Brussels, 21/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 18 December 2015, the Coreper (Permanent Representatives Committee) approved a final compromise betweeen the EU institutions on the draft Animal Breeding Regulation on the zootechnical and genealogical conditions for trade in and imports into the Union of breeding animals and their germinal products.
The European Parliament and the Council representatives identified the compromise package during a trialogue meeting held on 16 December (see EUROPE 11457). The Animal Breeding Regulation will apply to the breeding, the trade in and the entry into the EU of purebred breedingcows, pigs, sheep, goats and horses, hybrid breeding pigs and their germinal products.
The new regulation constitutes a more comprehensive single legal framework taking into account the “state-of-the-art” in animal breeding while preserving valuable animal genetic resources. Breed societies and breeding operations will have to meet specific criteria to obtain recognition and approval of their breeding programmes by the national authorities.
The Chairman of the Coreper will send a letter to the Chairman of the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. This letter will indicate that, if the Parliament adopts at its plenary session the compromise text as approved by the Coreper, the Council will then adopt in first reading that text without amending it. This should enable the entry into force of the new legislation by mid-2016 and its application 28 months after the entry into force. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)