WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1874/97 by Gianni TAMINO to the Commission. Failure by Italy to comply with the directive on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes
C 45/116 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 2. 98 (98/C 45/146) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1874/97 by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Commission (30 May 1997) Subject: Failure by Italy to comply with the directive on the protection of animals used for experimental and other scientific purposes With reference to the reply to my Written Question E-2760/96 of 21 October 1996 (1), will the Commission say whether the meeting with the Italian authorities due to take place in April was held and what the outcome was? If the meeting was not held or if the results were unsatisfactory, will the Commission bring infringement proceedings against Italy as it threatened to do in the answers to Written Questions 2455/92 (2), 1747/93 (3) and 2760/96 referred to above, bearing in mind that Italian legislative decree No 116/1992, in which Directive 86/609/EEC (4) was transposed, áfail to comply with Article 17 of the directiveí? (1) OJ C 91, 20. 3. 1997, p. 29. (2) OJ C 141, 19. 5. 1993, p. 32. (3) OJ C 46, 14. 2. 1994, p. 34. (4) OJ L 358, 18. 12. 1986, p. 1. Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (8 July 1997) Following the Commission request for information concerning the correct implementation of Article 17 of Directive 86/609/EEC which provides for regular checking of the registers by the authorities, the Italian authorities have pointed out that under national law, the veterinary service within the local health department is required regularly to inspect the premises of those who rear and provide animals used for experimental purposes or for other scientific purposes. That inspection is carried out by the veterinary service in accordance with Article 24 of the veterinary policy regulation that was approved by Decree No 320 of 8 February 1954, and by Circular No 18 of 5 May 1993 and Circular No 8 of 22 April 1994. In addition the Italian authorities have pointed out that under the aegis of the prevention department, the guidelines concerning the reorganization of public veterinary health provide instructions that must be followed by the regions. Those instructions concern the reorganization of the national health system › by Decrees No 502 of 30 December 1992 and No 517 of 7 December 1993 which, within each local health unit, provides for a Cí unit which is responsible, in particular, for checking the well being and use of animals intended for experiments. On the basis of that information the Commission feels that it is not necessary to initiate any infringement procedure against Italy. (98/C 45/147) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1875/97 by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Commission (30 May 1997) Subject: Community laboratory (Decision 97/260/EC) With reference to Decision 97/260/EC (1) of 2 April 1997 on the Community reference laboratory for bivalve mollusc diseases, will the Commission say: 1. whether experiments on animals will be scheduled or permitted for this purpose? 2. if so, whether acceptance of projects will be linked to compliance with the 50% reduction in the use of animals in experiments announced by the Commission in the fifth programme on the environment? (1) OJ L 104, 22. 4. 1997, p. 31