records the arrival of the consignment of salamanders introduced into the Union from a third country in Box 45 of Part 3 in the electronic version of the common veterinary entry document.

2.

The official or approved veterinarian ensures that the operator keeps the consignment of salamanders in quarantine in the appropriate establishment of destination as one epidemiological unit.

3.

The official or approved veterinarian inspects the conditions of quarantine for each consignment of salamanders, including an examination of the mortality records and a clinical inspection of the salamanders in the appropriate establishment of destination, checking in particular for skin lesions and ulcers.

4.

Where a consignment comprises 62 or more salamanders, the official or approved veterinarian carries out the examination, sampling, testing and treatment procedures for Bsal in accordance with the procedures referred to in points 1 and 2 of Annex III, following the arrival of the consignment of salamanders at the appropriate establishment of destination.

5.

Where the consignment comprises less than 62 salamanders, the official or approved veterinarian ensures that the consignment is treated to the satisfaction of the competent authority against Bsal in accordance with point 3 of Annex III.

6.

The official or approved veterinarian releases the consignment of salamanders from the appropriate establishment of destination by a written authorisation:

(a)

in case of testing as referred to in point 1(a) of Annex III, provided that at least 6 weeks has elapsed since the date of the the commencement of the period of quarantine and not before the receipt of the negative test results, whichever is later; or

(b)

in the case of treatment as referred to in point 1(b) of Annex III, only after satisfactory completion of the treatment.

Article 7 Measures to be taken in the event of a confirmed case of Bsal in an appropriate establishment of destination

1. Member States shall ensure that where during quarantine it is confirmed that at least one salamander of an epidemiological unit is infected with Bsal, the following measures are taken by the appropriate establishment of destination:

(a) all salamanders in the same epidemiological unit are either:

(i)

treated to the satisfaction of the competent authority against Bsal in accordance with point 3 of Annex III; or

(ii)

killed and disposed of as animal by-products in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009.

(b) following completion of the measures referred to in point (a), the area of the appropriate establishment of destination where the epidemiological unit had been kept is cleaned and disinfected to the satisfaction of the competent authority.

2. The competent authority may require testing of the treated salamanders to verify the effectiveness of the treatment referred to in point 1(a)(i) and may require repeated treatments, as appropriate, to prevent the spread of Bsal.

Article 8 Costs

Member States shall ensure that all quarantine costs, testing costs and, where necessary, the costs of risk mitigation measures and treatments are borne by the operator or the importer.

Article 9 Annual reporting requirements

At the latest by 30 June each year, starting from 2019, those Member States which have handled salamander consignments in the previous year, shall submit to the Commission the following information concerning the previous year, differentiating between information related to the intra-Union trade or to introductions of salamander consignments into the Union:

(a)

the number of epidemiological units with at least one confirmed case of Bsal;

(b)

the number of epidemiological units treated without a confirmed case;

(c)

any further information they deem relevant on testing, treating or handling the consignments and on the implementation of this Decision.

Article 10 Transitional measures

1. For a transitional period until 6 September 2018, the Member States of destination may accept on their territory consignments of salamanders from other Member States which do not comply with the animal health conditions laid down in Article 3, under appropriate risk mitigation conditions to be determined by the competent authority after consulting the operators and, if necessary, the Member State of origin.

2. For a transitional period until 6 September 2018, the Member States of destination may accept on their territory consignments of salamanders introduced into the Union from a third country which do not comply with the animal health conditions laid down in Article 4, provided that they are handled in accordance with Articles 5 to 7.

Article 11 Applicability

This Decision shall apply until 31 December 2019.

Article 12 Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 February 2018.

For the Commission

Vytenis Andriukaitis

Member of the Commission