THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of Croatia, and in particular Article 3(4) thereof,
Having regard to the Act of Accession of Croatia, and in particular Article 42 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 on the animal health requirements applicable to the non-commercial movement of pet animals and amending Council Directive 92/65/EEC applies, inter alia, to movements into Member States from third countries of pet animals of the species listed in Annex I thereto. Dogs and cats are listed in Part A and ferrets are listed in Part B of that Annex.
(2)
Section 2 of Part B of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 lists countries and territories, including Croatia, which apply to non-commercial movements of those pet animals rules at least equivalent to the rules provided for in that Regulation.
(3)
As a result, dogs, cats and ferrets moved from those countries and territories into Member States are allowed to be accompanied by a passport complying with the model set out in Annex I to Commission Decision 2003/803/EC of 26 November 2003 establishing a model passport for the intra-Community movements of dogs, cats and ferrets and the additional requirements set out in Annex II to that Decision, with certain necessary adaptations with regard to the cover page of the model passport.
(4)
From the date of accession of Croatia, dogs, cats and ferrets are not to be moved from Croatia into another Member State unless they are accompanied by a passport complying with the model set out in Annex I to Decision 2003/803/EC and the additional requirements set out in Annex II to that Decision.
(5)
However, blank passports printed by the competent authorities of Croatia as well as those distributed to, but not yet issued by, authorised veterinarians in Croatia before the date of accession may still be in stock after that date.
(6)
At the same time, passports issued prior to the date of accession should, subject to certain conditions, continue to be accepted for a transitional period of three years in order to limit the administrative and financial burden on owners of pet animals.
(7)
Therefore, in order to facilitate the transition from the existing regime to that in force from the date of accession of Croatia, it is appropriate to lay down transitional measures for the movement of pet animals from Croatia into other Member States.
(8)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health and neither the European Parliament nor the Council have opposed them,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: