Council Directive of 15 July 1991 laying down the principles governing the organization of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries and amending Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC (91/496/EEC) (repealed)

Article 8 U.K.

A.

Member States shall ensure that:

1.

veterinary checks on imports of animals of species not covered by Annex A to Directive 90/425/EEC are carried out in accordance with the following provisions:

(a)

where animals are presented directly at one of the border posts of the Member State which intends to import them, they shall undergo at that post all the checks provided for in Article 4;

(b)

where animals are presented at a border inspection post situated in another Member State, with the latter's prior agreement:

(i)

either all the checks referred to in Article 4 shall be carried out at that post on behalf of the Member State of destination in order, in particular, to ensure that the latter's animal health requirements have been complied with;

(ii)

or, in the event of agreement between the competent central authorities of the two Member States and, where appropriate, those of the Member State or Member States of transit, only the checks provided for in Article 4 (1) shall be carried out at that post, in which case the checks provided for in Article 4 (2) shall be carried out in the Member State of destination.

In the latter case, however, animals may leave the border inspection post where the documentary check and identity check have been carried out only in sealed vehicles and only after the official veterinarian:

• has indicated on the copy, or, where the consignment is split, on the copies, of the original certificates that the animals have passed through and that the check has been carried out,

• has informed, by means of the information exchange system provided for in Article 20 of Directive 90/425/EEC, the veterinary authority of the place of destination or, where appropriate, of the Member State or Member States of transit, that the animals have passed through,

• notwithstanding Article 3 (1) (c), has given a discharge to the competent customs authority of the border inspection post in respect of the animals presented.

In the case of animals intended for slaughter, Member States may have recourse only to the solution set out in (i).

Member States shall inform the Commission and the representatives of the other Member States meeting in the Standing Veterinary Committee, of cases of recourse to the solution set out in (ii);

2.

pending adoption of the specific decisions provided for under Community rules, animals the trade in which has been harmonized at Community level but which come from a third country for which uniform animal health conditions have not yet been established shall be imported subject to the following conditions:

• they must have remained in the third country of dispatch at least during the periods provided for in Article 10 (1) of Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries(1),

• they must undergo the checks provided for in Article 4,

• they may not leave the border inspection post or the quarantine centre unless such checks show that the animal or consignment of animals:

  (i)

  either, without prejudice to specific requirements applicable to the third countries concerned in respect of diseases foreign to the Community, complies with the animal health requirements applicable in trade in the species concerned as laid down in the Directives referred to in Annex A to Directive 90/425/EEC or with the animal health requirements laid down in Directive 72/462/EEC;

  (ii)

  or, in respect of one or more specific diseases, fulfils the conditions of equivalence recognized, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23, on the basis of reciprocity, between the requirements of the third country and those of the Community;

• if they are intended for a Member State benefiting from the additional guarantees provided for in Article 3 (1) (e) (iii) and (iv) of Directive 90/425/EEC, they must satisfy the relevant requirements laid down in respect of intra-Community trade.

• after they have passed through the border inspection post, they must, in the case of animals for slaughter, be conveyed to the slaughterhouse of destination, or, in the case of animals for breeding and production or aquaculture animals, be conveyed to the holding of destination;

3.

if the checks provided for in points 1 and 2 show that the animal or the consignment of animals does not comply with the requirements laid down therein, the animal or consignment may not leave the border inspection post or quarantine centre and Article 12 shall be applicable;

4.

where the animals referred to in point 1 are not intended to be placed on the market in the territory of the Member State which has carried out the veterinary checks, the provisions of Article 7, and in particular those relating to the issue of the certificate, shall apply;

5.

at the place of destination, animals for breeding and prodution shall remain under the official supervision of the competent veterinary authorities. After an observation period to be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23, the animals may enter intra-Community trade under the conditions laid down in Directive 90/425/EEC.

Animals for slaughter shall be subject, in the slaughterhouse of destination, to the Community rules relating to the slaughter of the species concerned.

B.

Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted, as the need arises, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23.

(1)

OJ No L 302, 31.12.1972, p. 28. Directive last amended by Directive 91/266/EEC (OJ No L 134, 29.5.1991, p. 45).