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,
Having regard to Council Directive 2002/99/EC of 16 December 2002 laying down the animal health rules governing the production, processing, distribution and introduction of products of animal origin for human consumption, and in particular Article 4(3) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU lays down animal health control measures in relation to African swine fever in certain Member States. Those measures include prohibitions on the dispatch of live pigs, pig meat, pig meat preparations, pig meat products and any other products consisting of or containing pig meat from certain areas of the Member States concerned.
(2)
Article 6 of Council Directive 2002/60/EC recognises the existence of holdings consisting of different production units and allows the application of derogations related to different levels of risks that can be recognised by the competent authority. This should be reflected in the derogations provided for in Article 3 of Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU.
(3)
The movement of live pigs for immediate slaughter poses less risk than other types of movements of live pigs provided that risk mitigation measures are in place. Slaughtering pigs from the areas listed in Part III of the Annex to Implementing Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU only at the end of a slaughter day during which no other pigs are slaughtered thereafter may be included in the risk mitigation measures. This should be reflected in the derogations from the prohibition on the dispatch of consignments of live pigs for immediate slaughter provided for in Article 4 of that Implementing Decision.
(4)
Article 3 of Directive 2002/99/EC provides that products of animal origin are to be obtained from animals which do not come from a holding, establishment, territory or part of a territory subject to animal health restrictions under the rules set out in Annex I to that Directive, including control measures for African swine fever as laid down in Directive 2002/60/EC. As a consequence, slaughterhouses, cutting plants and meat processing establishments located in protection and surveillance zones defined according to Directive 2002/60/EC are restricted in the production, processing and distribution of pig meat, pig meat preparations, pig meat products and any other products consisting of or containing pig meat. Given the negligible risk it represents, a derogation should be foreseen for the slaughterhouses, cutting plants and meat processing establishments located in protection and surveillance zones provided that the products have been produced, stored and processed in establishments located in areas listed in Parts I, II or III of the Annex to Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU under specific conditions.
(5)
The measures in place for the dispatch to other Member States and third countries of live pigs from the areas listed in the Annex to Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU need to be reviewed in order to take into account the absence of the disease in the areas listed in Part I of that Annex. In order to ensure the sustainability of the measures, a proportionate relaxation should be foreseen only in case of pigs being moved from an area in Part I of that Annex to other holdings in located in an area in Part I thereof provided that the other risk mitigation measures remain in place.
(6)
The need to mitigate the risks presented by the transport of live feral pigs from the Member States listed in the Annex to Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU needs to be addressed. This practice involves a particularly high risk commodity and should be prevented by reinforcing and extending the measures already in place for feral pigs.
(7)
To ensure that information about the requirements concerning the restrictions in force under Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU for products of pig origin, including feral pigs products, is effectively conveyed to travellers, passenger transport operators and postal services should bring those requirements to the attention of travellers moving from the areas listed in the Annex to that Implementing Decision.
(8)
In May 2017, few cases of African swine fever in wild boar were observed in the Tukuma novads and in certain areas of Ventspils novads in Latvia in an area currently listed in Part II of the Annex to Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU and in proximity to areas currently listed in Part I of that Annex. The occurrence of these cases constitutes an increase in the level of risk that needs to be taken into account. Accordingly, the relevant areas of Latvia should now be listed in Part II, instead of Part I, of that Annex.
(9)
The risk of spreading African swine fever in wildlife is linked to the natural slow spread among the wild boar populations and also the man-related actions as documented by the scientific reports produced by the European Food Safety Authority. In order to account for the epidemiological events in the Union which occurred since 2014 in relation to this disease and in order to address the risks presented by African swine fever as well as the need to act in a proactive manner when defining the areas to be included into the Annex to Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU, higher risk areas of a sufficient size surrounding the areas listed in Parts II and III of that Annex should be included under Part I thereto for the entries of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. These newly included areas should take into account the seasonality of the disease in the region and it should be reviewed by the Commission in October 2017 when the risk of spread will be reassessed according to the evolution of the epidemiological situation.
(10)
The evolution of the current epidemiological situation in the Union as regards African swine fever should be considered in the assessment of the risk represented by the animal health situation as regards that disease in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. In order to focus animal health control measures and to prevent the further spread of African swine fever, as well as to prevent any unnecessary disturbance to trade within the Union and to avoid unjustified barriers to trade by third countries, the Union list of areas subject to the animal health control measures set out in Part I of the Annex to Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU should be amended to take into account the animal health situation as regards that disease in those three Member States.
(11)
Implementing Decision 2014/709/EU should therefore be amended accordingly.
(12)
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: