(fra kommisjonsbeslutningen)

(1) Council Decision 97/132/EC approves the Agreement between the European Community [now the European Union] and New Zealand on sanitary measures applicable to trade in live animals and animal products (the Agreement), and it provides for the adoption of guarantees for the importation of fresh meat and meat-based products from New Zealand equivalent to those laid down in Council Directive 72/462/EEC (4). Directive 72/462/EEC was repealed by Council Directive 2004/68/EC (5). The public health and official control rules which apply to meat and meat products by virtue of Directive 72/462/EEC have been replaced by those of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council which in turn was repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The other rules of Directive 72/462/EEC have been replaced by Council Directive 2002/99/EC (6) and by Directive 2004/68/EC, which were subsequently repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) 2016/429.

(2) Annex V to the Agreement lists the public and animal health measures for imports into the Union of consignments of animals and animal products and identifies those animals and animal products for which ‘Yes-1’ status equivalence, as defined in the Glossary of Annex V to the Agreement, has been determined for animal or public health measures, or for both.

(3) Article 9(3) of the Agreement requires that each consignment of live animals or of animal products for which equivalence has been recognised and that is presented for import is to be accompanied, unless not required, by an official health certificate, the model attestation for which is prescribed in Annex VII to the Agreement. Section 1 of that Annex sets out the health attestations for consignments of live animals and/or animal products.

(4) In addition, Annexes V and VII to the Agreement provide that consignments of animals and animal products falling within the scope of the Agreement may be imported into the Union when additional guarantees as laid down in Chapter 28 of Section 5 of Annex V to the Agreement appear on the health certificate.

(5) Annexes V and VII to the Agreement also provide that consignments of animals and animal products for which equivalence has been determined for either animal or public health measures, but not for both, may be imported into the Union when the applicable additional non-equivalent attestations from a model animal health certificate, animal health/official certificate or official certificates set out in the relevant Union legislation for the entry into the Union of such consignments appear on the model health certificate. For reasons of clarity, it is also appropriate to list such animals and animal products in an Annex to this Implementing Decision.

(6) Annex V to the Agreement provides that consignments of animals and animal products for which equivalence has not been determined, may be imported into the Union when accompanied by an official health certificate, corresponding to the models set out in the relevant Union legislation for the entry into the Union of such consignments.

(7) Article 12 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 (7) provides for health certificates accompanying meat imported from third countries to be supplemented with an attestation certifying that certain animals referred to in that Regulation have been slaughtered under conditions which offer guarantees of humane treatment, at least equivalent to those provided for in that Regulation. As such, an attestation should be provided for in the model health certificate set out in Annex I of this Decision, when required.

(8) Article 118(1) of Regulation (EU) 2019/6 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) provides that operators in third countries are not to use antimicrobial medicinal products to promote growth or to increase yield and antimicrobial medicinal products containing an antimicrobial that is included in the list of antimicrobials reserved for the treatment of certain infections in humans set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1255 (9) as regards food-producing animals or products of animal origin derived therefrom intended for human consumption exported from third countries to the Union.

(9) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/905 (10) supplements the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2019/6 by establishing the conditions for the entry into the Union of consignments of food-producing animals and products of animal origin derived therefrom intended for human consumption from third countries or regions thereof.

(10) Article 4 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/905 provides that consignments of food-producing animals and products of animal origin derived therefrom intended for human consumption entering the Union, are to be accompanied by an official certificate attesting compliance with the Union’s prohibition on the use of antimicrobial medicinal products for the purpose of promoting growth or to increase yield, and on use of antimicrobials that have been reserved for the treatment of certain infections in humans.

(11) An attestation concerning compliance with these Union rules should therefore be inserted in the model certificate set out in Annex I to this Decision.

(12) As provided for under ‘Certification Systems’ in Chapter 27 of Annex V to the Agreement, the health certificates may be issued after the departure of the consignments of live animals and animal products from New Zealand under certain conditions. The attestation laid down in Subsection (a) (IV) of Section 1 of Annex VII to the Agreement should be included in the model health certificate, set out in Annex I to this Decision, in such circumstances.

(13) The amendments made to Annexes V and VII to the Agreement, as approved by Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1084/EU (11) establish new or revised measures on equivalence for certain live animals and animal products and provide new or updated certification requirements, such as a model attestation for equivalent commodities, and that health certificates may also be exchanged electronically through the use of TRACES, after recording the agreement of the European Union for the exclusive use of electronic certification for consignments of live animals and animal products from New Zealand either in one of the Annexes to the Agreement or by correspondence in accordance with Article 16(1) of the Agreement.

(14) Furthermore Subchapter 29.B. of Section 5 of Annex V to the Agreement establishes additional animal health measures for import into the Union of consignments of live animals and animal products in the event of the occurrence of a specific animal disease. Annexes V and VII to the Agreement provide that such consignments may be imported into the Union in such circumstances when these additional attestations are included in the health certificate.

(15) National health requirements of Member States may apply when harmonised Union rules have not been established. The model health certificate in Annex I to this Decision should also be used for the entry into the Union of such live animals and animal products and any Member State’s attestations should be included in the model health certificate in Annex I to this Decision.

(16) In case of further dispatch from the Union to third countries other than New Zealand, these third countries may require additional certification attestations, which should be included in the model health certificate in Annex I to this Decision.

(17) For the sake of consistency, the model animal health certificates, animal health/official certificates and official certificates for the entry into the Union of consignments of certain live animals and animal products intended for human consumption should be drawn up on the basis of the standard model for the animal health certificates, official certificates and animal health/official certificates for the entry into the Union of live animals, products of animal origin, composite products, germinal products, animal by-products, sprouts for human consumption and seeds intended for the production of sprouts for human consumption set out in Chapter 3 of Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2235, and completed in accordance with the notes for the completion of certificates set out in Chapter 4 of that Annex. Detailed explanatory notes for the entry into the Union of consignments of certain categories of terrestrial animals and germinal products thereof are laid down in the model animal health certificates, animal health/official certificates and official certificates set out in Annex II of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403 (12), and for aquatic animals and certain products of animal origin in the Annexes I, II or III to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2236 (13). Point (e) of Section 2 of Annex VII to the Agreement permits minor modifications to the format of the model certificate, and point (f) thereof provides that official health certificates do not need to include the explanatory notes providing guidance for their completion, nor the attestations that are irrelevant to the consignment.

(18) Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1901 (14) lays down certification rules and a model of health certificate for import into the Union of consignments of live animals and animal products from New Zealand. In the interest of clarity and consistency of Union legislation, Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1901 should be repealed and replaced by this Decision.

(19) In order to avoid any disruption to trade as regards the entry into the Union of consignments of live animals and animal products from NZ, the use of certificates issued in accordance with Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1901 should continue to be authorised for the entry into the Union during a transitional period.

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