Answer given by Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
5.2.2021
Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council on transmissible animal diseases (‘Animal Health Law’)[1] entered into force on 21 April 2016 and will apply from 21 April 2021. Member States have had five years to prepare for the new requirements, and while it is true that there were some delays in adopting certain delegated acts, these were all extensively discussed between 2017 and 2019 and presented for various consultations. All acts were available to the Member States’ competent authorities well before their publication.
The Commission is confident about the capacity of the Member States to implement this legislation on time, taking also into account that all these acts are directly applicable and do not require transposition.
The Commission is not in favour of postponing the date of application of the Animal Health Law, as this would cause delays in the implementation of various animal health measures that have been called for by European stakeholders, as well as of directly related official control measures. The Commission will provide Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF)[2] in order to support public authorities with the implementation.