1.7.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 170/98

(1)

Directive 92/119/EEC lays down general control measures to be applied in the event of an outbreak of certain animal diseases, including lumpy skin disease (LSD). These control measures include the establishment of protection and surveillance zones around the infected holding, and they also provide for emergency vaccination in the event of an outbreak of LSD.

(2)

Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008 (5) lays down animal health control measures in relation to the occurrence of LSD in the Member States or parts thereof as listed in Annex I thereto, including the minimum requirements for vaccination programmes against that disease submitted by the Member States to the Commission for approval.

(3)

Article 2 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008 defines an ‘infected zone’ as being the part of the territory of a Member State listed in Part II of Annex I thereto, which includes the area where LSD was confirmed, and where vaccination against LSD may be implemented following the approval of vaccination programmes by the Commission. Article 2 of that Implementing Decision also defines a ‘free zone with vaccination’ as being the part of the territory of a Member State listed in Part I of Annex I thereto, which includes the areas outside the infected zones, where vaccination against LSD is implemented following the approval of vaccination programmes by the Commission.

(4)

Article 3 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008 lays down restrictions on the dispatch of bovine animals and captive wild ruminants and certain animal products from the areas listed in Annex I thereto, with a view to minimise any risk of the spread of LSD.

(5)

Article 7 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008 provides for derogations from the restrictions laid down in Article 3 of that Implementing Decision relating to the dispatch of semen, ova and embryos of bovine animals and captive wild ruminants from the areas listed as free zones with vaccination in Part I of Annex I thereto.

(6)

It is appropriate to differentiate the level of risk for the spread of LSD through consignments of semen, ova and embryos when such germinal products are dispatched from a free zone with vaccination to another free zone with vaccination or to an infected zone located within the same Member State. It is therefore necessary to establish separate conditions, which are proportionate to the risks involved, for derogations that apply to such consignments that remain within the same Member State provided that such conditions are in place for the safe dispatch of such germinal products within the free zone with vaccination or the infected zone of the same Member State. Article 7 of Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(7)

On 2 March 2017, Greece reported a new outbreak of LSD in the regional unit of Kerkyra, an island in the Ionian Sea, at the most North West part of Greece, where no outbreaks of LSD have previously been reported. For this reason, the infected zones of Greece, in relation to LSD, listed in Part II of Annex I to Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008, should be expanded to include the regional unit of Kerkyra. Part II of Annex I to Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8)

On 14 March 2017, Greece informed the Commission of its decision to expand vaccination against LSD in the regions of the Ionian Islands, the North and South Aegean and Crete, areas where LSD has not occurred to date, except for the regional unit of Kerkyra where the disease was confirmed on 2 March 2017, and the regional unit of Limnos where the disease has been present since 2015. For this reason, those regions of Greece should be included in the free zones with vaccination, listed in Part I of Annex I to Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008. Part I of Annex I to Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,

(1)

Article 7 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 7

Derogations from the prohibition on the dispatch of semen, ova and embryos of bovine animals and captive wild ruminants from the areas listed in Parts I and II of Annex I and special conditions for the dispatch of those products within the areas listed in Part I or II of the same Member State

1.   By way of derogation from the prohibition provided for in point (b) of Article 3, the competent authority may authorise the dispatch of semen, ova and embryos of bovine animals and captive wild ruminants from semen collection centres or other establishments situated in an area listed in Part I of Annex I to another area listed in Part I or II of Annex I of another Member State provided that the donor animals and the semen, ova and embryos comply with the following conditions:

2.   By way of derogation from the prohibition provided for in point (b) of Article 3, the competent authority may authorise the dispatch of semen, ova and embryos of bovine animals and captive wild ruminants from semen collection centres or other establishments situated in an area listed in:

The derogation provided for in the first subparagraph of this paragraph is subject to compliance with the conditions laid down in paragraph 1(a), (b) and (c);

3.   By way of derogation from the prohibition provided for in point (b) of Article 3, the competent authority may authorise the dispatch of semen, ova and embryos of bovine animals and captive wild ruminants from semen collection centres or other establishments situated in the areas listed in Part I of Annex I to any area of the same or another Member State or to a third country provided that the donor animals and the semen, ova and embryos comply with the following conditions:

4.   Where semen, embryos and ova which comply with the requirements of paragraph (1) or (3) of this Article are dispatched to another Member State or to a third country, the following additional wording shall be added to the corresponding health certificates laid down in Directives 88/407/EEC, 89/556/EEC or in Decision 93/444/EEC:

(2)

Annex I is replaced by the text set out in the Annex to this Decision.