The Import of Animals and Animal Products and Approved Countries (Amendment) Regulations 2022

(1) The Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may impose conditions relating to the protection of public health or animal health in Great Britain on the import of a consignment of semen into Great Britain from a third country listed in Annex 1, or part thereof. (2) The person exporting the consignment from the third country to Great Britain, or another person acting on their behalf, must provide evidence that any condition imposed under paragraph 1 in relation to the consignment is satisfied by giving an additional guarantee in accordance with the veterinary certificate for the consignment concerned. (3) The Secretary of State must publish any conditions imposed under paragraph 1 in a document published for the purposes of this Article. (1) The powers exercisable by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under the provisions specified in paragraph 3 may be exercised only where it is necessary or appropriate to do so in the light of an assessment of the risk to animal and public health in the United Kingdom, in accordance with paragraph 2. (2) Any assessment which is relied upon for the purposes of paragraph 1 must be appropriate to the circumstances and must have been approved by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), taking into account— (a) the state of health of the livestock, other domestic animals and wildlife and the environmental situation in the third country, with particular reference to animal diseases that are exotic, notifiable or reportable in the United Kingdom and which might endanger the health and environmental status of the United Kingdom; (b) the regularity and rapidity of the provision of information by the third country concerning the existence of the contagious animal diseases in its territory listed by the World Organisation for Animal Health; (c) the relevant legislation on animal disease prevention and control; (d) the structures, skills, independence and qualifications of the competent authority’s veterinary inspection services in the third country; (e) the organisation and implementation of measures to prevent and control contagious animal diseases; (f) the assurances which the third country can give with regard to compliance with the animal health requirements related to imports of bovine semen. (3) The provisions are— (a) paragraph 1(a) of Article 2 (import of semen); (b) paragraph 1 of Article 3a (additional guarantees). (4) Where the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers request that the Secretary of State exercise a power under a provision listed in paragraph 3 the Secretary of State must have regard to that request.

• (5) In Annex 1 (list of third countries and parts thereof from which imports of semen of domestic animals of the bovine species are to be authorised under Article 2)—

• (a) in the heading, omit “or parts thereof”;

• (b) in the table, omit the entry containing the heading “Remarks” and both columns under it (the third and fourth columns - description of territory, additional guarantees);

• (c) in the footnotes to the table—

• (i) omit the footnote relating to Switzerland;

• (ii) omit the footnote relating to EU Member States, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Amendment of Commission Implementing Decision 2012/137/EU

14

• (1) Commission Implementing Decision on imports into the Union of semen of domestic animals of the porcine species[^f00019] is amended as follows.

• (2) In Article 1 (subject matter), in paragraph 1—

• (a) for “or parts thereof” substitute “and makes provision for the specification of parts thereof”;

• (b) for “shall” substitute “may”.

• (3) In Article 2 (imports of semen), in paragraph 1(a) for “a third country, or part thereof, listed in Annex 1” substitute “such third country listed in Annex 1, or a part thereof, as the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article”.

• (4) In Article 2a (conditions for listing of semen collection centres), in paragraph 1(a) for “one of the third countries listed in Annex 1” substitute “such third country listed in Annex 1 as the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article”.

• (5) After Article 3 insert—

(1) The powers exercisable by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under the provisions listed in paragraph 2 may be exercised only where it is necessary or appropriate to do so in the light of an assessment of the risk to animal health in the United Kingdom and the matters specified in paragraph 3. (2) The provisions are— (a) paragraph 1(a) of Article 2 (specification of third country or part thereof authorised for import of semen); (b) paragraph 1(a) of Article 2a (specification of third country or part thereof authorised for import of semen dispatched from a collection centre). (3) Any assessment which is relied on for the purposes of paragraph 1 must be appropriate to the circumstances and have been approved by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), taking into account— (a) the state of health of the livestock, other domestic animals and wildlife and the environmental situation in the third country, with particular reference to animal diseases that are exotic, notifiable or reportable in the United Kingdom and which might endanger the health and environmental situation of the United Kingdom; (b) the regularity and rapidity of the provision of information by the third country concerning the existence of contagious animal diseases in its territory, in particular those diseases listed by the World Organisation for Animal Health; (c) the third country’s rules on animal disease prevention and control; (d) the structures, skills, independence and qualifications of the competent authority’s veterinary service and inspection services in the third country; (e) the organisation and implementation of measures to prevent and control contagious animal diseases; (f) the assurances which the third country can give with regard to compliance with the animal health requirements relating to the collection, processing, storage and transport of porcine semen that is approved for export. (4) Where the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers request that the Secretary of State exercise a power under a provision listed in paragraph 2 the Secretary of State must have regard to that request.

• (6) In Annex 1 (list of third countries or parts thereof from which imports of semen of domestic animals of the porcine species are to be authorised)—

• (a) in the heading, omit “or part thereof”;

• (b) in the table, omit the third column (remarks);

• (c) in the footnotes to the table—

• (i) omit the footnote relating to Switzerland;

• (ii) omit the footnote relating to EU Member States, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Amendment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2013/139

15

• (1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2013/139 laying down animal health conditions for imports of certain birds into the Union and the quarantine conditions thereof[^f00020] is amended as follows.

• (2) In Annex 1 (third countries from which imports of captive bred birds are authorised), in point 1—

• (a) for “or parts thereof listed in columns 1 and 3” substitute “listed in column 1”;

• (b) after “798/2008” insert “, or territories, zones or compartments thereof, specified by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under Article 3 of that Regulation in a document published for the purposes of that Article”.

Amendment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/659

16

• (1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/659 on the conditions for the entry into the Union of live equidae and of semen, ova and embryos of equidae[^f00021] is amended as follows.

• (2) In Article 1 (subject matter and scope) omit “list of”.

• (3) After Article 2, but within Section 1, insert—

The Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article a system of words, letters or numbers representing, for the purposes of an animal health or veterinary certificate under this Regulation, a third country, listed in Annex 1 or, where regionalisation is applied, any part of the territory of such third countries.

• (4) In Article 3 (list of third countries and parts of the territory of third countries from which the entry of equidae into Great Britain is authorised)—

• (a) in the heading, omit “List of”;

• (b) in paragraph 1, in the words before point (a)—

• (i) for “the third countries” substitute “such of the third countries”;

• (ii) omit “, or, where regionalisation is applied, parts of the territory of third countries,”;

• (iii) for “columns 2 and 4” substitute “column 2”;

• (iv) after “Annex 1” insert “or, where regionalisation is applied, such parts of the territory of those third countries, as the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may specify in a document published for the purposes of this paragraph”;

• (v) omit “in accordance with the indications set out in that Annex”;

• (c) in paragraph 1(a), for “in column 6 of the table set out in Annex 1” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), in a document published for the purposes of this point”;

• (d) in paragraph 1(b), for “in column 15 of the table set out in Annex 1” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), in a document published for the purposes of this point”;

• (e) in paragraph 1(c), for “in column 7 of the table set out in Annex 1” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), in a document published for the purposes of this point”;

• (f) in paragraph 1(d), for “in column 8 of the table set out in Annex 1” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), in a document published for the purposes of this point”;

• (g) in paragraph 1(e), for “in column 9 of the table set out in Annex 1” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), in a document published for the purposes of this point”;

• (h) in paragraph 1(f), for “in column 10 of the table set out in Annex 1” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales) in a document published for the purposes of this point”;

• (i) in paragraph 2, for “in column 16 of the table in Annex 1” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), in a document published for the purposes of this paragraph”.

• (5) In Article 4 (third countries and parts of the territory of third countries from which the entry into Great Britain of semen of equidae is authorised), in the words before point (a)—

• (a) for “the third countries” substitute “such of the third countries”;

• (b) omit “, or, where regionalisation is applied, parts of the territory of third countries,”;

• (c) for “columns 2 and 4” substitute “column 2”;

• (d) after “Annex 1” insert “or, where regionalisation is applied, parts of the territory of those third countries, as the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article”;

• (e) omit “as indicated in columns 11, 12 and 13 of that table”.

• (6) In Article 5 (third countries and parts of the territory of third countries from which the entry into Great Britain of ova and embryos of equidae is authorised), in the words before point (a)—

• (a) for “the third counties” substitute “such of the third countries”;

• (b) omit “, or, where regionalisation is applied, parts of the territory of third countries,”;

• (c) for “columns 2 and 4” substitute “column 2”;

• (d) after “Annex 1” insert “or, where regionalisation is applied, parts of the territory of those third countries as the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article”;

• (e) omit “as indicated in column 14 of that table”.

• (7) In Article 6 (certification), for paragraph 1(a) substitute—

(a) any applicable supplementary guarantees or conditions that the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may specify in a document published for the purposes of this Article;

• (8) In Article 19 (conversion of temporary admission into permanent entry and death or loss of registered horse), in paragraph 1(a), for “Annex 1” substitute “Article 3”.

• (9) After Article 19 insert—

(1) The Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), may assign a third country listed in Annex 1 or, as the case may be, part of the territory of any such third country, to a sanitary group, in accordance with column 1 of the table headed “sanitary groups” in Annex 1. (2) Where the Secretary of State assigns a third country, or part of the territory of a third country, to a sanitary group under paragraph 1, the Secretary of State must specify the third country, or part of the third country, and the sanitary group to which it is assigned, in a document published for the purposes of this Article. (3) Imports of equidae from a third country or part of a third country assigned to a sanitary group are subject to the specific animal health guarantees required for entry into Great Britain for that sanitary group in accordance with column 2 of the table headed “sanitary groups” in Annex 1.

• (10) After Article 21 but within Section 8 insert—

(1) The powers exercisable by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under the provisions listed in paragraph 2 may be exercised only where it is necessary or appropriate to do so in the light of an assessment of the risk to animal or public health in the United Kingdom, taking into account the matters specified in this Article. (2) The provisions are— (a) in Article 3 (specification of third country or part thereof from which consignments of equidae may be imported into Great Britain)— (i) paragraph 1, the words before point (a) (specification of third countries or parts of third countries in relation to which the appropriate authority may authorise consignments of equidae); (ii) paragraph 1(a) (temporary admission of registered horses); (iii) paragraph 1(b) (transit of equidae); (iv) paragraph 1(c) (re-entry of registered horses for racing, competition and cultural events); (v) paragraph 1(d) (import of registered horses); (vi) paragraph 1(e) (import of consignments of equidae for slaughter); (vii) paragraph 1(f) (importation of registered equidae and equidae for breeding and production); (viii) paragraph 2 (specification of specific conditions with which the competent authority of the third country must comply); (b) Article 4 (specification of third countries and parts of the territory of third countries from which the entry into Great Britain of semen of equidae is authorised); (c) Article 5 (specification of third countries and parts of the territory of third countries from which the entry into Great Britain of ova and embryos of equidae is authorised); (d) Article 6 (specification of applicable supplementary guarantees or conditions). (3) Any assessment which is relied on for the purposes of paragraph 1 with regard to imports of live equidae must be appropriate to the circumstances and have been approved by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), taking into account— (a) how the third country applies and implements international animal health standards, in particular the principle of regionalisation, within its own territory and in relation to its sanitary requirements for importation from other third countries and from the United Kingdom; (b) the health status of the equidae, other domestic animals and wildlife and the environmental situation in the third country, with particular regard to exotic, notifiable and reportable animal diseases and any aspects of the general situation as regards health in the third country which may pose a risk to the health and environmental situation of the United Kingdom; (c) the legislation of the third country in relation to animal health and welfare; (d) the organisation of the competent veterinary authority and its inspection services, the powers of those services, the supervision to which they are subject, and the means at their disposal, including staff and laboratory capacity, to apply national legislation effectively; (e) the assurances which the competent veterinary authority of the third country can give regarding compliance or equivalence with the relevant animal health conditions applicable in the United Kingdom; (f) whether the third country is a member of the OIE, and the regularity and rapidity of its provision of information relating to the existence of infectious or contagious diseases of equidae in its territory, in particular those diseases listed by the OIE and in Annex 1 to Council Directive 2009/156/EC[^f00022]; (g) the assurances given by the third country to inform the United Kingdom— (i) within 24 hours, of the confirmation of the occurrence of infectious diseases of equidae listed in Annex 1 to Council Directive 2009/156/EC, and of any change in the vaccination policy concerning such diseases; (ii) within an appropriate period, of any proposed changes in the national sanitary rules concerning equidae, in particular regarding the importation of equidae; and (iii) at regular intervals, of the animal health status of its territory concerning equidae; (h) any experience of previous imports of live equidae from the third country and the results of any import controls carried out; (i) the results of inspections or audits carried out in the third country, in particular the results of the assessment of the competent authorities of the third country of those inspections or audits; (j) the rules on the prevention and control of infectious or contagious animal diseases in force in the third country and their implementation, including rules on importation from other third countries; (k) any special import conditions that may be required by the United Kingdom having regard to the situation as regards the health of equidae in the third country. (4) Any assessment which is relied upon for the purposes of paragraph 1 with regard to the imports of equine semen, ova or embryos must be appropriate to the circumstances and must have been approved by the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), taking into account— (a) whether there are any diseases referred to in Annex A to Council Directive 92/65/EC or any other disease exotic to the United Kingdom present in the third country; (b) whether the third country is capable of guaranteeing the implementation of its legislation, and whether the organisation of its veterinary and inspection services enables the country effectively to undertake or supervise such services; (c) whether the veterinary services of the third country are able to guarantee that health requirements at least equivalent to those laid down in Chapter 2 of Council Directive 92/65/EC are being complied with; (d) any on-the-spot inspections by experts from the United Kingdom undertaken to verify whether the assurances given by the third country regarding the conditions of production and placing on the market can be considered equivalent to those applied in the United Kingdom. (5) Where the Scottish Ministers or the Welsh Ministers request that the Secretary of State exercise a power under a provision listed in paragraph 2 the Secretary of State must have regard to that request. (6) In this Article “the OIE” means the World Organisation for Animal Health.

• (11) In Annex 1 (list of third countries and parts of the territory of third countries from which the entry into Great Britain of consignments of equidae and of semen, ova and embryos of equidae is authorised)—

• (a) in the heading, omit “and parts of the territory of third countries”;

• (b) omit the table except for columns 1 and 2 (ISO Code and third country);

• (c) in the footnotes to the table—

• (i) omit the footnote relating to Switzerland;

• (ii) omit the footnote relating to EU Member States, Liechtenstein and Norway;

• (d) omit the legend to Annex 1 except for the table headed “Sanitary Groups”.

Amendment of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/626

17

• (1) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/626 concerning lists of third countries or regions thereof authorised for the entry into the European Union of certain animals and goods intended for human consumption[^f00023] is amended as follows.

• (2) In paragraph 4 of Article 14 (list of third countries or regions thereof authorised for entry into Great Britain of gelatine and collagen)—

• (a) omit “or regions thereof”;

• (b) after “119/2009” insert “, or parts thereof specified by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under Article 3 of that Regulation in a document published for the purposes of that Article”.

• (3) In Article 15 (list of third countries or any regions thereof authorised for entry into Great Britain of raw materials for the production of gelatine and collagen)—

• (a) in paragraph 2—

• (i) omit “regions thereof”;

• (ii) after “798/2008” insert “or territories, zones or compartments thereof”;

• (iii) for “in that part of the Annex” substitute “by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under Article 3 of that Regulation in a document published for the purposes of that Article”;

• (b) in paragraph 4—

• (i) omit “or regions thereof”;

• (ii) after “119/2009” insert “, or parts thereof specified by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under Article 3 of that Regulation in a document published for the purposes of that Article”.

• (4) In paragraph 4 of Article 16 (list of third countries or regions thereof authorised for entry into Great Britain of treated raw materials for the production of gelatine and collagen)—

• (a) omit “or regions thereof”;

• (b) after “119/2009” insert “, or any parts thereof specified by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under Article 3 of that Regulation in a document published for the purposes of that Article”.

• (5) In Article 17 (third countries authorised for the entry into Great Britain of honey and other apiculture products)—

• (a) renumber the un-numbered paragraph as paragraph 1;

• (b) in paragraph 1 (as re-numbered by sub-paragraph (a)), for “marked with an ‘X’ in the ‘Honey’ column in that Annex” substitute “are specified by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), as being a third country whose relevant plans are approved in relation to honey under Article 1(b) of that Decision in a document published for the purposes of that point”;

• (c) after paragraph 1 (as re-numbered by sub-paragraph (a)), insert—

(2) In this Decision— - “relevant plans” has the same meaning as in Article 1 of Commission Decision 2011/163/EU; - “third country” means any other country or territory other than the British Islands.

• (6) In point 4 of Article 21 (list of third countries or regions thereof authorised for entry into Great Britain of other products of animal origin)—

• (a) omit “or regions thereof”;

• (b) after “119/2009” insert “, or any parts thereof specified by the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), under Article 3 of that Regulation in a document published for the purposes of that Article”.

Signed

Benyon — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — 30th June 2022

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations are made in exercise of powers in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (c. 16) (in particular under section 8(2)(a), (b), (f) and (g) and (3)(a)) in order to address failures of retained EU law to operate effectively and other deficiencies arising from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

These Regulations amend retained EU law relating to the imports of animals and animal products. The amendments omit various entries relating to animals and animal products from tables in the Annexes to the retained EU law and replace them with a power for the Secretary of State, with the consent of the Scottish Ministers (in relation to Scotland) and the Welsh Ministers (in relation to Wales), to specify and publish equivalent information.

A full impact assessment has not been prepared for this instrument as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2008 c. 16. Section 8 was amended by section 27 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (c. 1). Paragraph 21 of Schedule 7 was amended by paragraph 53 of Schedule 5 to that Act. Paragraph 38 of Schedule 7 is cited because it allows the combination of instruments subject to different Parliamentary procedures.

[^f00002]: EUR 2001/999; amended by S.I. 2019/170, S.I. 2019/588.

[^f00003]: EUR 2008/798, amended by S.I. 2020/1462, S.I. 2021/211 and 2021/1454.

[^f00004]: S.I. 2019/1225; amended by S.I. 2020/1462.

[^f00005]: EUR 2009/119, amended by S.I. 2020/1462, S.I. 2021/211.

[^f00006]: EUR 2010/206, amended by S.I. 2020/1462, S.I. 2021/211.

[^f00007]: S.I. 2019/1225; amended by S.I. 2020/1462.

[^f00008]: EUR 2010/605, amended by S.I. 2020/1462, S.I. 2021/211.

[^f00009]: S.I. 2019/1225; amended by S.I. 2020/1462.

[^f00010]: EUR 2011/142, amended by S.I. 2020/1388.

[^f00011]: EUDN 2006/168, which is amended by S.I. 2020/1462; there is another amending instrument but it is not relevant to this instrument.

[^f00012]: EUDN 2007/453, amended by S.I. 2019/170.

[^f00013]: EUDN 2007/777, amended by S.I. 2020/1462, S.I. 2021/211.

[^f00014]: S.I. 2019/1225; amended by S.I. 2020/1462.

[^f00015]: EUDN 2010/472, amended by S.I. 2020/1462.

[^f00016]: EUDN 2011/163, amended by S.I. 2020/1141, S.I. 2020/1462, S.I. 2021/211.

[^f00017]: Repealed, subject to transitional provisions in EUR 2017/625.

[^f00018]: Commission Implementing Decision 2011/630/EU, amended by S.I. 2019/778, S.I. 2019/795, S.I. 2020/1462.

[^f00019]: Commission Implementing Decision 2012/137/EU, amended by S.I. 2019/795, S.I. 2019/1225, S.I. 2020/1462.

[^f00020]: EUR 2013/139, amended by S.I. 2020/1462 and 2021/1229.

[^f00021]: EUR 2018/659, amended by S.I. 2020/1462, S.I. 2020/1631.

[^f00022]: EUDN 2009/156, relevant amending instrument is S.I. 2019/591.

[^f00023]: EUR 2019/626, amended by S.I. 2020/1631.