The European Parliament adopted, by 567 votes to 2, a legislative resolution amending the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 on the animal health requirements applicable to the non-commercial movements of pet animals as regards the extension of the transitional period. The report had been tabled for consideration in plenary by Miroslav OUZKY (EPP-ED, CZ) on behalf of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety.
The amendments – adopted under the 1st reading of the codecision procedure –were the result of a compromise between Parliament and Council:
- the transitional period was extended to 30 June 2010 (rather than 31 August 2009) for the entry of the pet animals listed in Part A of Annex I into the territory of Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom, which will thereafter be subject to certain requirements;
-until 30 June 2010, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom, as regards echinococcosis, and Ireland Malta and the United Kingdom, as regards ticks, may make the entry of pet animals into their territory subject to compliance with the special rules in place on the date on which this Regulation comes into force. This amendment aims at completing the list of countries applying already special requirements concerning ticks with Malta. By mistake in the Commission proposal the name of Malta had not been mentioned amongst those Member States having already a special regime in place regarding anti-tick treatment.
Lastly, the transitional regimes provided for in Articles 6 and 16 of Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 expire on 3 July 2008. Article 23 of that Regulation provides that the transitional regimes are to be reviewed before the end of the transitional period. The date 1 January 2008 was replaced with the date 1 July 2010