Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/659Show full title

Article 8 General animal health requirements

1. The operator responsible for a consignment of equidae intended for entry into the Union shall ensure that those equidae are transported in compliance with the following:

(a) the equidae are transported by a means of transport carrying only equidae that are destined for the Union or alternatively are accompanied by a health certificate required for transit;

(b) the equidae are transported by a means of transport carrying only equidae of the same certified health status, except where otherwise authorised in the specific animal health requirements set out in Sections A and B of Part 1 and in Section A of Part 3 of Annex II;

(c) the equidae are transported by road or railway or moved on foot only in a third country or a part of the territory of a third country that is authorised for at least one type of entry of at least one category of equidae.

2. The operator responsible for a consignment of equidae intended for entry into the Union shall ensure compliance with the following:

(a) the crates, containers, stalls or jet-stalls and the means of transport or the transport compartment of the means of transport in which equidae will be transported are cleansed and disinfected prior to loading of the animals with a disinfectant officially recognised in the country of dispatch;

(b) the means of transport used for road or railway transport are designed, constructed and operated to prevent the escape of faeces, urine and fodder during the intended journey;

(c) measures to protect the animals from attacks of insect vectors shall be applied in case of the occurrence of one of the following diseases:

(i)

African horse sickness or Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis in the third country of dispatch or transit;

(ii)

one or more of the vector-borne diseases listed in Article 11(1), with the exception of equine infectious anaemia, if the equidae are not immune or vaccinated against the pathogen.

In the case of the diseases referred to in point (i) the vector protection shall include measures such as the netting of the crates, containers, stalls or jet-stalls, forced ventilation and keeping the transport compartment closed, except during loading and unloading of the animals or when attending to the animals.

3. The operator responsible for a consignment of equidae intended for entry into the Union shall ensure that, during the journey, the equidae are only unloaded in a third country or a part of the territory of a third country that is authorised for the entry of equidae into the Union in accordance with Annex I.