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EU legislation regarding animal
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Identification and
traceability of farm animals in the EU
The ICAR-FAO seminar “Development of
animal identification and recording systems for veterinary
surveillance and livestock development in countries of Eastern
Europe” was held during the 35th Session of ICAR in Kuopio, Finland
(7-10 June 2006). In the context of the workshop, Dr. Kai-Uwe
Sprenger (EC, DG Health and Consumer Protection, Animal Health Unit)
presented the legislative situation regarding the identification and
traceability of farm animals in the EU. European legislation on farm
animals focuses on their traceability for veterinary and public
health purposes, the management of livestock premiums, and medical
treatment. With regard to bovine animals, identification
requirements include eartags, national databases, cattle passports,
registers for each holding, various controls and sanctions. As
regards sheep and goats, double individual identification is
obligatory, as well as holding registers, movement documents and
national databases. Finally, requirements concerning pigs include
eartags or tattoos, national databases for each holding and each
group movement, and registers on each holding. With reference to
electronic identification, it shall be obligatory for all sheep and
goats starting from 1st January 2008 according to Council Regulation
N.21/2004. As regards bovine animals, the question of electronic
identification is still under discussion, based on the Commission
Report COM(2005).
You can read K.U. Sprenger’s
presentation at:
http://www.icar.org/Documents/Kuopio_Presentations/FAO_ICAR_Seminar/Sprenger.pdf
Further reading -
Regulation N.21/2004
Establishing a system for the
identification and registration of ovine and caprine animals. All
member states are obliged to establish such a system, which
includes:
1. means of identification to identify each animal;
2. up-to-date registers kept on each holding;
3. movement documents;
4. a central register or a computer database.
Read the full document at:
http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi
!prod!CELEXnumdoc &lg=en&numdoc=32004R0021& model=guichett
Commission Report
COM(2005)9
The Commission report to the Council
and the European Parliament on the possibility of introducting
electronic identification for bovine animals. The purpose of this
report is to summarise the experience gained on the basis of the
IDEA project on the use of electronic identification in bovine
animals and to draw conclusions concerning the conditions of
introducing electronic identification arrangements for bovine
animals in the European Union. It can be read at:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/com/2005/com2005_0009en01.pdf
EC - Animal Health
and Welfare
Website of the European Commission –
DG Health and Consumer Protection on Animal health and welfare. It
contains, among others, information on preventive health measures on
intra-community trade and imports of live animals, semen, ova and
embryos, and animal products, as well as information on EU
legislation on animal diseases and other activities regarding
identification and traceability of animals etc. The document can be
found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/index_en.htm
This page has been visited
times since 30-June-2007
Page last up-dated:
26/02/2008
