Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/372 of 17 February 2023 laying down rules on the recording, storing and sharing of written records of official controls performed on livestock vessels, on contingency plans for livestock vessels in the event of emergencies, on the approval of livestock vessels and on minimum requirements applicable to exit points (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending Directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and Regulation (EC) No 1255/97⁽¹⁾, and in particular Article 30(2) thereof,

Whereas:

1. Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 requires Member States’ competent authorities to inspect livestock vessels before any loading of domestic animals. In particular, the competent authorities are to verify that vessels are built and equipped for the number and the type of animals to be transported and the equipment referred to in Chapter IV of Annex I to that Regulation remains in good working order.

2. Member States’ competent authorities currently record the certifications of the approval of livestock vehicles in their own electronic databases, to which other Member States’ competent authorities do not have access. While a documentary check cannot replace the physical inspection of the vessel itself, an examination, as part of an official control, of the certification details held in a vessel’s certificate of approval, can provide some information on the vessel’s compliance with the requirements of Chapter IV, Section 1, of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1/2005. Therefore, the uploading and storage of the certificates of approval along with any certification details in a common electronic database should allow competent authorities to access this information to reduce administrative burden and facilitate their work when carrying out an official control.

3. The certification details, which Member States’ competent authorities record in the single electronic database, should include the expiry date of the certificates, information concerning the maximum surface area available for the animals and the type of animals the vessels can transport. That should allow competent authorities performing official controls to assess whether the approval is valid at the time of the control and whether the vessel is fit for transporting the animals in question.

4. Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽²⁾ integrates into a single legislative framework the rules applicable to official controls on animals to verify compliance with Union agri-food chain legislation.

5. Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 requires competent authorities to draw up records of every official control performed on paper or in electronic form. It also lists the information that these records are to include. The inspections required by Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 before loading domestic Equidae and domestic animals of bovine, ovine, caprine or porcine species on livestock vessels should therefore be recorded.

6. Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 requires competent authorities to perform official controls taking account of, amongst other things, the operators’ past record as regards the outcome of official controls and their compliance with Union rules, including Regulation (EC) No 1/2005. Competent authorities do not have access to the outcome of official controls performed by other Member States’ competent authorities. These records are however necessary to make well-informed decisions when carrying out inspections for the purposes of Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005. It is therefore necessary, for the proper implementation of Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, to establish a common electronic database that collects and shares the details of the certificates of approval of livestock vessels and the outcome of their inspection history. This should allow competent authorities to rapidly access this information, reduce administrative burden and facilitate their work when carrying out an official control.

7. Pursuant to Directive 2009/16/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽³⁾, all Member States with maritime ports are to carry out port State control inspections of the ships which call at their ports. The results of the port State control inspections are objective and verifiable, and may be relevant for the inspections required by Article 20(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, such as detected deficiencies relating to water-tightness, ventilation, buoyancy or fire-fighting equipment. It is therefore necessary to include the relevant publicly available results of port State control inspections in the common electronic database.

8. The Commission has carried out a series of audits on Member States’ official control systems to protect the welfare of animals during transport by sea to third countries using livestock vessels. Following the detection of weaknesses in Member States’ systems of official controls on the authorisation of sea transporters as a result of these audits, competent authorities should make sure that the contingency plans presented by transporters pursuant to Article 11(1), point (b)(iv), of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 are adapted to handle the main emergencies they may face during the journey concerned.

9. In order to have sufficient time to assess the information contained in the documentation received from an applicant for a certificate of approval provided for in Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, to prepare for a thorough physical inspection of a livestock vessel and to check whether a livestock vessel complies with the requirements for the granting of a certificate of approval, the applicant should submit to the competent authorities the application for approval at least 20 days prior to the date of inspection of the livestock vessel.

10. Based on their experience of the transport of animals by livestock vessels, Member States’ experts, including national contact points for the protection of animals during transport, developed in 2014 a network document⁽⁴⁾, to provide guidance for official controls of animal welfare during export by livestock vessels, as required by Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 (‘the network document’). The guidelines in the network document were updated in January 2020 in the light of the experience gained in applying the network document and of Commission’s audits.

11. Inspectors from the competent authorities that carry out inspections on livestock vessels are mostly official veterinarians. Veterinary competency alone is not sufficient to check the functioning of the mechanical and management systems of livestock vessels that may have an impact on the welfare of the animals being transported. As proposed in the network document, the teams performing inspections for the purpose of granting a certificate of approval, provided for in Article 19 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, should consist of official veterinarians and maritime experts with appropriate expertise on those mechanical and management systems and practical experience of the operation of livestock vessels.

12. The approval of a livestock vessel provided for in Article 19(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 or the renewal of such approval should be subject to the results of an inspection by an official veterinarian on board the first journey with consignments of animals to check that the mechanical and management systems of the livestock vessel are not detrimental to the welfare of the animals on board during the journey.

13. In order to ensure that animals transported either from other Member States or on long road journeys from their place of departure to exit points at seaports can be unloaded safely and be fed, watered and rested, at least one control post referred to in Article 1(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/97⁽⁵⁾ should be available at the exit points at seaports, or within a two-hour distance by road from the exit point concerned.

14. In order for Member States to allocate staff and resources to the new tasks and obligations laid down in this Regulation, to ensure a smooth and seamless adaptation to the new rules, and to ensure that Member States have sufficient time to build control posts at exit points, if needed, Article 10 of this Regulation, concerning the presence of a veterinarian on board, and Article 11 of this Regulation, concerning the control posts at exit points, shall only apply from 1 January 2024.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: