1.The identification document provided for in Article 7 shall be issued by one of the following issuing bodies:
(a)for registered equidae referred to in point (e)(i) of Article 2 of this Regulation, by an organisation or association officially approved or recognised in accordance with Article 2(1) of Decision 92/353/EEC, or by an official agency of a Member State, which manages the studbook in which the equine animal has been entered or has been registered and is eligible for entry in accordance with Decision 96/78/EC;
(b)for registered horses referred to in point (e)(ii) of Article 2, by a national branch of an international organisation or association, which manages horses for competition or racing, supervised by the competent authority of the Member State where it has its headquarters;
(c)for equidae for breeding and production referred to in point (g) of Article 2, by:
the competent authority for the holding where the equine animal is kept at the time of its identification; or
an issuing body designated and supervised by the competent authority referred to in point (i) to which that task was delegated.
2.The competent authority shall only designate issuing bodies referred to in paragraph 1(c)(ii) that comply with the following conditions:
(a)there must be an accurate description of the tasks and responsibilities that the issuing body is required to carry out and of the conditions in which it may carry them out;
(b)there must be proof that the issuing body:
has the expertise, equipment and infrastructure required to carry out the tasks delegated to it;
has a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced staff;
is impartial and free from any conflict of interest as regards the exercise of the tasks delegated to it;
has a model identification document that complies with the requirements provided for in this Regulation;
(c)the issuing body must cooperate closely with the competent authority to prevent and, where necessary, to remedy any cases of non-compliance with the requirements of this Regulation;
(d)there is efficient and effective coordination between the competent authority and the designated issuing body.
3.Where the competent authority has reasonable grounds to conclude that an issuing body engages in acts that do not comply with the requirements laid down in this Regulation, it shall investigate such suspected acts of non-compliance. Identification documents may not be issued by the issuing body until such time as the investigation has been concluded and any instances of non-compliance have been ruled out or remedied.
4.Where, notwithstanding the measures carried out in accordance with paragraph 3, an issuing body referred to in paragraph 1 fails to comply with the requirements laid down in this Regulation, the competent authority shall withdraw the authorisation to issue identification documents for equidae.
Following the withdrawal of the authorisation to issue identification documents, the competent authority shall ensure that equidae under its responsibility continue to be identified in accordance with this Regulation and that the identification documents returned or returning in accordance with Article 34 are taken in custody of that competent authority or an issuing body to which this task was delegated by the competent authority.