Communication from the Council - EC/US veterinary agreement
21. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 122/1 I (Information) COUNCIL EC/US VETERINARY AGREEMENT (98/C 122/01) When adopting the Decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America on sanitary measures to protect public and animal health in trade in live animals and animal productsØ(˛), the Council approved the following declaration: "The Council takes note of the exchange of letters between the Commission and the United States Department of Agriculture and agrees to include these letters in its minutes. The Council stresses that these letters are an essential element of its decision relating to the approval of the EC/US Veterinary Agreement. The Council and the Commission consider that the political commitments set out in these implementation of the letters are essential to ensure a proper, balanced and full Agreement. The Commission undertakes, that in accordance with the procedure foreseen in Article 4 of the Council Decision, it will utilize the provisions of Article 14 of the Agreement to deal with any problems of implementation which arise, bearing in mind, in particular, the importance attached by the Council in its decision to the letters from the United States. The Commission also undertakes that, should problems of the nature referred to above prove impossible to resolve, it will take the necessary procedural steps to enable the Council to take the action foreseen under Article 16 of the Agreement and will use the resources on which the Community may call pursuant to Article 2 of this Agreement. In any case it is clear that the Commission needs to take a number of implementing decisions within the framework of the Standing Veterinary Committee. The Commission foresees that the implementation into national legislation will take a few months, in conformity with Article 8 of the Agreement, from the moment of the signing of the Agreement. During this period the Commission will closely monitor the implementation on the US side. The Council agrees to publish this declaration and the abovementioned letters in the Official Journal of the European Communities (series C). ’ (˛) OJ L 118, 21. 4. 1998, p. 1