Council Directive of 28 January 1991 on animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in ovine and caprine animals (91/68/EEC)

[F1 Article 8a U.K.

(1) Member States shall ensure that, in order to be approved by the competent authority, assembly centres must at least:

(a) be under the control of an official veterinarian who shall ensure that, in particular, the provisions of Article 3(5) are complied with;

(b) be located in an area which is not subject to prohibition or restrictions in accordance with relevant Community legislation and/or national legislation;

(c) be cleaned and disinfected before use, as required by the official veterinarian;

(d) have, taking into account the animal capacity of the assembly centre:

• (d) a facility dedicated exclusively for this purpose when used as an assembly centre,

• appropriate facilities for loading, unloading and adequate housing of a suitable standard for the animals, for watering and feeding them, and for giving them any necessary treatment; these facilities must be easy to clean and disinfect,

• appropriate inspection facilities,

• appropriate isolation facilities,

• appropriate equipment for cleaning and disinfecting rooms and trucks,

• an appropriate storage area for fodder, litter and manure,

• an appropriate system for collecting waste water,

• the use of an office for the official veterinarian;

(e) admit only animals which are identified in accordance with Community legislation and comply with the animal health conditions set down in this Directive for the category of animals concerned. To this end, when animals are admitted, the owner or person in charge of the centre shall ensure they are accompanied by health documents or appropriate certificates for the species and categories involved;

(f) be regularly inspected by the competent authority in order to ascertain that the requirements for approval continue to be fulfilled.

(2) The owner or person in charge of the assembly centre shall be required, on the basis either of the accompanying documents for the animals or of the identification numbers or marks of the animals, to record on a register or a database and retain for a minimum period of three years the following information:

• the name of the owner, the origin, date of entry and exit, number and identification of the ovine and caprine animals or the registration number of the holding of origin of the animals entering the centre, where applicable the approval or registration number of the assembly centre through which the animals have passed prior to entering the centre and their proposed destination,

• the registration number of the transporter and the licence number of the lorry delivering or collecting animals from the centre.

(3) The competent authority shall issue an approval number to each approved assembly centre. Such approval may be limited to one or the other species covered by this Directive or to animals for breeding or fattening or to animals for slaughter. The competent authority shall notify the Commission of the list of approved assembly centres and of any updates. The Commission shall present this list to Member States in the framework of the Committee referred to in Article 15(1).

(4) The competent authority may suspend or withdraw approval in the event of failure to comply with this Article or other appropriate provisions of this Directive or other directives in respect of health restrictions. Approval may be restored when the competent authority is satisfied that that assembly centre is in full compliance with all the appropriate provisions of this Directive.

(5) The competent authority shall ensure that, when operating, assembly centres have sufficient approved veterinarians to carry out all duties.

(6) Any detailed rules required for uniform application of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 15(2).]

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Council Directive 2003/50/EC of 11 June 2003 amending Directive 91/68/EEC as regards reinforcement of controls on movements of ovine and caprine animals.