The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) welcomes the EU Commission’s proposal to amend Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 on the animal health requirements applicable to the non-commercial movements of pet animals.
FVE supports the extension of the derogations until the end of 2011. In particular to allow the EU Member States in which rabies still occurs, to make adequate efforts to complete the eradication of rabies within the EU.
FVE calls upon the EU Commission and Member States to pay extra attention to the effective implementation of the (amended) Regulation. Awareness of the issues should be enhanced and communication with travellers improved.
FVE recommends that in addition to requirements for non-commercial movement more attention should also be given to the commercial movement of companion animals, especially puppies.
FVE recommends that the EU Commission initiates an EU wide echinococcosis risk assesment, which should be followed by an appropriate prevention and control strategy throughout the Community.
FVE also recommends further investigation into the spread of ticks and tick borne diseases in the Community and the development of an EU strategy to reduce the incidence of these diseases, based on the outcome of these investigations.
FVE strongly supports the inclusion of companion animal diseases, in particular those that can affect public health, in the EU Animal Health Strategy for the European Union (2007 – 2013): “Prevention is better than cure”.
FVE encourages the promotion of permanent identification and accessible registration of all pet dogs and cats in the Community. In addition, information sharing between existing registration databases should be improved.