S.L. 437.48 Art. 11Minimum conditions for assembly centres.

(1) To be approved by the competent authority, assembly centres meet the following conditions at least. They must -

(a) be under the control of an official veterinarian who shall ensure that, in particular, the provisions of regulation 4(1) and (2) are complied with;

(b) be located in an area which is not subject to prohibition or restrictions in accordance with relevant European Community legislation and, or Maltese regulations on animal diseases;

(c) be cleaned and disinfected before use, as required by the official veterinarian;

(d) they must have, taking into account the animal capacity of the assemblv centre -

(i) a facility dedicated exclusively for this purpose when used as an assembly centre;

(ii) appropriate facilities for loading, unloading and adequate housing of a suitable standard for the animals, for watering and feeding them, and for giving them any necessary treatment; these facilities must be easy to clean and disinfect;

(iii) appropriate inspection facilities;

(iv) appropriate isolation facilities;

(v) appropriate equipment for cleaning and disinfecting rooms and trucks;

(vi) an appropriate storage area for fodder, litter and manure;

(vii) an appropriate system for collecting waste water;

(viii) the use of an office for the official veterinarian;

(e) admit only animals that are identified and come from herds that are officially free of tuberculosis, brucellosis and leukosis or slaughter animals meeting the conditions set out in the present regulations and in particular regulation 6(3). To this end, when animals are admitted the owner or person in charge of the centre shall ensure they are properly identified and accompanied by health documents or appropriate certificates for the species and categories involved;

(f) be regularly inspected to ascertain that the requirements for approval continue to be fulfilled.

(2) The owner or person in charge of the assembly centre shall be required, on the basis either of the accompanying documents for the animals or of the identification numbers or marks of the animals, to record on a register or a database and retain for a minimum period of three years the following information:

(a) the name of the owner, the origin, date of entry and exit, number and identification of the bovine animals or the registration number of the holding of origin or of the herd of origin of the pigs entering the centre and their proposed destination,

(b) the registration number of the transporter and the licence number of the lorry delivering or collecting animals from the centre.

(3) The competent Authority shall issue an approval number to each approved assembly centre. Approvals of assembly centres may be limited to a particular species or to animals for breeding and production or to animals for slaughter. The competent authority shall draw up and keep updated a list of approved assembly centres and their approval numbers and make it available to other Member States and to the public.

(4) The competent authority may suspend or withdraw approval in the event of failure to comply with this regulation or other appropriate provisions of these regulations or other regulations in respect of health restrictions. Approval may be restored when the competent authority is satisfied that that assembly centre is in full compliance with all the appropriate provisions of these regulations.

(5) The competent authority shall ensure that, when operating, assembly centres have sufficient approved veterinarians to carry out all duties.

(6) Any detailed rules shall be adopted in accordance with the requirements of the European Community and under the procedure provided for in Article 17 of European Union Council Directive 64/ 432/EEC.