
CHAPTER I
Article 1 
For the purposes of this Regulation, a transitional period of four years ending on 31 December 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the transitional period) is established.
The transitional arrangements provided for in this Regulation shall apply for the transitional period, except where otherwise provided for in Articles 5 and 8.
CHAPTER II
Article 2 

1. Without prejudice to relevant Community legislation, and in particular Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs, stocks of food of animal origin produced before 1 January 2006 may be placed on the market provided that they bear, as appropriate, the marks provided for in the Acts listed in Article 2 of Directive 2004/41/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.
2. Products referred to in paragraph 1, for which the food business operator has defined a shelf-life longer than the transitional period, may remain on the market until the end of their shelf-life.
Article 3 
By way of derogation from Article 1(3)(d) and without prejudice to Article 1(4) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the provisions laid down in that Regulation shall not apply to the direct supply, by the producer, of small quantities of meat from poultry and lagomorphs slaughtered on the farm to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying such meat to the final consumer.
Article 4 
By way of derogation from Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, food business operators who before 1 January 2006 were allowed to place food of animal origin on their national market may continue to place such products on this market under a national mark that cannot be confused with the marks provided for in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 until such time as the competent authority, in accordance with Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, has approved the establishments handling such products.
Food of animal origin bearing such national marks may be marketed only in the national territory of the Member State where they are produced.
Article 5 
Food business operators may continue until 31 December 2007 to use stocks of wrapping, packaging and labelling materials bearing pre-printed health or identification marks purchased by them before 1 January 2006.
Article 6 
Food business operators and competent authorities may continue to use marking equipment with which they are equipped on 31 December 2005 until its replacement or until the end of the transitional period at the latest, provided that the approval number of the establishment concerned remains unchanged.
When that equipment is replaced, the competent authority shall ensure that it is withdrawn so that it cannot be used any more.
Article 7 

1. Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 shall not apply to imports of food of animal origin for which no harmonised health import conditions have been established, including lists of third countries and parts of third countries and of establishments from which imports are permitted.Pending future harmonisation of Community legislation concerning imports of such products, such imports shall comply with the health import conditions of the Member State concerned.
2. By way of derogation from Article 6(4) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, food business operators importing food containing both products of plant origin and processed products of animal origin shall be exempt from the obligation provided for in that Article.Pending the development of a risk-based approach for the implementation of harmonised health import conditions and checks of such food products, imports shall comply with the harmonised Community rules in force before 1 January 2006 where applicable, and with the national rules implemented by the Member States before that date in other cases.
Article 8 

1. By way of derogation from the requirements laid down in Section III of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the Member States shall progressively implement these requirements in various sectors in addition to the poultry sector where they shall apply immediately, so that the porcine sector in that Member State is covered by the implementation of food chain information requirements by the end of the second year of transition, and the equine and veal calf sectors by the end of the third year.Member States applying that transitional arrangement shall report to the Commission on its implementation at the end of each year.
2. By way of derogation from the requirements laid down in point 2 of Section III of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 concerning the provision of food chain information to slaughterhouse operators no less than 24 hours in advance, the competent authority may permit such information to be sent to the slaughterhouse operator with animals of all species to which it relates and in all circumstances where this does not jeopardise the objectives of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.However, any item of food chain information, knowledge of which may result in serious disruption of the slaughterhouse activity, shall be made available to the slaughterhouse operator in good time before the animals arrive at the slaughterhouse.
Article 9 
By way of derogation from the requirements laid down in point (3)(j) of Section III of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the certificate referred to in Article 16, attesting to a favourable result of the ante-mortem inspection, is issued and signed by the veterinary service.
Article 10 

1. By way of derogation from the requirements laid down in Chapter II(1) of Section V of Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the food business operator must check the raw materials entering the establishment to ensure compliance with the name of the product in the table below in respect of the final product.
 Fat content Connective tissue: meat protein ratio

— lean minced meat ≤ 7 % ≤ 12

— minced pure beef ≤ 20 % ≤ 15

— minced meat containing pigmeat ≤ 30 % ≤ 18

— minced meat of other species ≤ 25 % ≤ 15
2. By way of derogation from the requirements laid down in Chapter IV of Section V of Annex III of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the labelling must also display the following words:
— ‘percentage of fat under…’,
— ‘connective tissue: meat protein ratio under…’.
3. The Member States may allow the placing on their national market of minced meat which does not comply with these criteria under a national mark that cannot be confused with the marks provided for in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004.
Article 11 

1. By way of derogation from Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 and Chapter III(A)(1) of Section VIII of Annex III to that Regulation, ice used to chill fresh fishery products may be made from clean water in establishments on land.
2. By way of derogation from Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 and Chapter III(A)(2) and (3) of Section VIII of Annex III to that Regulation, food business operators in establishments, including vessels, handling fishery products may use clean water.
3. By way of derogation from Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 and Chapter IV(1) of Section VIII of Annex III to that Regulation, food business operators in establishments on land may use clean water for cooling after cooking crustaceans and molluscs.
Article 12 
By way of derogation from the requirement set out in Chapter II(III)(1)(a) of Section IX of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the maximum plate count for raw cows' milk shall apply only where such milk is to be heat-treated and has not been so treated within the period of acceptance specified in the HACCP-based procedures put in place by food business operators.
Article 13 

1. Member States which, before 1 January 2006, applied national temperature requirements for egg storage facilities and for vehicles transporting eggs between such storage facilities may continue to apply those requirements.
2. Food business operators may use cracked eggs for the production of liquid egg in an establishment approved for that purpose, provided that the establishment of production or a packing centre has delivered them directly and they are broken as soon as possible.
CHAPTER III
Article 14 
By way of derogation from Article 5(6)(a)(i) to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 and Chapter III(A)(a) of Section III of Annex I to that Regulation, slaughterhouse staff authorised by the competent authority to carry out specific tasks of official auxiliaries shall be trained in the same way as official auxiliaries only with regard to the specific tasks they are authorised to perform and shall not be required to have passed the same examination as official auxiliaries.
The competent authority shall ensure that such training is satisfactory before authorising slaughterhouse staff to take over tasks of official auxiliaries.
It shall check that the additional training and organisation necessary for slaughterhouse staff to qualify through the examination procedure that apply to official auxiliaries are in place as soon as possible and at the latest by the end of the transitional period.
Article 15 
By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of Chapter III(A)(a) of Section III of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004, establishments wishing to use their staff assisting with official controls shall, during the transitional period, be exempted from the requirement to possess an internationally recognised certification, provided that the establishment demonstrates that it has initiated and is pursuing certification in accordance with international standards, such as relevant EN ISO standards on quality management or food safety.
Article 16 
By way of derogation from Chapter VII (A)(4) of Section IV of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004, the model certificate set out in Annex III to Directive 91/495/EEC may be used for the transportation from the farm to the slaughterhouse of farmed non domestic ungulates.
Article 17 
Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 shall not apply to imports of food of animal origin for which no harmonised health import conditions have been established, including lists of third countries and parts of third countries and of establishments from which imports are permitted.
Pending future harmonisation of Community legislation concerning imports of such products, such imports shall comply with the health import conditions of the Member State concerned.
CHAPTER IV
Article 18 
By way of derogation from Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 882/2004, the competent authority may designate a laboratory not accredited, provided that the laboratory: 
((a)) demonstrates that it has initiated and is pursuing the necessary accreditation procedures in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 882/2004;
((b)) provides the competent authority with satisfactory guarantees that quality control schemes for the analyses it conducts for the purpose of official controls are in place by 1 January 2006.
CHAPTER V
Article 19 
The transitional arrangements, including the conditions thereof, laid down in this Regulation may be reviewed at any time in the light of experience gained in the implementation of those arrangements and of Regulations (EC) No 853/2004, (EC) No 854/2004 and (EC) No 882/2004.
Article 20 
In Section I(B)(6) of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, the third subparagraph is deleted.
Article 21 
In point (6) in Section I, Chapter III of Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 854/2004, the second sentence is deleted.
Article 22 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2006.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 5 December 2005.
For the Commission
Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission