1. The competent authority in a Member State may introduce a system of surveillance networks.
The surveillance network system must comprise at least the following elements:
the herds,
the owner or any other natural or legal person responsible for the holding,
the approved veterinarian or the official veterinarian responsible for the holding,
the official veterinary service of the Member State,
the official veterinary diagnostic laboratories or any other laboratory approved by the competent authority,
a computer database.
Official veterinarians for the slaughtering establishments and approved assembly centres will be associated with the network system.
2. The main objectives of the surveillance network system are to make the official classification of holdings, to maintain such classification by regular inspection, to collect epidemiological data and to carry out disease monitoring so as to ensure compliance with all the provisions of this Directive and other directives in respect of health restrictions.
This surveillance network system shall be mandatory on all holdings in the territory of the Member State operating such a system. However, the competent authority may authorize the establishment of such a network on part of the territory made up of one or several adjacent regions as defined in Article 2 (2) (p). Where this derogation is accorded, animal movements to that part of the territory from other regions which are not part of the network system shall be subject to the provisions of this Directive.
The competent authority shall lay down the obligations and rights incumbent upon the approved veterinarians, the persons responsible for the holdings or their owners and any other participants in the system including the persons responsible for issuing health certificates.
3. The competent authority shall ensure that the obligations referred to in paragraph 2 at least include the following:
Every owner of or person responsible for a holding must:
secure, by contract or legal instrument, the services of a veterinarian approved by the competent authority;
immediately call in the approved veterinarian for the holding when he suspects the occurrence of an infectious disease or of any notifiable disease;
notify the approved veterinarian of all arrivals of animals on his holding;
isolate the animals before introducing them into his holding to enable the approved veterinarian to check, where appropriate by means of the required tests, whether the holding's status may be maintained.
The approved veterinarians as provided for by Article 2 (2) (m) shall be under the control of the competent authority and must comply with the following requirements.
They must:
meet the conditions for pursuing the veterinary profession;
have no financial interest or family links with the owner of or person responsible for the holding;
possess particular knowledge in the field of animal health as it applies to animals of the species concerned. This means that they must:
regularly update their knowledge, especially as regards the relevant health regulations,
meet the requirements laid down by the competent authority to ensure the proper functioning of the network,
provide the owner of or person responsible for the holding with information and assistance in order that all steps are taken to ensure that the holding's status is maintained, particularly on the basis of programmes agreed with the competent authority,
ensure compliance with the requirements concerning:
the identification and health certification of the animals of the herd, the animals introduced and those traded;
compulsory reporting of infectious animal diseases and any other risk factor for animal health or welfare, and for human health;
establishing as far as possible the cause of death of animals and where they are to be consigned;
the hygiene conditions of the herd and of the livestock production units.
If the proper functioning of the system so requires, each Member State may limit the veterinarians' responsibility to a specific number of holdings or to a specific geographical area.
The competent authority shall draw up lists of approved veterinarians and of the approved holdings participating in the network. If the competent authority finds that a participant in the network no longer fulfils the conditions set out above, it shall suspend or withdraw approval, without prejudice to any penalties that may be applied.
The computer database must contain at least the following information:
[F2For each animal:
the unique identification code or codes, as regards the cases set out in Articles 4(1), 4b, 4c(1) and 4d of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) ,
date of birth,
sex,
breed or colour of coat,
identification code of the mother or, in the case of an animal imported from a third country, the unique identification code of the individual means of identification allocated to the animal by the Member State of destination in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000,
identification number of the holding where born,
identification numbers of all holdings where the animal has been kept and the dates of each change of holding,
date of death or slaughter,
the type of electronic identifier, if applied to the animal.]
For each holding:
an identification number consisting of not more than 12 figures (apart from the country code),
name and address of the holder.
The database must be able to supply the following particulars at any time:
the identification number of all animals of the bovine species present on a holding, or in the case of groups of animals of the porcine species, the registration number of the holding of origin or herd of origin and the number of the health certificate where applicable,
a list of all changes of holding for each animal of the bovine species starting from the holding of birth, or the holding of importation in the case of animals imported from third countries; and for groups of pigs the registration number of the last holding or last herd and for imported animals from third countries the holding of importation.
These particulars will be held on the database until three consecutive years have elapsed since the death of the bovine animal or until three consecutive years have elapsed since the record was made in the case of records for pigs.
[F3However, only points 2, 3 and 4 shall be applicable to porcine animals.]
[F4In order to ensure the operation of the national computer databases concerning porcine animals, appropriate rules of application, including the information that the national databases must contain, shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17.]
4. All participants in the surveillance network other than those provided for in 3A and B shall be accountable to the competent authority. The competent authority in each Member State shall be responsible for setting up the network and shall carry out regular checks to ensure that it operates properly.
5. Member States which introduce a system of surveillance networks as outlined in paragraphs 1 to 4, operational for a period of at least 12 months, shall apply to the Commission to have it approved under the procedure provided for in Article 17.
For this purpose the Commission shall examine documentation submitted by Member States.
The Commission experts shall validate the systems by means of a system of audits. Where the result of the audit is favourable the Commission shall within 90 days of receipt of the request for approval make a report to the SVC together with appropriate proposals.
Where repeated offences are noted, the approval of the surveillance network system can be suspended according to the procedure laid down in Article 17, at the request of the Commission or of one or more Member States.
6. Member States which have implemented in all their territory a recognized surveillance network system as laid down in this Article shall be authorized not to apply the provision referred to in Article 3 (2) (a), second indent to animal movements referred to by this Directive within their own territory.
7. Not later than 31 December 1999 , acting on the basis of a report from the Commission, accompanied by proposals on which it shall act by a qualified majority, the Council shall review the provisions of this Article in the light of experience with a view to amending and updating them and, if appropriate, extending them to all Member States.
8. The financing of the surveillance network system will be covered within the framework of the revision of Annex B to Directive 85/73/EEC (2) in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article 8 of Directive 96/43/EC.]
Textual Amendments
F1 Substituted by Council Directive 97/12/EC of 17 March 1997 amending and updating Directive 64/432/EEC on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine.
F2 Substituted by Directive 2014/64/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 amending Council Directive 64/432/EEC as regards computer databases which are part of the surveillance networks in the Member States.
[F1 [F2Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification and registration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beef and beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97 ( OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1 ).] ]
[F1 OJ No L 32, 5. 2. 1985, p. 14 . Directive as amended by Directive 96/43/EC ( OJ No L 162, 1. 7. 1996, p. 1 ).]