Article 50U.K.Disease-free zone or compartment
1.A Member State may declare a zone or a compartment within its territory free of one or more of the non-exotic diseases listed in Part II of Annex IV, where:
(a)none of the species susceptible to the disease(s) in question is present in the zone or compartment, and where relevant in its water source;
or
(b)the pathogen is known not to be able to survive in the zone or compartment, and where relevant in its water source;
or
(c)the zone or compartment complies with the conditions laid down in Part II of Annex V.
2.A Member State shall submit the declaration referred to in paragraph 1 to the Standing Committee on Food Chain and Animal Health in accordance with the following procedure:
(a)the declaration shall be supported by evidence in a form to be determined in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62(2) and be accessible by electronic means to the Commission and Member States, in accordance with the requirements of Article 59;
(b)the Commission shall add the notification of the declaration to the agenda of the next meeting of the Committee referred to in Article 62(1) as an information point. The declaration shall take effect 60 days after the date of the meeting;
(c)within this period, the Commission or Member States may seek clarification or additional information on the supporting evidence from the Member State making the declaration;
(d)where written comments are made by at least one Member State, or the Commission, within the period referred to in point (b) indicating significant objective concerns related to the supporting evidence, the Commission and the Member States concerned shall together examine the submitted evidence in order to resolve the concerns. In that case, the period referred to in point (b) may be prolonged for 30 days. Such comments shall be submitted to the declaring Member State and to the Commission;
(e)if the arbitration referred to in point (d) fails, the Commission may decide to make an on-the-spot inspection in accordance with Article 58 to verify the compliance of the declaration submitted with the criteria set out in paragraph 1, unless the declaring Member State withdraws its declaration;
(f)where necessary in the light of the results achieved, a decision in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62(2) shall be taken, to suspend the self-declaration of the disease-free status of the zone or compartment concerned.
3.Where the zone(s) or compartment(s) referred to in paragraph 1 comprise more than 75 % of the territory of the Member State, or if the zone or compartment consists of a water catchment area shared by another Member State or third country, the procedure referred to in paragraph 2 shall be replaced by the procedure referred to in Article 62(2).
4.The specific requirements of the surveillance, sampling and diagnostic methods used by Member States to obtain disease-free status in accordance with this Article shall be laid down in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 62(2).