A third country is classified as free from avian influenza and Newcastle disease if it fulfils the following general criteria:
it must have a general animal-health structure allowing adequate monitoring of poultry flocks;
it must have legislation which makes avian influenza and Newcastle disease notifiable diseases for all species of poultry and for all birds kept in captivity;
it must undertake to examine closely any suspicion of those diseases;
if there is suspicion, it must submit samples of each avian influenza virus or paramyxovirus found to specific laboratory testing in accordance with the procedure set out in Annex A;
it must have at its disposal laboratory capacity in its own official laboratories or have arrangements with other national laboratories for rapid testing;
[F1it must send a list of these laboratories, as well as a description of the methods used for diagnosis and pathotyping of avian influenza and Newcastle disease to the Commission and allow checking of them by experts from the Community;
for each primary outbreak it must send virusisolates to the EC reference laboratory in Weybridge (Addlestone, United Kingdom);
it must notify to the Commission, within 24 hours after confirmation, of initial outbreaks in each previously free part of its territory;
it must send to the Commission, at least monthly in the event of subsequent outbreaks in the same part of the territory, a report on the disease situation;]
in cases where vaccination against avian influenza and/or Newcastle disease is not forbidden, it must officially control the production, testing and distribution for the vaccines;
it must communicate to the Commission the characteristics of each strain used for the production of vaccines against avian influenza or Newcastle disease.