Having regard to Council Directive 97/78/EC of 18 December 1997 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries(1), and particularly Article 3(5), Article 4(5), Article 5(4), Article 8(7), Article 16(3) and Article 19(1) thereof,

"competent authority" shall mean the central authority or authorities of a Member State responsible for, or entrusted with, carrying out veterinary checks and implementing this Regulation, or, in the case of monitoring for premiums, the authority entrusted with implementing Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003;

Having regard to Council Directive 91/496/EEC of 15 July 1991 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries and amending Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC(1), and in particular Article 3(2) and Article 7(2) thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/496/EEC of 15 July 1991 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries and amending Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC(1), and in particular Article 3(2) and Article 7(2) thereof,

The development of the integrated computerised veterinary system Traces, provided for by Commission Decision 2003/623/EC(3), involves the standardisation of documents relating to the declaration and checks so that the data gathered can be properly managed and processed in order to improve health safety in the Community.

The general rules and principles applicable during inspections of aquaculture products imported from third countries shall be those laid down in Council Directive 90/675/EEC of 10 December 1990 laying down the principles governing the organization of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries.

Article 3(1) and (2) of Directive 97/78/EC require, respectively, that Member States shall ensure that no consignment from a third country is introduced into the Community without having been subjected to the appropriate veterinary checks, and that consignments are introduced into the Community via a border inspection post.

The operator of the establishment, the owner or his agent must be in a position, upon request from the competent authority, to inform the official veterinarian or the Commission's veterinary experts of the nature, frequency and results of the checks conducted, together with the name of the investigating laboratory if need be.

The certificate issued after completion of veterinary checks and currently laid down in Annex B to Decision 93/13/EEC should be adapted to take account of changes to procedures both for consignments meeting Community rules and for consignments not meeting Community rules, and whether for import into or transit of the Community.

Without prejudice to specific Community rules relating to certain products, the products referred to in Article 16(1)(a), (b), and (d) of Directive 97/78/EC shall not be subject to the systematic veterinary checks set out in Chapter 1 of that Directive if they are less than 1 kg in weight only and destined for personal human consumption.

Having regard to Council Directive 91/496/EEC of 15 July 1991, laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on animals entering the Community from third countries and amending Directives 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC and 90/675/EEC(3), as last amended by Directive 96/43/EC(4), and in particular Article 18(7) thereof,

To ensure that all products of animal origin entering the Community undergo veterinary checks the competent authority and the official veterinarians of each Member State shall coordinate with other enforcement services to gather all pertinent intelligence regarding introduction of animal products This shall apply in particular to the following:

an official veterinarian has carried out a clinical examination of the pigs in the holding and in particular of those to be moved, including the taking of the body temperature in accordance with the procedures laid down in the diagnostic manual and a check of the register and the pig identification marks referred to in Articles 4 and 5 of Directive 92/ 102/EEC;

The rules laid down in Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra-Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market as regards aquaculture products for human consumption and Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market (2) as regards aquaculture animals and products placed on the market shall apply, in particular as regards the organization of and the action to be taken following the inspections to be carried out by the Member State of destination, and the protective measures to be implemented.

Directive as last amended by Directive 2000/47/EC (OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 73). ANNEX I List of crossing points referred to in Article 2(4) Ledra Palace Agios Dhometios ANNEX II Requirements and checks referred to in Article 4(4) Veterinary, phytosanitary and food safety requirements and checks as set out in measures adopted pursuant to Article 37 (former Article 43) and/or Article 152(4)(b) of the EC Treaty. In particular, relevant plants, plant products and other objects shall have undergone phytosanitary checks by duly authorised experts to verify that the provisions of EU phytosanitary legislation (Council Directive 2000/29/EC(1)) are complied with before they cross the line to the areas under the effective control of the Republic of Cyprus.

of the correctness of entries in the register and the notifications to the computerised database for bovine animals on the basis of a sample of supporting documents such as purchase and sales invoices, slaughter certificates, veterinary certificates and, where applicable, animal passports, in relation to animals for which aid applications were submitted in the 12 months prior to the on-the-spot check,

The transitional provisions for the border inspection posts between the Member States and the new Member States which are due to be abolished on accession are not made sufficiently clear in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 282/2004 introducing a document for the declaration of, and veterinary checks on, animals from third countries entering the Community(2) and should be reworded to avoid any ambiguity.

Pursuant to Article 3(1)(c) of Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market(3), animals for intra-Community trade have to be identified in accordance with the requirements of Community rules and be registered in such a way that the original or transit holding, centre or organisation can be traced.

Ireland, Cyprus, Malta, and the United Kingdom may, without prejudice to paragraphs 2 and 3, retain their national regulations on quarantine for all carnivores, primates, bats and other animals susceptible to rabies covered by this Directive which cannot be shown to have been born on the holding of origin and kept in captivity since birth, although the retention of those regulations may not jeopardize the abolition of veterinary checks at the frontiers between Member States."

Detailed rules concerning the use of that certificate are set out in Commission Decision 2000/208/EC of 24 February 2000 establishing detailed rules for the application of Council Directive 97/98/EC concerning the transit of products of animal origin from one third country to another third country by road only across the European Community(5), and Commission Decision 2000/571/EC of 8 September 2000 laying down the methods of veterinary checks for products from third countries destined for introduction into free zones, free warehouses, customs warehouses or operators supplying cross border means of sea transport(6).

To take account of those new rules, Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market(5) and 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(6), should therefore be amended,

Veterinary checks

Adaptation of veterinary checks

Whereas provision must be made for action to be taken where a veterinary check discloses that the consignment is irregular;

Give the approval number and address including postcode for all destinations where an additional veterinary check is required.

Member States may stipulate that expenditure incurred as a result of the veterinary check shall be borne by the operator concerned.

Member Sates may specify that expenses incurred by the abovementioned veterinary check shall be borne by the operator exporting the animals,

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

Veterinary checks of certain plant products

Plant products subject to veterinary checks:

is subject to regular official veterinary checks,

it is subject to regular official veterinary checks;

it is subject to regular official veterinary checks,

- it is subject to regular official veterinary checks,

(i) it is subject to regular official veterinary checks,

(i) it is/they are subject to regular official veterinary checks,

Procedure to be followed after completion of the veterinary checks