whereas, in this regard, account should be taken of the progress made in the Community as regards both the adoption of rules concerning live animals and animal products from third countries and the harmonization of measures to control foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever, specifically Council Directive 90/423/EEC of 26 June 1990 amending Directive 85/511/EEC introducing Community measures for the control of foot-and-mouth disease, Directive 64/432/EEC on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine and Directive 72/462/EEC on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries (7) and Council Directive 91/685/EEC of 11 December 1991 amending Directive 80/217/EEC introducing Community measures for the control of classical swine fever (8);

Whereas Community arrangement have been defined in respect of imports from third countries; whereas these arrangements require the drawing up of lists of third country establishments from which imports of certain products are permitted in accordance with Article 14.B (2) (a) of Council Directive 71/118/EEC of 15 February 1971 on health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of fresh poultrymeat fn, Article 4 (1) of Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries fn, Article 9 (3) (c) of Council Directive 91/492/EEC of 15 July 1991 laying down the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of live bivalve molluscs fn, Article 11 (4) (c) of Council Directive 91/493/EEC of 22 July 1991 laying down the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of fishery products fn, Article 16 (3) (a) of Council Directive 92/45/EEC of 16 June 1992 on public health and animal health problems relating to the killing of wild game and the placing on the market of wild game meat fn, Article 23 (3) (a) of Council Directive 92/46/EEC of 16 June 1992 laying down the health rules for the production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products fn and Article 10 (3) (b) of Council Directive 92/118/EEC of 17 December 1992 laying down animal health and public health requirements governing trade in and imports into the Community of products not subject to the said requirements laid down in specific Community rules referred to in Annex A (I) to Directive 89/662/EEC, and, as regards pathogens, to Directive 90/425/EEC fn;

'Veterinary check' means any physical check and/or administrative formality which applies to the products referred to in Article 1 and which is intended for the protection, direct or otherwise, of public or animal health;

Whereas Directive 72/462/EEC (3) laid down health and veterinary inspection conditions governing imports into the Community of meat-based products covered by Directive 77/99/EEC (4);

'Council Directive of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries'.

'Council Directive of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries'.

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 11 December 1991 amending Directive 72/462/EEC on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 96/91/EC of 17 December 1996 amending Directive 72/462/EEC on health and veterinary inspection problems on importation of animals of the bovine, ovine, caprine and porcine species, fresh meat and meat-based products from third countries

It is therefore appropriate to specify and to further limit the types and quantities of products of animal origin that may enjoy the exemption from the veterinary controls which is laid down for non-commercial imports without posing a significant animal health risk.

Whereas Directive 72/462/EEC (5), as last amended by Directive 90/425/EEC (6), lays down health and veterinary inspection requirements for the importation of bovine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries;

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries, and in particular Articles 4 (1) and 18 (1) (a) and (b) thereof,

whereas Directive 72/462/EEC (6), as last amended by Directive 91/69/EEC (7), lays down health and veterinary inspection requirements applicable to imports of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries;

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries(1), and in particular Articles 14 (3) and 21a (2) thereof,

In order to facilitate the consultation and the transparency of the European Union legislation and to update the animal and public health conditions and veterinary certification for import of wild and farmed game meat and rabbit meat from third countries, it is considered necessary to create a single decision;

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems on importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries (1), as last amended by Directive 96/91/EC (2), and in particular Article 14(1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals, swine and fresh meat from third countries (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3768/85 (2), and in particular Articles 4 (1) and 18 (1),

this meat has been passed as fit for human consumption following a veterinary inspection carried out in accordance with Council Directive 90/495/EEC of 27 November 1990 concerning public health and animal health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of rabbit meat and farmed game meat; (c)

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries, as last amended by Directive 83/91/EEC, and in particular Articles 4 (1) and 18 (1) (a) and (b) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries (1), as last amended by Directive 83/91/EEC (2), and in particular Articles 4 (1), 17 and 18 (1) (a) and (b) thereof,

For the purposes of this Decision, 'on-the-spot checks in the veterinary field` (hereinafter referred to as 'checks`) means auditing and inspection measures necessary to ensure that, without prejudice to the control of the application of existing veterinary legislation, the public and animal health and animal protection guarantees offered by third countries as regards production conditions and placement on the market may be regarded as at least equivalent to those applied in the Community.

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries(1) as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 807/2003(2), and in particular Article 14(3) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine, and caprine animals, and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries(1), as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 1452/2001(2), and in particular Articles 4(1) and 18(1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries (1), as last amended by Directive 91/688/EEC (2), and in particular Articles 4 (1) and 18 (1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1601/92 (2), and in particular Articles 14, 15 and 16 thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries(1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1452/2001(2), and in particular Articles 15, 16(1), and 22 thereof,

Having regard to the Council Directive 72/462/EEC, of 12 December 1972, on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries (1), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Articles 14, 15 and 16,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals, swine and fresh meat from third countries (1), as last amended by Directive 83/91/EEC (2), and in particular Articles 4 (1) and 18 (1) (a) and (b) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC, of 12 December 1972, on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries(2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1452/2001(3), and in particular Article 14(3) and Article 15 thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries (1), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 4 (1) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat and meat products from third countries (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1601/92 (2), and in particular Articles 6, 11, 15, 16, 21a and 22 thereof,

fresh meat as defined in Article 2 (a) of Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries (5), as last amended by Directive 77/98/EEC (6), and complying with the animal health requirements of Directive 72/462/EEC.

Having regard to Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries(2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 807/2003(3), and in particular Article 11(2) and Article 22(2) thereof, and the corresponding provisions of the other directives establishing sanitary conditions and models of certificates for the importation of live animals and animal products from third countries,

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 26 June 1990 amending Directive 85/511/EEC introducing Community measures for the control of foot-and-mouth disease, Directive 64/432/EEC on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine and Directive 72/462/EEC on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries

Directive 64/432/EEC, Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries(9) and Council Directive 90/539/EEC of 15 October 1990 on animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in, and imports from third countries of, poultry and hatching eggs(10) should be amended accordingly.

Under Commission Decision 96/482/EC of 12 July 1996 laying down animal health conditions and veterinary certificates for the importation of poultry and hatching eggs other than ratites and eggs thereof from third countries including animal health measures to be applied after such importation(3), as last amended by Decision 2002/183/EC(4) breeding and productive poultry are to be isolated after importation on the holding of destination for at least six weeks and examined by an authorised veterinarian.

'For the purposes of this Directive, the definitions given in Articles 2 of Directives 64/432/EEC, 64/433/EEC and in Council Directive 72/461/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat from third countries (7), all these Directives, as last amended by Directive 89/662/EEC (8), by Council Directive 77/99/EEC of 21 December 1976 on health problems affecting intra-Community trade in meat products (9) as last amended by Directive 89/662/EEC, and by Directive 91/68/EEC (10), shall apply as necessary.(11)

Following the adoption of Council Directive 90/423/EEC of 26 June 1990 amending Directive 85/511/EEC, Directive 64/432/EEC on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine and Directive 72/462/EEC on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries(7), prophylactic vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease was prohibited throughout the Community as of 1 January 1992.

In accordance with Article 1(2) of Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries(4), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1452/2001(5), meat and meat products that form part of the travellers' personal luggage and are intended for their personal consumption or that are sent as small packages to private persons for non-commercial purposes are specifically excluded, under certain conditions, from the scope of that Directive.

I, the undersigned official veterinarian, certify that the fresh meat described above includes meat imported into Switzerland from the following third country(ies)... and/or the following Member States of the European Communities... between the following dates... 19.. and... 19.. of the fresh meat in Switzerland the responsible veterinary authorities of Switzerland carried out the appropriate checks having the same effect as the checks required by the European Communities in similar circumstances to ensure that the fresh meat satisfied the requirements of Directive 72/462/EEC including public health conditions laid down in Article 4 and specific animal health conditions laid down pursuant to Article 16, or of Directive 64/433/EEC and of Article 3 and 4 of Directive 72/461/EEC.

whereas in this connection account must be taken of the progress made in the Community both on setting rules for products from third countries and on harmonization of control measures for foot-and-mouth disease and swine fever, as embodied in Council Directive 90/423/EEC of 26 June 1990 amending Directive 85/511/EEC introducing Community measures for the control of foot-and-mouth disease, Directive 64/432/EEC on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine and Directive 72/462/EEC on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine animals and swine and fresh meat or meat products from third countries (7), and in Council Directive 91/685/EEC of 11 December 1991 amending Directive 80/217/EEC introducing Community measures for the control of classical swine fewer (8);

whereas these arrangements require the drawing up of lists of third country establishments from which imports of certain products are permitted in accordance with Article 14.B (2) (a) of Council Directive 71/118/EEC of 15 February 1971 on health problems affecting the production and placing on the market of fresh poultrymeat (3), Article 4 (1) of Council Directive 72/462/EEC of 12 December 1972 on health and veterinary inspection problems upon importation of bovine, ovine and caprine animals and swine, fresh meat or meat products from third countries (4), Article 9 (3) (c) of Council Directive 91/492/EEC of 15 July 1991 laying down the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of live bivalve molluscs (5), Article 11 (4) (c) of Council Directive 91/493/EEC of 22 July 1991 laying down the health conditions for the production and placing on the market of fishery products (6), Article 16 (3) (a) of Council Directive 92/45/EEC of 16 June 1992 on public health and animal health problems relating to the killing of wild game and the placing on the market of wild game meat (7), Article 23 (3) (a) of Council Directive 92/46/EEC of 16 June 1992 laying down the health rules for the production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products (8) and Article 10 (3) (b) of Council Directive 92/118/EEC of 17 December 1992 laying down animal health and public health requirements governing trade in and imports into the Community of products not subject to the said requirements laid down in specific Community rules referred to in Annex A (I) to Directive 89/662/EEC, and, as regards pathogens, to Directive 90/425/EEC (1);

develop cooperation on animal and plant health, agrifood health (in particular ionization) including veterinary legislation and inspection, vegetal and phytosanitary legislation with the aim of bringing about gradual harmonization with Community standards through assistance for training and the organization of checks,