live molluscs, their eggs and gametes, for further growth, fattening or relaying; and

live molluscs and non-viable molluscs for immediate human consumption or further processing before human consumption.

‘approved import centre’ means any establishment, dispatch centre or purification centre in the Community, approved according to Directives 91/492/EEC or 91/493/EEC where special biosecurity measures have been put in place, approved by the competent authority of the Member State concerned for further processing of imported live molluscs;

‘coastal zone’ means a zone consisting of a part of the coast or sea water or an estuary:

1. (i)

   which has a precise geographical delimitation and consists of a homogeneous hydrological system or a series of such systems; or

2. (ii)

   which is situated between the mouths of two watercourses; or

3. (iii)

   where there are one or more farms and all farms are surrounded by appropriate buffer zones on both sides of the farm or farms;

‘designated farm’ means a coastal farm or an inland farm to which the water is supplied by means of an artificial water system which ensures the complete inactivation of the pathogens referred to in Annex D to Directive 95/70/EC;

‘further processing’ means preparation and processing before human consumption, by any kind of measures and techniques that produce waste or by-products which could cause a risk of spreading of diseases, including: putting live molluscs into water in order to allow them to recover during or after transport (immersion), conditioning, cleaning, purification, thawing, and operations affecting the anatomical wholeness such as shucking;

‘immediate human consumption’ means that molluscs imported for the purpose of human consumption do not undergo any further processing within the Community before being placed on the retail market for human consumption;

‘molluscs’ means aquatic organisms belonging to the Phylum Mollusca, classes Bivalvia and Gastropoda; originating from a farm, including any establishment, harvested natural bed or, in general, any geographical defined installation in which molluscs are reared or kept with a view to their being placed on the market;

‘non-viable molluscs’ means molluscs no longer able to survive as living animals if returned to the environment from which they were obtained, and includes mollusc products intended for immediate human consumption or further processing before human consumption;

‘relaying’ means an operation whereby live molluscs are transferred to approved sea or lagoon areas or approved estuarine areas under the supervision of the competent authority for the time necessary to remove contamination as defined in Directive 91/492/EEC, but excluding the specific operation of transferring molluscs to areas more suitable for further growth or fattening, as this is considered as farming;

‘territory’ means either a whole country, a coastal zone, a designated farm, a farming area, or a harvested natural bed which is authorised by the central competent authority of the third country concerned for exportation to the Community.

the molluscs originate and have been harvested in a territory listed in Annex I;

the consignment complies with the guarantees, including those for packaging and labelling and the appropriate specific additional requirements, as laid down in the animal health certificate, drawn up in conformity with the model in Annex II, taking into account the explanatory notes in Annex III; and

the molluscs have been transported under conditions not altering their health status.

complies with the conditions laid down in Article 3(1); or

is sent directly to an approved import centre for further processing.