The Import of Animals and Animal Products and Approved Countries (Amendment) Regulations 2022

Amendment of Commission Decision 2010/472/EU

11.—(1) Commission Decision 2010/472/EU on imports of semen, ova and embryos of animals of the ovine and caprine species into the Union(1), is amended as follows.

(2) In Article 1 (subject matter and definitions)—

(a) in paragraph 1, before “or parts thereof” insert “and makes provision for the specification by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), of those third countries”;

(b) in paragraph 2, before the definition of “appropriate authority” insert—

““additional guarantee” means the guarantee given under paragraph 2 of Article 1a;”.

(3) After Article 1 insert—

“Article 1a Additional guarantees

1.   The Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may impose conditions relating to the protection of public health or animal health in Great Britain on the import of a consignment of semen, ova or embryos of the ovine or caprine species into Great Britain from a third country listed in Annex 1.

2.   The person exporting the consignment from the third country to Great Britain, or another person acting on their behalf, must provide evidence that any condition imposed under paragraph 1 in relation to the consignment is satisfied by giving an additional guarantee in accordance with the health certificate for the consignment concerned.

3.   The Secretary of State must publish any conditions imposed under paragraph 1 in a document published for the purposes of this Article.”.

(4) In Article 2 (imports of semen)—

(a) in point (a)—

(i) for “a third country or part thereof” substitute “such third country”;

(ii) after “Annex 1” insert “, or part thereof, as the Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article”;

(b) at the end of point (c) omit “and”;

(c) after point (c) insert—

“(ca) they comply with any additional guarantees that the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may require under Article 1a; and”.

(5) In Article 3 (imports of ova and embryos)—

(a) in point (a)—

(i) for “a third country or part thereof” substitute “such third country”;

(ii) after “Annex 3” insert “, or part thereof, as the Secretary of State may, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article”;

(b) after point (c) insert—

“(ca) they comply with any additional guarantees that the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may require under Article 1a;”.

(6) After Article 4 insert—

“Article 4a Matters relating to the exercise of powers under this Decision

1.   The powers exercisable by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under the provisions listed in paragraph 2 may be exercised only where it is necessary or appropriate to do so in the light of an assessment of the risk to animal and human health in the United Kingdom, taking into account—

(a) whether there are any diseases referred to in Annex A of Council Directive 92/65/EEC, or other exotic animal diseases present in the third country, which might endanger animal health in the United Kingdom;

(b) whether the third country is capable of guaranteeing the implementation of its legislation, and whether the organisation of its veterinary and inspection services enables the country effectively to undertake or supervise such services;

(c) whether the veterinary services of the third country are able to provide assurance that health requirements at least equivalent to those laid down in Chapter 2 of Council Directive 92/65/EEC are being complied with;

(d) any on-the-spot inspections by experts from the United Kingdom undertaken to verify whether the assurances given by the third country regarding the conditions of production and placing on the market can be considered equivalent to those applied in the United Kingdom.

2.   The provisions are—

(a) Article 1a (additional guarantees);

(b) Article 2(a) (specification of third country or part thereof from which semen of the ovine and caprine species may be imported into Great Britain);

(c) Article 3(a) (specification of third country or part thereof from which ova and embryos of the ovine and caprine species may be imported into Great Britain).

3.   Any assessment which is relied upon for the purposes of paragraph 1 must have been approved by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales).

4.   Where the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers request that the Secretary of State exercise a power under a provision listed in paragraph 1 the Secretary of State must have regard to that request.”.

(7) In Annex 1 (list of third countries or parts thereof from which the appropriate authority is to authorise imports of consignments of semen of animals of the ovine and caprine species)—

(a) in the heading, omit “or parts thereof”;

(b) in the table, omit the third and fourth columns (description of the territory, additional guarantees) and the heading “Remarks”;

(c) in the footnotes to the table—

(i) omit the footnote relating to Switzerland;

(ii) omit the footnote relating to EU Member States, Liechtenstein and Norway.

(8) In Annex 3 (list of third countries or parts thereof from which the appropriate authority is to authorise imports of consignments of ova and embryos of animals of the ovine and caprine species)—

(a) in the heading, omit “or parts thereof”;

(b) in the table, omit the third and fourth columns (description of the territory, additional guarantees) and the heading “Remarks”;

(c) in the footnotes to the table—

(i) omit the footnote relating to Switzerland;

(ii) omit the footnote relating to EU Member States, Liechtenstein and Norway.

(1)

EUDN 2010/472, amended by S.I. 2020/1462.