Animal health law to protect against transmissible diseases
The European Parliament and the Council adopted a new Regulation on transmissible animal diseases (“Animal Health Law”) in March 2016. The Regulation enters into force on 21 April 2021. Overall, the single, comprehensive new animal health law will support the EU livestock sector in its quest towards competitiveness and safe and smooth EU market of animals and of their products. It will lead towards growth and jobs in this important sector.
Benefits of new regulations
- The huge number of legal acts are streamlined into a single law
- Simpler and clearer rules enable authorities and those having to follow the rules to focus on key priorities: preventing and eradicating disease
- Responsibilities are clarified for farmers, vets and others dealing with animals
- The new rules allow greater use of new technologies for animal health activities – surveillance of pathogens, electronic identification and registration of animals
- Better early detection & control of animal diseases, including emerging diseases linked to climate change. This will help to reduce the occurrence and effects of animal epidemics
- There will be more flexibility to adjust rules to local circumstances, and to emerging issues such as climate and social change
- It sets out a better legal basis for monitoring animal pathogens resistant to antimicrobial agents supplementing existing rules and two other proposals currently being negotiated in the European Parliament and Council, on veterinary medicines and on medicated feed.
The animal health law is part of a package of measures proposed by the Commission in May 2013 to strengthen the enforcement of health and safety standards for the whole agri-food chain. It is the biggest and the first of those to get the approval of the co-legislators.
Read the full regulation here
