Strasbourg, 23/10/2002 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption, in second reading on Tuesday in Strasbourg, of the report by Jillian Evans (Greens/EFA, Britain) on the movements of pets (dogs, cats, ferrets), the Parliament amended certain elements of the Council's common position of June this year by reintroducing certain first reading amendments that had been rejected. From this, the Council and the Parliament will begin conciliation procedure to lift the last obstacles to the text's adoption.
MEPs trust that the identification of cats and dogs by tattoos will be replaced after the eight year transitional period by a compulsory electronic or "transponder" system (Ed.: the Council had decided to postpone the decision on the choice of the new method of identification of these animals) and that the transponder meets international standards ISO 11784. The Parliament also hopes, unlike the Council, to take into account the last provisions of the Animal Health Code from the International Epizootics Office (IEO) on the presence of rabies in Member States.
The other changes made by the EP can be summarised as follows: - it will not be necessary to impose a maximum number of animals that may be displaced (this is considered pointless given public health management, especially against rabies); - small animals (dogs, cats and ferrets) must not be moved from one country to another before they have reached the age required for vaccination and anti-body assays. The EP also wishes to be consulted before any extension of the transitional period is decided.