(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 (3) lays down veterinary certification requirements for imports into and transit, including storage during transit, through the Union of poultry and poultry products (‘the commodities’). It provides that the commodities may only be imported into and transit through the Union from the third countries, territories, zones or compartments listed in columns 1 and 3 of the table in Part 1 of Annex I thereto.

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 also lays down the conditions for a third country, territory, zone or compartment to be considered as free from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).

(3)

Canada is listed in Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 as a third country from which imports into and transit through the Union of the commodities covered by that Regulation are authorised from certain parts of its territory depending on the presence of HPAI outbreaks. That regionalisation was recognised by Regulation (EC) No 798/2008, as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/198 (4) following outbreaks of HPAI in the Province of British Columbia.

(4)

An Agreement between the Union and Canada (5) provides for a swift mutual recognition of regionalisation measures in the event of outbreaks of a disease in the Union or in Canada (‘the Agreement’).

(5)

On 8 April 2015, Canada confirmed an outbreak of HPAI of subtype H5N2 in poultry in the Province of Ontario. The veterinary authorities of Canada immediately suspended issuing veterinary certificates for consignments of commodities intended for export to the Union from its whole territory. Canada has also implemented a stamping-out policy in order to control HPAI and limit its spread.

(6)

Following that outbreak in the Province of Ontario, Canada submitted updated information on the epidemiological situation on its territory and the measures it has taken to prevent the further spread of HPAI which has now been evaluated by the Commission. On the basis of that evaluation, as well as the commitments laid down in the Agreement and the guarantees provided by Canada, it is appropriate to conclude that limiting the restrictions on the introduction into the Union of the commodities to the area affected by HPAI, which the veterinary authorities of Canada have placed under restrictions due to the HPAI outbreaks in the Provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, should be sufficient to cover the risks associated with the introduction into the Union of the commodities.

(7)

Canada has further reported the completion of cleaning and disinfection measures following stamping-out on holdings where outbreaks had been detected between December 2014 and February 2015 in the Province of British Columbia. It is therefore appropriate to indicate the dates when these parts of the territory that were placed under veterinary restrictions in relation to these outbreaks may again be considered HPAI free and imports into the Union of certain poultry commodities originating from these areas should be re-authorised.

(8)

The entry for Canada in the list in Part 1 of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 should therefore be amended to take account of the current epidemiological situation in that third country.

(9)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 798/2008 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,