This Directive lays down the rules to be observed in issuing the certificates required by veterinary legislation.
Council Directive 96/93/EC of 17 December 1996 on the certification of animals and animal products
Council Directive 96/93/EC of 17 December 1996 on the certification of animals and animal products
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2),
Whereas 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(3) and Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and animal products with a view to the completion of the internal market(4), put the responsibility on the Member State of production or dispatch to ensure that veterinary checks, and where applicable, certification, are carried out in an appropriate manner;
Whereas to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market in live animals and animal products, Member States should be able to rely completely on the integrity of certification at the places of production and dispatch;
Whereas this objective cannot be achieved by Member States individually; whereas, therefore, common rules should be adopted on the obligations of competent authorities and certifying officers and with respect to the certification of animal and animals products in accordance with Community legislation;
Whereas it is appropriate to ensure that the rules and principles applied by third-country certifying officers provide guarantees which are at least equivalent to those laid down in this Directive;
Whereas effective measures must be taken to prevent misleading or fraudulent certification,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Article 2
1.
For the purposes of this Directive:
‘veterinary legislation’ means the legislation listed in Annex A to Directive 89/662/EEC and Annexes A and B to Directive 90/425/EEC;
‘certifying officer’ means the official veterinarian or — in the cases provided for in veterinary legislation — any other person authorized by the competent authority to sign the certificates required by that legislation.
2.
In addition to the definitions in paragraph 1, the definitions contained in Article 2 of Directives 89/662/EEC and 90/425/EEC shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 3
1.
The authority shall ensure that certifying officers have a satisfactory knowledge of the veterinary legislation as regards the animals or products to be certified and, in general, are informed as to the rules to be followed for drawing up and issuing the certificates and — if necessary — as to the nature and extent of the enquiries, tests or examinations which should be carried out before certification.
2.
Certifying officers must not certify data of which they have no personal knowledge or which cannot be ascertained by them.
3.
Certifying officers must not sign blank or incomplete certificates, or certificates relating to animals or products which they have not inspected or which have passed out of their control. Where a certificate is signed on the basis of another certificate or attestation, the certifying officer shall be in possession of that document before signing.
4.
Nothing in this Article shall prevent an official veterinarian from certifying data which have been:
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ascertained on the basis of paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article by another person so authorized by the competent authority and acting under the control of the official veterinarian, provided that he or she can verify the accuracy of the data, or
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obtained, within the context of monitoring programmes, by reference to officially recognized quality assurance schemes or by means of an epidemiological surveillance system
where this is authorized under veterinary legislation.
5.
Detailed rules for implementing this Article may be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7.
Article 4
1.
The competent authorities shall take all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of certification. In particular they shall ensure that certifying officers designated by them:
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have a status which ensures their impartiality and have no direct commercial interest in the animals or products being certified or in the holdings or establishments in which they originate;
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are fully aware of the significance of the contents of each certificate which they sign.
2.
Certificates shall be drawn up at least in a language understood by the certifying officer and at least in one of the official languages of the country of destination as provided for in Community legislation.
3.
Each competent authority shall be in a position to link certificates with the relevant certifying officer and ensure that a copy of all certificates issued is available for a period to be determined by it.