Obligations of the official veterinarian and of the competent authority in the case of slaughter or death of equidae
1. On the slaughter or death of the equine animal, the following measures shall be taken:
(a)
the transponder shall be protected from subsequent fraudulent use, notably by its recovery, destruction or disposal in situ;
(b)
the identification document shall be rendered invalid at least by tamper-proof stamping it ‘invalid’ on all pages or pinching a hole of appropriate diameter, not less than a standard hole puncher, through all pages;
(c)
with a reference to the equine animal's unique life number either:
(i)
the identification document shall be destroyed under official supervision at the slaughterhouse where the animal was slaughtered and an attestation shall be communicated to the issuing body, either directly or through the contact point referred to in Article 36(2), informing it on the date of slaughter of the animal at a slaughterhouse and on the date of destruction of the identification document; or
(ii)
the invalidated identification document shall be returned to the issuing body indicated either in point 11 of Part A of Section I of the identification document or in Part C of that Section, updated in accordance with Article 28(b), either directly or through the contact point referred to in Article 36(2), together with information on the date the animal was slaughtered or killed for disease control purposes.
2. The measures provided for in paragraph 1 shall be carried out by or under the supervision of:
(a)
the official veterinarian:
(i)
in the case of slaughter or killing for disease control purposes, in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 4(4)(a) of Directive 2009/156/EC; or
(ii)
following slaughter, in accordance with Article 7(3) of Directive 2009/156/EC; or
(b)
the competent authority defined in Article 3(10) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009, in the case of the disposal or processing of a carcass, which was accompanied by the identification document in accordance with national legislation referred to in Article 23(1) of the present Regulation, in:
(i)
an establishment approved in accordance with point (a) of Article 24(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009; or
(ii)
a low-capacity incineration plant referred to in point (a)(iii) of Chapter III of Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 142/2011.
3. Where, as required by paragraph 1(a) of this Article, the transponder cannot be recovered from the body of an equine animal slaughtered for human consumption, the official veterinarian shall declare the meat or the part of the meat containing the transponder unfit for human consumption in accordance with Chapter V(1)(n) of Section II of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004.
Obligation of the keeper and of the issuing body in case of death or loss of the equine animal
1. In all cases of death or loss, including theft, of the equine animal not referred to in Article 34, the keeper shall return the identification document to the appropriate issuing body indicated in Part A of Section I or updated in accordance with Article 28(b) in Part C of Section I of the identification document within 30 days of the death or loss of the equine animal.
2. The issuing body which received information on the death or loss of an equine animal in accordance with Article 34 or paragraph 1 of this Article shall act in accordance with points (d) and (e) of Article 28.
Obligations of Member States to ensure information flow after the death of an equine animal
1. Member States shall implement procedures to return the invalidated identification documents to the issuing body as provided for in Article 34(1)(c)(ii).
2. Member States may provide a contact point to receive the attestation referred to in Article 34(1)(c)(i) or the identification documents referred to in Article 34(1)(c)(ii) for further distribution to the respective issuing bodies on their territory.
That contact point may be a liaison body referred to in Article 35 of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004.
3. Where applicable in accordance with paragraph 2, details of the contact point, which may be incorporated in the central database provided for in Article 39, shall be made available to the other Member States and the public on the website referred to in Article 6(1).
Equidae intended for slaughter for human consumption and medication record
1. An equine animal shall be deemed to be intended for slaughter for human consumption except where it is, in accordance with this Regulation, irreversibly declared as not so intended in Part II of Section II of the identification document by:
(a)
the signature of the owner on its own discretion, endorsed by the issuing body; or
(b)
the signatures of the keeper and of the veterinarian responsible who acts in accordance with Article 10(2) of Directive 2001/82/EC; or
(c)
the entry made by the issuing body, when issuing a duplicate identification document in accordance with Article 29 or 30 or a replacement identification document in accordance with Article 32.
2. Prior to any treatment in accordance with Article 10(2) of Directive 2001/82/EC or to any treatment by use of a medicinal product authorised in accordance with Article 6(3) of that Directive, the veterinarian responsible as referred to in Article 10(1) of Directive 2001/82/EC shall ascertain the equine animal's status as either:
(a)
intended for slaughter for human consumption, which shall be the default case; or
(b)
not intended for slaughter for human consumption as set out in Part II of Section II of the identification document.
3. Where the treatment referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article is not permitted for an equine animal intended for slaughter for human consumption, the veterinarian responsible as referred to in Article 10(1) of Directive 2001/82/EC shall ensure that in accordance with the derogation provided for in Article 10(2) of Directive 2001/82/EC the equine animal concerned is prior to the treatment irreversibly declared as not intended for slaughter for human consumption by:
(a)
completing and signing Part II of Section II of the identification document; and
(b)
invalidating Part III of Section II of the identification document in accordance with the instructions provided for in Part III of Section II.
4. After the measures provided for in paragraph 3 have been taken, the keeper of the equine animal shall lodge the identification document with an issuing body in the Member State where the holding of the equine animal is located, or provide the information online where such access to the database is established, within a maximum period of 14 days from the date of signature in Part II of Section II of the identification document.
5. By way of derogation from paragraph 4, a Member State may adopt measures to ensure that the veterinarian responsible notifies the measures carried out in accordance with paragraph 3 within 14 days from the date of the signature in Part II of Section II of the identification document:
(a)
either directly to the issuing body referred to in paragraph 4 and provides the information necessary for the issuing body to update the database setup in accordance with Article 39; or
(b)
directly to the central database set up in accordance with Article 39, where it is ensured that the information is incorporated in the database set up in accordance with Article 38 by the issuing body referred to in paragraph 4.
6. Where an equine animal is to be treated under the conditions referred to in Article 10(3) of Directive 2001/82/EC, the veterinarian responsible shall enter in Part III of Section II of the identification document the requisite details of the medicinal product containing substances essential or bringing added clinical benefit for the treatment of equidae listed in Regulation (EC) No 1950/2006.
The veterinarian responsible shall enter the date of last administration, as prescribed, of that medicinal product and shall, acting in accordance with Article 11(4) of Directive 2001/82/EC, inform the keeper of the date when the withdrawal period established in accordance with Article 10(3) of that Directive will lapse.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
