Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 provides that the protection and surveillance zones established by the competent authorities of the concerned Member States in accordance with Directive 2005/94/EC are to comprise at least the areas listed as protection and surveillance zones in the Annex to that Implementing Decision.

Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 also lays down that the measures to be applied in the protection and surveillance zones, as provided for in Article 29(1) and Article 31 of Directive 2005/94/EC, are to be maintained until at least the dates for those zones set out in the Annex to that Implementing Decision.

Depending on the epidemiological situation as regards highly pathogenic avian influenza, a concerned Member State may establish further restricted zones around or adjacent to the protection and surveillance zones in accordance with Article 16(4) of Directive 2005/94/EC.

In order to strenghten disease control, concerned Member States should establish further restricted zones on their territory where the epidemiological enquiry has identified a serious risk for disease spread taking into account the criteria laid down in Article 16(3) of the Directive 2005/94/EC which include, inter alia, the geographical situation, the location and proximity of holdings and the estimated number of poultry, their movements and trade patterns, and facilities and personnel available to implement the control of these zones.

In addition, Article 32 of that Directive lays down that the competent authority may provide that some or all of the measures to be applied in the protection and surveillance zones are to apply inside the further restricted zones.

For reasons of clarity, and in order to keep the Member States, third countries and stakeholders up-to-date on the evolution of the epidemiological situation in the Union, those further restricted zones should also be covered by Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 and listed in the Annex thereto. That Annex should set out the date for the maintenance of the application of the protection measures in the further restricted zones, taking into account the epidemiological situation in the Union as regards highly pathogenic avian influenza.

The concerned Member States should prohibit the dispatch of consignments of live poultry, day-old chicks and hatching eggs from the areas listed as further restricted zones in the Annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 to other Member States, except where the concerned Member States authorise the dispatch of such consignments subject to specific conditions.

Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 should therefore be amended in order to lay down the conditions whereby the concerned Member States of dispatch may authorise the dispatch of day-old chicks and hatching eggs from further restricted zones to other Member States.

The Annex to Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 should be amended in order to include a new Part C listing the further restricted zones established by the concerned Member State, in accordance with Directive 2005/94/EC and the duration of the restrictions applicable in the further restrictive zones.

Due to the increasing risk for the seasonal occurrence of that disease within the Union, the measures to be applied in areas listed in the Annex to that Implementing Decision could continue after that date in the case of further outbreaks in the Union. It is therefore appropriate to prolong the period of application of Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 until 31 May 2018.

Implementing Decision (EU) 2017/247 should therefore be amended accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,