THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Directive 2009/156/EC of 30 November 2009 on animal health conditions governing the movement and importation from third countries of equidae, and in particular Article 12(1) and (4), point (a) of Article 15 and the introductory phrase and points (a) and (b) of Article 19 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Directive 2009/156/EC lays down animal health conditions for the importation into the Union of live equidae. It empowers the Commission to lay down, amongst others, the special conditions for the temporary admission and imports into the Union of registered equidae.
(2)
Commission Decision 92/260/EEC provides that Member States are to authorise the temporary admission into the Union of registered horses coming from the third countries listed in Annex I thereto. That Annex sets out lists of third countries where official regionalisation is applied and assigns those third countries to specific sanitary groups depending on their health situation.
(3)
Commission Decision 93/197/EEC provides that Member States are to authorise imports into the Union of registered equidae and equidae for breeding and production coming from the third countries listed in Annex I thereto. That Annex sets out lists of third countries where official regionalisation is applied and assigns those third countries to specific sanitary groups depending on their health situation.
(4)
Commission Decision 2004/211/EC establishes a list of third countries, or parts thereof where regionalisation applies, from which Member States are to authorise the importation of equidae and semen, ova and embryos thereof. Annex I to that Decision sets out that list and also assigns the third countries, or parts thereof, to specific sanitary groups.
(5)
Decisions 92/260/EEC, 93/197/EEC and 2004/211/EC previously assigned Egypt to sanitary group E. However, following a veterinary inspection carried out in Egypt in June 2010, it was decided that the situation in that third country could constitute a serious animal health risk for the equine population in the Union. As a result, Commission Decision 2010/463/EU was adopted in order to delete the entry for Egypt in sanitary group E as listed in Annex I to Decisions 92/260/EEC, 93/195/EEC and 93/197/EEC and also to amend the entry for Egypt in Annex I to Decision 2004/211/EC.
(6)
The concept of an ‘Equine Disease Free Zone’ (EDFZ) developed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) mirrors the principles of regionalisation provided for in Directive 2009/156/EC. An EDFZ is therefore a part of the territory of a country under specific veterinary supervision which is free of multiple specified equine diseases and usually established where the control and eradication of all equine diseases in the entire territory of a country is not feasible or achievable. The separation of the equidae inside the EDFZ from other equidae is achieved by the implementation of sound biosecurity management, certification standards and procedures, contingency planning and the identification of all horses situated in the EDFZ and the capacity to trace their movement.
(7)
In June 2016, Egypt requested that the Commission reconsider the export status of that third country and it submitted documentation on the establishment of an EDFZ around the Egyptian Armed Forces Veterinary Hospital situated in the eastern outskirts of Cairo. The EDFZ is connected through a highway with Cairo International Airport which is less than 10 km away.
(8)
It appears from the documentation submitted by Egypt that the guarantees offered by Egypt are sufficient to re-assign Egypt to sanitary group E and to authorise temporary admission and imports of registered horses from the EDFZ of Egypt.
(9)
Decisions 92/260/EEC, 93/197/EEC and 2004/211/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
(10)
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: