S.L. 437.48 Art. 14Surveillance network system.

(1) The competent authority may carry out a system of surveillance network. The surveillance network system must comprise at least the following elements:

(i) the herds;

(ii) the owner or any other natural or legal person responsible for the holding;

(iii) the approved veterinarian or the official veterinarian responsible for the holding;

(iv) the competent authority of Malta;

(v) the official veterinary diagnostic or any other laboratory approved by the competent authority;

(vi) a computer database:

Provided that official veterinarians for the slaughtering establishments and approved assembly centres will be associated with the network system.

(2) The main objectives of the surveillance network system are to make the official classification of holdings, to maintain such classification by regular inspection, to collect epidemiological data and to carry out disease monitoring so as to ensure compliance with all the provisions of these regulations and other regulations in respect of health restrictions: Provided that this surveillance network system shall be mandatory on all holdings operating such a system in the territory of Malta. However, the competent authority may authorize the establishment of such a network on part of the territory made up of one or several adjacent regions. Where this derogation is accorded, animal movements to that part of the territory from other regions which are not part of the network system shall be subject to the provisions of these regulations:

Provided further that the competent authority shall lay down the obligations and rights incumbent upon the approved veterinarians, the persons responsible for the holdings or their owners and any other participants in the system including the persons responsible for issuing health certificates.

(3) The competent authority shall ensure that the obligations referred to in subregulations (1) and (2) at least include the following:

(a) Every owner of or person responsible for a holding must -

(i) secure, by contract or legal instrument, the services of a veterinarian approved by the competent authority;

(ii) immediately call in the approved veterinarian for the holding when he suspects the occurrence of an infectious disease or of any notifiable disease;

(iii) notify the approved veterinarian of all arrivals of animals on his holding;

(iv) isolate the animals before introducing them into his holding to enable the approved veterinarian to check, where appropriate by means of the required tests, whether the holding’s status may be maintained.

(b) The approved veterinarians shall be under the control of the competent authority and must comply with the following requirements:

(i) meet the conditions for pursuing the veterinary profession;

(ii) have no financial interest or family links with the owner of or person responsible for the holding;

(iii) possess particular knowledge in the field of animal health as it applies to animals of the species concerned. This means that they must -- regularly update their knowledge, especially as regards the relevant health regulations; - meet the requirements laid down by the competent authority to ensure the proper functioning of the network: - provide the owner of or person responsible for the holding with information and assistance in order that all steps are taken to ensure that the holding’s status is maintained, particularly on the basis of programmes agreed with the competent authority, - ensure compliance with the requirements concerning -1. the identification and health certification of the animals of the herd, the animals introduced and those traded; 2. compulsory reporting of infectious animal diseases and any other risk factor for animal health or welfare, and for human health; 3. establishing as far as possible the cause of death of animals and where they are to be consigned; 4. the hygiene conditions of the herd and of the livestock production units: Provided that if the proper functioning of the system so requires, each Member State may limit the veterinarians’ responsibility to a specific number of holdings or to a specific geographical area: Provided further that the competent authority shall draw up lists of approved veterinarians and of the approved holdings participating in the network. If the competent authority finds that a participant in the network no longer fulfils the conditions set out above, it shall suspend or withdraw approval, without prejudice to any penalties that may be applied.

(c) The computer database must contain at least the following information:

(i) for each animal: - the unique identification code or codes, as regards the cases set out in Articles 4(1), 4b, 4c(1) and 4d of Regulation (EC) No 1760/ 2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council; - date of birth; - sex; - breed or colour of coat; - identification code of the mother or, in the case of an animal imported from a third country, the unique identification code of the individual means of identification allocated to the animal by the Member State of destination in accordance with Regulation

(EC) No 1760/2000; - identification number of the holding where born; - identification numbers of all holdings where the animal has been kept and the dates of each change of holding; - date of death or slaughter; - the type of electronic identifier, if applied to the animal.

(ii) for each holding -- an identification number consisting of not more than 12 figures (apart from the country code); - name and address of the holder.

(iii) the database must be able to supply the following particulars at any time -- the identification number of all animals of the bovine species present on a holding, or in the case of groups of animals of the porcine species, the registration number of the holding of origin or herd of origin and the number of the health certificate where applicable, - a list of all changes of holding for each animal of the bovine species starting from the holding of birth, or the holding of importation in the case of animals imported from third countries; and for groups of pigs the registration number of the last holding or last herd and for imported animals from third countries the holding of importation: Provided that these particulars will be held on the database until three consecutive years have elapsed since the death of the bovine animal or until three consecutive years have elapsed since the record was made in the case of records for pigs. However, only points 2, 3 and 4 shall be applicable to porcine animals;

(iv) in order to ensure the operation of the national computer databases concerning porcine animals, appropriate regulations of application, including the information that the national databases must contain, shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17 of the European Union Council Directive 64/432/EEC.

(4) All participants in the surveillance network other than those provided for in subregulation (3)(a) and (b) shall be accountable to the competent authority. The competent authority in each Member State shall be responsible for setting up the network and shall carry out regular checks to ensure that it operates properly.

(5) Member States which introduce a system of surveillance networks as outlined in subregulation (3)(c), operational for a period of at least twelve months, shall apply to the Commission to have it approved under the procedure provided for in regulation 17: Provided that for this purpose the European Commission shall examine documentation submitted by Member States.

(6) When the competent authority has implemented throughout its jurisdiction a recognized surveillance network system as laid down in this regulation it shall be authorized not to apply the provision referred to in regulation 3(2)(a), second indent, to animal movements referred to by this regulation within their own territory.

(7) The financing of the surveillance network system will be covered within the framework of the revision of Annex B to European Union Council Directive 85/73/EEC in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article 8 of European Union Council Directive 96/43/EC.