ATTI DEL XV CONVEGNO NAZIONALE SIPI Società Italiana di ...

Abstract Workshop
AQUATIC ORGANISM LEGISLATION ACCORDING TO 2006/88/EC
DIRECTIVE
Giuseppe BOVO
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Viale dell’Università, 10 - 35020
Legnaro (PD), ITALY.
By August 2008 all European MS should have implemented in their own legislation the
directive 2006/88/CE “on animal health requirements for aquaculture animals and
products thereof, and on the prevention and control of certain diseases in aquatic
animals”. This recent directive repeals the existing ones 91/67/EEC, 93/53/EEC and
95/70/EC while 2004/453/EC shall continue to apply for the purpose of this Directive
pending the adoption of the necessary provisions.
Fish, molluscs and Crustacea have been included in a common document in order to
harmonize the general control methods and apply the same approach whenever possible.
According to a shared strategy it is important to ensure that the main aquatic animal
diseases do not spread from originally infected areas to free areas. Harmonised animal
health provisions for placing on the market of aquatic animals have been therefore laid
down and a list of important fish, mollusc and Crustacea diseases and species susceptible
thereto have been adopted.
In order to ensure early detection of any possible outbreak of animal disease, those persons
in contact with aquatic animals of susceptible species will be obliged to notify any suspect
case of disease to the competent authority. Furthermore routine inspections and samplings
have been foreseen in all the farms, particularly those rearing susceptible species, in order
to ensure that aquaculture production business operators may become familiar with, and
apply, the general rules on disease control and biosecurity laid down in the directive.
The definition of farm and zones, identified on geographical basis and already consolidated
during the past legislation, has been maintained while a new epidemiological unit has been
introduced. In fact the Compartment is a new epidemiological unit consisting of one farm
or more farms under a common biosecurity system containing an aquatic animal
population with a distinct health status with respect to a specific disease.
To enhance the animal health status of the Community, epidemiologically based
programmes to control and eradicate certain diseases have been foreseen and they should
be adopted at MS or Community level.
Because of the importance of the analytical results on control programs the laboratories
involved in the examination of official samples must work in accordance with
internationally approved procedures or criteria based on performance standards and must
use diagnostic methods that have, as far as possible, been validated. In addition they have
to participate to the proficiency tests regularly organized by the Community Reference
Laboratory and obtain a positive score.
Attention has been paid on import of live animals which should have at least the same
health status of the area where they are introduced. Ornamental fish for which an important
trade exists do not pose a high risk except if they are kept outside closed systems or
aquariums, in direct contact with the natural waters as the case of koi carps. In this case
they are compared to other farmed species and included in the directive.
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