WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2615/98 by Doeke EISMA to the Commission. Quarantine laws in the United Kingdom
C 297/24 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 15. 10. 1999 (1999/C 297/031) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2557/98 by (Hanja) Maij-Weggen (PPE) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: UK quarantine law Is it true that the United Kingdom still requires pet animals brought in by workers from elsewhere in the European Union (people who have found work in the United Kingdom and have decided to settle there) to be held in quarantine for six months? Is it true that the United Kingdom permits cats and dogs imported for commercial purposes to be brought into the country provided that a health certificate, a certificate of anti-rabies vaccination and microchip identification can be produced and a blood test has been carried out? Does the Commission know why this distinction is made, and does it conform to European legislation? Will the Commission ask the United Kingdom government to drop this unusual form of discrimination with its bias against animals and allow pets that have been certified as healthy to be brought into the UK without problems? (1999/C 297/032) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2615/98 by Doeke Eisma (ELDR) to the Commission (1 September 1998) Subject: Quarantine laws in the United Kingdom Can the Commission confirm that the United Kingdom is at present the only EU country still to apply 1. quarantine legislation to pets entering the country? Can the Commission indicate whether these laws are in conformity with current European legislation in 2. this field? Does the Commission agree that the quarantine laws in the United Kingdom are very old-fashioned and 3. cause animals unnecessary suffering? Joint answer to Written Questions E-2557/98 and E-2615/98 given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (12 October 1998) The conditions for intra-Community trade in dogs and cats are laid down by Article 10 (2) of Council Directive 92/65/EEC of 13 July 1992 laying down animal health requirements governing trade in and imports into the Community of animals, semen, ova and embryos not subject to animal health requirements laid down in specific Community rules referred to in Annex A (I) to Directive 90/425/EEC (1). Derogating from and additionally to the provisions in this paragraph, for placing on the market in the United Kingdom and Ireland, dogs and cats must come from registered holdings where they have been confined since birth, must be properly identified, must be transported in recognized means of transport and the immune response to vaccination must be proven by serological testing. Paragraph 4 of that article allows the United Kingdom and Ireland to retain national quarantine rules for those carnivores, primates, bats and other animals susceptible to rabies covered by Directive 92/65/EEC for which no guarantees can be given that since birth they never left their holding of origin