CHAPTER IIICONTROL PROGRAMMES
Article 5National control programmes
1
To achieve the Community targets provided for in Article 4, Member States shall establish national control programmes for each zoonosis and zoonotic agent listed in Annex I. National control programmes shall have regard to the geographical distribution of zoonoses within each Member State and to the financial implications for primary producers and feed and food business operators of establishing effective controls.
2
National control programmes shall be continuous and cover a period of at least three consecutive years.
3
National control programmes shall:
a
provide for the detection of zoonoses and zoonotic agents in accordance with the requirements and minimum sampling rules laid down in Annex II;
b
define the respective responsibilities of competent authorities and food and feed business operators;
c
specify the control measures to be taken following the detection of zoonoses and zoonotic agents, in particular to protect public health, including implementation of the specific measures laid down in Annex II;
d
allow for the progress under their provisions to be evaluated and for those programmes to be reviewed, in particular in the light of results obtained from the detection of zoonoses and zoonotic agents.
4
National control programmes shall cover at least the following stages of the food chain:
a
feed production;
b
primary production of animals;
c
processing and preparation of food of animal origin.
5
National control programmes shall contain, where relevant, the provisions laid down in relation to testing methods and criteria against which the results of these tests shall be assessed, for testing animals and hatching eggs despatched within the national territory, as part of the official controls provided for in Annex II, part A.
F16
The requirements and minimum sampling rules laid down in Annex II may be amended, adapted or supplemented by the Commission, after taking account in particular of the criteria listed in Article 4(6)(c). Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 14(3).
7
Within six months of the establishment of the Community targets provided for in Article 4, Member States shall submit their national control programmes to the Commission and set out the measures to be implemented.
F2For Bulgaria and Romania, where the date of submission of the national control programmes for other Member States has already passed, the date of submission shall be the date of accession.