Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/2192 of 7 December 2020 amending Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the identification mark to be used for certain products of animal origin in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

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

Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin ¹, and in particular Article 10(1) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 lays down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin for food business operators. In particular, Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 sets out requirements concerning the identification mark to be applied by food business operators on certain products of animal origin, including requirements concerning the country codes to be used by Member States and third countries.

• (2) In accordance with the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (Withdrawal Agreement) and in particular Article 5(4) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Protocol, Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, as well as the Commission acts based on it, applies to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland after the end of the transitional period. For that reason, it is necessary to amend the requirements laid down in Annex II to that Regulation concerning the identification mark that should be used in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland.

• (3) Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly,

• (4) As the transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement ends on 31 December 2020, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2021,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 is amended in accordance with the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2021.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 7 December 2020.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

ANNEX

In Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, in Section I, in part B, the second subparagraph of point 6 is replaced by the following:

‘In the case of Member States[^ntr*1-L_2020434EN.01001201-E0001], however, these codes are BE, BG, CZ, DK, DE, EE, GR, ES, FR, HR, IE, IT, CY, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, NL, AT, PL, PT, SI, SK, FI, RO, SE and UK(NI)

[^ntr*1-L_2020434EN.01001201-E0001]: In accordance with the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 5(4) of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland in conjunction with Annex 2 to that Protocol, for the purposes of this Annex, references to Member States include the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland.’ ’