No L 13/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 16. 1. 97 COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 96/93/EC of 17 December 1996 on the certification of animals and animal products THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (*), Having regard to the opinion of the European Par- liament (2), Whereas Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra-Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market (*) and Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and animal products with a view to the comple- tion of the internal market (), put the responsibility on the Member State of production or dispatch to ensure that veterinary checks, and where applicable, certification, are carried out in an appropriate manner; Whereas to ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market in live animals and animal products, Member States should be able to rely completely on the integrity of certification at the places of production and dispatch; Whereas this objective cannot be achieved by Member States individually; whereas, therefore, common rules should be adopted on the obligations of competent au- thorities and certifying officers and with respect to the certification of animal and animals products in accord- ance with Community legislation; Whereas it is appropriate to ensure that the rules and principles applied by third-country certifying officers provide guarantees which are at least equivalent to those laid down in this Directive; Whereas effective measures must be taken to prevent misleading or fraudulent certification, HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: Article 1 This Directive lays down the rules to be observed in issuing the certificates required by veterinary legislation. (') OJ No C 373, 29. 12. 1994, p. 16. () OJ No C 56, 6. 3. 1995, p. 165. () OJ No L 395, 30. 12. 1989, p. 13. Directive as last amended by Council Directive 92/118/EEC (O] No L 62, 15. 3. 1993, p. 49). () OJ No L 224, 18. 8. 1990, p. 29. Directive as last amended by Council Directive 92/118/EEC. Article 2 1.  For the purposes of this Directive: ‘veterinary legislation’ means the legislation listed in Annex A to Directive 89/662/EEC and Annexes A and B to Directive 90/425/EEC; ' ‘certifying officer’ means the official veterinarian or — in the cases provided for in veterinary legislation — any other person authorized by the competent authority to sign the certificates required by that legislation. 2. In addition to the definitions in paragraph 1, the definitions contained in Article 2 of Directives 89/662/EEC and 90/425/EEC shall apply mutatis mutandis. Article 3 1. The authority shall ensure that certifying officers have a satisfactory knowledge of the veterinary legislation as regards the animals or products to be certified and, in general, are informed as to the rules to be followed for drawing up and issuing the certificates and — if necessary — as to the nature and extent of the enquiries, tests or exarmninations which should be carried out before certifica- tion. 2. Certifying officers must not certify data of which they have no personal knowledge or which cannot be ascertained by them. 3. Certifying officers must not sign blank or incom- plete certificates, or certificates relating to animals or products which they have not inspected or which have passed out of their control. Where a certificate is signed on the basis of another certificate or attestation, the certi- tying officer shall be in possession of that document before signing. 4. Nothing in this Article shall prevent an official vet- erinarian from certifying data which have been: (a) ascertained on the basis of paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article by another person so authorized by the competent authority and acting under the control of the official veterinarian, provided that he or she can verify the accuracy of the data, or