Council Directive 2006/88/ECShow full title

CHAPTER VIII U.K. COMPETENT AUTHORITIES AND LABORATORIES

Article 54 U.K. General obligations

1. Each Member State shall designate its competent authorities for the purposes of this Directive and notify the Commission thereof.

The competent authorities shall operate and perform their duties in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 882/2004.

2. Each Member State shall ensure that effective and continuous cooperation based on the free exchange of information relevant to the implementation of this Directive is established between the competent authorities it designates for the purposes of this Directive and any of its other authorities involved in regulating aquaculture, aquatic animals, and food and feed of aquaculture origin.

Information shall also, to the extent necessary, be exchanged between the competent authorities of the different Member States.

3. Each Member State shall ensure that the competent authorities have access to adequate laboratory services and state-of-the-art know-how in risk analysis and epidemiology, and that there is a free exchange of any information relevant to the implementation of this Directive between the competent authorities and laboratories.

Article 55 U.K. Community reference laboratories

1. Community reference laboratories for the aquatic animal diseases relevant to this Directive shall be designated in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62(2) for a period to be defined in accordance with that procedure.

2. Community reference laboratories for aquatic animal diseases shall comply with the functions and duties laid down in Part I of Annex VI.

3. The Commission shall review the designation of the Community reference laboratories by the end of the period referred to in paragraph 1 at the latest, in the light of their compliance with the functions and duties referred to in paragraph 2.

Article 56 U.K. National reference laboratories

1. Member States shall arrange for the designation of a national reference laboratory for each of the Community reference laboratories referred to in Article 55.

Member States may designate a laboratory situated in another Member State or EFTA Member State, and a single laboratory may be the national reference laboratory for more than one Member State.

2. Member States shall communicate the name and address of each designated national reference laboratory to the Commission, the relevant Community reference laboratory and other Member States, including any updates hereto.

3. The national reference laboratory shall liaise with the relevant Community reference laboratory provided for in Article 55.

4. In order to ensure an efficient diagnostic service throughout the territory of a Member State in accordance with the requirements of this Directive, the national reference laboratory shall collaborate with any laboratory designated in accordance with Article 57 situated in the territory of the same Member State.

5. Member States shall ensure that any national reference laboratory on their territory is adequately equipped and staffed with the appropriate numbers of trained personnel to carry out the laboratory investigations required in accordance with this Directive and to comply with the functions and duties laid down in Part II of Annex VI.

Article 57 U.K. Diagnostic services and methods

Member States shall ensure that:

(a)

laboratory examinations for the purposes of this Directive are carried out in laboratories designated for such purpose by the competent authority;

(b)

laboratory examinations in the case of suspicion and to confirm the presence of the diseases listed in Part II of Annex IV are carried out by diagnostic methods to be established in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62(2);

and

(c)

laboratories designated for diagnostic services in accordance with this Article shall comply with the functions and duties laid down in Part III of Annex VI.