Since 2013, Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), which is an emerging pathogen fungus of salamanders, has been occuring in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It affects kept and wild salamander populations, and it can cause significant morbidity and mortality in those populations. Bsal is lethal to certain species of salamanders, while other species are fully or partly resistant to it, but may carry Bsal on their skin and therefore act as a reservoir and source of infection or contamination for other species of salamanders.

According to the EFSA Assistance, quarantining salamanders, the testing of salamanders to demonstrate that they are free of infection from Bsal, restricting movements of salamanders, hygienic procedures and biosecurity measures or treating salamanders against Bsal are important risk mitigation measures in preventing the spread of that disease.

The EFSA Assistance also highlighted many gaps and uncertainties in the current state of knowledge as regards Bsal. In particular, it concluded, that due to the complexity of the taxonomy as well as the lack of current evidence concerning which species are susceptible to Bsal, rules at the level of the taxonomic order are likely to be both more effective and more feasible than species-specific rules.

It is therefore appropriate to lay down animal health protection measures for intra-Union trade in consignments of salamanders and the introduction of such consignments into the Union on the taxonomic order of Caudata, in order to ensure that Bsal is not spread by intra-Union trade in those animals and the introduction of such animals into the Union. These measures should take into account the risk mitigation measures referred to in the EFSA Assistance and in particular provide for the appropriate quarantine, diagnostic testing and treatment of salamanders as well as for certification of their health status for their trade in and introduction into the Union. These measures are of an emergency nature and are not deemed specific measures within the meaning of Article 18(2) of Council Directive 92/65/EEC.

The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) listed infection with Bsal in its Aquatic Animal Health Code during its 85th General Session on 21-26 May 2017. But detailed international standards are not yet available and there is a lack of information on the technical capabilities of veterinary services and laboratories around the world to test for Bsal, while various concerned stakeholders in the European Union are in the forefront of progress on the diagnosis and treatment of Bsal and the safe handling of traded salamanders. It is therefore appropriate that most risk-mitigating measures, in particular the quarantining in an appropriate establishment, testing and treatment of traded and introduced salamanders are to be done by competent veterinary authorities, operators and laboratories located within the Union.

According to the EFSA Assistance, it is possible that Bsal is transmitted between salamander species native to different areas and cross-contamination may take place in various establishments breeding, collecting or distributing salamanders. This makes the risk of Bsal occurring in traded salamanders independent from their place of origin and from the situation in the wild. Therefore all consignments of salamanders destined for intra-Union trade or introduced into the Union should be subject to risk mitigation measures.

As regards the size of the quarantined epidemiological units, a minimum size eligible for certification for negative diagnostic test results should be specified due to the limited sensitivity of the best available real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay which is sufficiently reliable to be used only if the epidemiological units comprise at least 62 salamanders.

Salamanders which have undergone quarantine with testing with negative results or satisfactory treatment in the Union should not be subjected to quarantine or testing again, provided that they have been kept isolated from salamanders of a different health status in an appropriate establishment.

As regards treatments, these should be specified and be in line with the protocols already described in peer-reviewed scientific literature as highlighted by the EFSA Assistance or with comparable ones.

Consignments of salamanders should be introduced in the Union only if they comply with all the requirements and the competent veterinary authority of the border inspection post of entry can also ascertain that the consignments will be accepted by an operator responsible for an appropriate establishment of destination to be duly quarantined.

This Decision should provide for a transitional period in order to give the Member States, the competent authorities and economic operators time to put in place the necessary procedures so that they are in a position to comply with the rules laid down in this Decision. The length of this period should be limited to a few months. At the same time, risk mitigation measures based on the required level of protection by the Member States of destination should already apply.

It is expected that more information will be available in the coming years about Bsal from scientific sources and from results of official controls carried out by the Member States, supplementing the current knowledge concerning that disease. Therefore, the animal health protection measures laid down in this Decision should be of a temporary nature. Nevertheless, they should apply at least until 31 December 2019 to allow for 1 year of implementation by the Member States and subsequent annual reporting and consideration thereof, while permanent EU animal health rules may be laid down under the new Regulation (EU) 2016/429 on transmissible animal diseases to apply from the date of application of that Regulation.

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