Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/250 of 21 February 2022 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403 as regards the addition of a new model animal health/official certificate for the entry into Northern Ireland of ovine and caprine animals from Great Britain and amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/404 as regards the list of third countries authorised for the entry into the Union of ovine and caprine animals (Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on transmissible animal diseases and amending and repealing certain acts in the area of animal health (‘Animal Health Law’) ¹, and in particular Articles 230(1), 238(3) and 239(3) thereof,

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products, amending Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EC) No 396/2005, (EC) No 1069/2009, (EC) No 1107/2009, (EU) No 1151/2012, (EU) No 652/2014, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2016/2031 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulations (EC) No 1/2005 and (EC) No 1099/2009 and Council Directives 98/58/EC, 1999/74/EC, 2007/43/EC, 2008/119/EC and 2008/120/EC and repealing Regulations (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Directives 89/608/EEC, 89/662/EEC, 90/425/EEC, 91/496/EEC, 96/23/EC, 96/93/EC and 97/78/EC and Council Decision 92/438/EEC (Official Controls Regulation) ², and in particular Article 90, first paragraph, points (a) and (c), and Article 126(3) thereof,

Whereas:

• (1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403 ³ lays down rules regarding animal health certificates provided for in Regulation (EU) 2016/429 and animal health/official certificates based on Regulation (EU) 2016/429 and on Regulation (EU) 2017/625, required for the entry into the Union of terrestrial animals. More particularly, Article 14 of that Implementing Regulation provides that the animal health certificates and animal health/official certificates to be used for the entry into the Union of certain categories of ungulates are to correspond to certain models set out in Annex II thereto. That Article refers, inter alia, to model ‘OV/CAP-X’, set out in Chapter 4 of that Annex, which must be used for the entry into the Union of ovine and caprine animals.

• (2) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/404 ⁴ establishes the lists of third countries, territories or zones thereof, from which the entry into the Union of species and categories of animals that fall within the scope of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 ⁵ is permitted. In particular, Article 3 of that Implementing Regulation refers to Part 1 of Annex II thereto setting out the list of third countries, territories or zones thereof, from which the entry into the Union of ungulates is permitted.

• (3) Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁶ lays down rules for the prevention, control and eradication of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in animals. More particularly, Chapter E of Annex IX to that Regulation lays down the requirements for the importation into the Union of ovine and caprine animals.

• (4) 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, Regulations (EC) No 999/2001, (EU) 2016/429 and (EU) 2017/625, as well as the Commission acts based on them, apply to and in the United Kingdom in respect of Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period provided for in the Withdrawal Agreement. Accordingly, live animals shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are now subject to the regime applicable to imports from any third country.

• (5) Regulation (EU) 2022/175 ⁷ amended the requirements laid down in Annex IX to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 for the entry into the Union of ovine and caprine animals intended for breeding, allowing, until 31 December 2024, the entry from Great Britain into Northern Ireland of such animals when they originate from holdings in Great Britain which are engaged in the three-year process to be granted the status of a holding with a controlled risk of classical scrapie. That new import requirement should be reflected in a new specific model certificate for those animals provided for in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403. Accordingly, it is necessary to amend Article 14 and Annex II to that Implementing Regulation.

• (6) In addition, as the new import requirement laid down in Annex IX to Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 only applies to ovine and caprine animals originating from holdings in Great Britain, it is necessary to limit to Great Britain, in Part 1 of Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/404, the use of the new model certificate laid down in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403. It is therefore necessary to amend the entries for the United Kingdom in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/404 accordingly.

• (7) Implementing Regulations (EU) 2021/403 and (EU) 2021/404 should therefore be amended accordingly.

• (8) 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:

Article 1

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403 is amended as follows:

• (1) in Article 14, the following point (m) is added:

• ‘(m) OV/CAP-X-NI drawn up in accordance with the model set out in Chapter 4a of Annex II, for the entry into Northern Ireland of ovine and caprine animals from Great Britain until 31 December 2024.’;

• (2) Annex II is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 2

Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/404 is amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.

Article 3

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

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

Done at Brussels, 21 February 2022.

For the Commission

The President

Ursula VON DER LEYEN

ANNEX I

Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/403 is amended as follows:

• (1) in the table listing the model animal health certificates and animal health/official certificates and declarations for entry into the Union and transit through the Union, in the section for ungulates, the following entry is inserted after the entry ‘OV/CAP-X’:

• (2) the following Chapter 4a is inserted between Chapters 4 and 5:

‘CHAPTER 4A

MODEL ANIMAL HEALTH/OFFICIAL CERTIFICATE FOR THE ENTRY INTO NORTHERN IRELAND OF OVINE AND CAPRINE ANIMALS FROM GREAT BRITAIN APPLICABLE UNTIL 31 DECEMBER 2024 (MODEL ‘OV/CAP-X-NI’)

Image omitted; see official source

Image omitted; see official source

COUNTRY	Certificate model OV/CAP-X-NI