Considerations on COM(2004)441 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) 998/2003 to take account of the accession of Malta

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dossier COM(2004)441 - Amendment of Regulation (EC) 998/2003 to take account of the accession of Malta.
document COM(2004)441 EN
date September 13, 2004
 
table>(1)For certain acts adopted by the European Union, which remain valid beyond 1 May 2004, and require adaptation by reason of accession, the necessary adaptations were not provided for in the 2003 Act of Accession, in particular in Annex II thereto.
(2)Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) establishes veterinary conditions applying in particular to non-commercial movements of pet dogs, cats and ferrets, and is one of these acts that must be adapted.

(3)Malta, which formerly applied a system of six months quarantine for imports for the species concerned, has abandoned this regime in order to transpose and implement Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 as from 3 July 2004.

(4)In the course of the negotiations for enlargement it was accepted that Malta, being an island with a similar health status for freedom from rabies to that of Ireland, the United Kingdom and Sweden, should be treated in the same category as these three Member States.

(5)Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 divides Member States into two categories according to the history of their controls against rabies, and grants Sweden, Ireland and the United Kingdom a transitional period of five years for controls on dogs, cats and ferrets entering their territory.

(6)Malta should therefore be added to the list of Member States which have been granted a transitional period under Regulation (EC) No 998/2003.

(7)Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 should therefore be amended accordingly,