8.7.2003 Official Journal of the European Union L 169/51 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2003/50/EC of 11 June 2003 amending Directive 91/68/EEC as regards reinforcement of controls on movements of ovine and caprine animals THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, (5 When the foot-and-mouth disease crisis of 2001 came Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, and in particular Article 37 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (!), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (), Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (), Whereas: (1) Council Directive 91/68/EEC () lays down animal health conditions governing intra-Community trade in ovine and caprine animals. (2)  Council Directive 64/432[EEC of 26 June 1964 on animal health problems affecting intra-Community trade in bovine animals and swine () was subsequently amended and updated by Directive 97/12/EC (*) in order to take account of the developments in the livestock sector in the Community. (3)  Sheep and goats share with bovine animals and swine not only similar husbandry systems, but also suscept- ibility to a common range of diseases. (4)  Movements of sheep largely contributed to the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in certain parts of the Commu- nity during the outbreak in 2001. The animal health conditions for intra-Community trade in sheep and goats have therefore been reinforced by Commission Decision 2001/327/EC of 24 April 2001 concerning restrictions to the movement of animals of susceptible species with regard to foot-and-mouth disease and repealing Decision 2001/263[EC (). () O] C 331, 31.12.2002, p. 287. (*) Opinion of 17 December 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () O] C 85, 8.4.2003, p. 36. (*) OJ L 46, 19.2.1991, p. 19. Directive as last amended by Commis- sion Decision 2002/261/EC (O] L 91, 6.4.2002, p. 31). () O] 121, 29.7.1964, p. 1977/64. Directive as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1226/2002 (O] L 179, 9.7.2002, L 13). (©) %] L 109, 25.4.1997, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 98/99/EC (O] L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 107). () OJ L 115, 25.4.2001, p. 12. Decision as last amended by Commis- sion Decision 2002/1004/EC (O] L 349, 24.12.2002, p. 108). to an end, an International Conference on the Prevention and Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease was organised jointly by the Belgian Presidency of the Council and the Commission in December 2001 in order to draw the first conclusions from the 2001 outbreak. The Confer- ence called upon the Commission to submit suitable proposals for Community legislation to prevent such outbreaks in the future, and in the event of their occur- rence, to minimise the adverse economic effects. Amongst other things, it was requested that the move- ment of susceptible animals be controlled more effi- ciently with regard to the health guarantees offered. (6)  Therefore, this Directive aims to reinforce the controls on movement of sheep and goats in order to strengthen the health guarantees offered by Member States for intra-Community trade in animals of these species in line with Directive 64/432EEC. (7) It is necessary to provide for a swift procedure for updating the health certificates. (8)  Directive 91/68/EEC should therefore be amended, HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Atrticle 1 Directive 91/68/EEC is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 2 shall be replaced by the following: ‘Article 2 (a) The definitions given in Article 2 of Directive 90/425/ EEC and in Article 2 of Directive 91/628/EEC of 19 November 1991 on the protection of animals during transport and amending Directives 90/425/EEC and 91/496/EEC (*) shall apply as far as applicable. (b) In addition, the following definitions apply for the purposes of this Directive: 1. “ovine or caprine animals for slaughter” means animals of the ovine or caprine species intended to be taken either directly or via an approved assembly centre to a slaughterhouse in order to be slaughtered;