THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to 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, and in particular Article 9(4) thereof,
Having regard to 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, and in particular Article 10(4) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Following the notification by the Netherlands of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza of subtype H5N8 in a laying hen holding in Hekendorp in the province of Utrecht, on 16 November 2014, Commission Implementing Decision 2014/808/EU was adopted.
(2)
Implementing Decision 2014/808/EU provides that the protection and surveillance zones established by the Netherlands, in accordance with Council Directive 2005/94/EC, are to comprise at least the areas listed as protection and surveillance zones in the Annex to that Implementing Decision.
(3)
The interim protective measures put in place following the outbreak in Hekendorp in the Netherlands were reviewed within the framework of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed on 20 November 2014. The measures were confirmed and the Annex to that Implementing Decision amended by Commission Implementing Decision 2014/833/EU in order to take into account the establishment of protection and surveillance zones around further outbreaks in Ter Aar and Kamperveen where veterinary restrictions according to Directive 2005/94/EC are applied.
(4)
On 30 November 2014 a further outbreak was confirmed in a poultry holding in Zoeterwoude in Zuid-Holland. The measures according to Directive 2005/94/EC were immediately implemented including the establishment of the protection and surveillance zones.
(5)
In order to prevent any unnecessary disturbance to trade within the Union and to avoid unjustified barriers to trade being imposed by third countries, it is necessary to define the protection and surveillance zones established on account of the new outbreak in the Netherlands at Union level in collaboration with that Member State and to fix the duration of that regionalisation.
(6)
Implementing Decision 2014/833/EU should therefore be amended accordingly.
(7)
The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: