
Article 1 

1. This Regulation lays down:
(a) a list of third countries or parts thereof from which the following commodities may be imported into, or transit through the Community:
((i)) meat of wild leporidae not containing offal, except for unskinned and uneviscerated wild leporidae;
((ii)) meat of wild land mammals other than ungulates and leporidae, not containing offal;
((iii)) meat of farmed rabbits;
(b) the veterinary certification requirements for the commodities listed in points (i), (ii) and (iii) (the commodities).
2. Without prejudice to the restriction provided for in Article 5(2), for the purposes of this Regulation, transit covers storage during transit (including putting into storage, as referred to in Article 12(4) and Article 13 of Council Directive 97/78/EC).
3. This Regulation shall apply without prejudice to:
((i)) specific certification requirements provided for in Community agreements with third countries;
((ii)) the relevant rules on certification contained within legislation implementing Regulation (EC) No 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein.
Article 2 
For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘wild leporidae’ means wild rabbits and hares.
Article 3 
The commodities shall only be imported into, or transit through, the Community from a third country or parts thereof listed or referred to in Part 1 of Annex I.
Article 4 

1. Commodities imported into the Community shall be accompanied by a veterinary certificate drawn up in accordance with the model certificate set out in Annex II, for the commodity concerned, completed in accordance with the notes set out in Part 4 of Annex I.
2. Commodities in transit through the Community shall be accompanied by a certificate drawn up in accordance with the model certificate set out in Annex III.
3. Compliance with the additional guarantees, as required for a certain Member State or part thereof in columns 4, 6 and 8 of the Table in Part 1 of Annex I and as described in Part 3 of Annex I, shall be certified by completing the appropriate section in the veterinary certificate for the commodity concerned.
4. Electronic certification and other agreed systems harmonised at Community level may be used.
Article 5 

1. By way of derogation from Article 4(2), transit by road or by rail shall be authorised between the border inspection posts in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland listed in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/881/EC, of consignments of commodities coming from and bound for Russia, directly or via another third country, where the following conditions are met:
(a) the consignment is sealed with a serially numbered seal by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry;
(b) the documents accompanying the consignment, as provided for in Article 7 of Directive 97/78/EC, are stamped with the words ‘Only for transit to Russia via the EC’ on each page by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry;
(c) the procedural requirements provided for in Article 11 of Directive 97/78/EC are complied with;
(d) the consignment is certified as acceptable for transit on the common veterinary entry document issued by the official veterinarian at the border inspection post of entry.
2. The consignments, as referred to in paragraph 1, may not be unloaded or put into storage, as referred to in Article 12(4) or in Article 13 of Directive 97/78/EC, within the Community.
3. Regular audits shall be conducted by the competent authority to ensure that the number of consignments, as referred to in paragraph 1, and the corresponding quantities of products leaving the Community correspond with the number and quantities entering the Community.
Article 6 
Decision 2000/585/EC is repealed.
References to the repealed Decision shall be construed as references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex IV.
Article 7 
Commodities in respect of which the relevant veterinary certificates have been issued in accordance with Decision 2000/585/EC may be imported into or transit through the Community until 30 June 2009.
Article 8 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 June 2009.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.Done at Brussels, 9 February 2009.
For the Commission
Androulla VASSILIOU
Member of the Commission
ANNEX I
PART 1

Country Code of territory Leporidae Wild land mammals other than ungulates and leporidae
Wild Farmed rabbits
MC AG MC AG MC AG
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Australia AU WL  RM  WM 
Canada CA WL  RM  WM 
Greenland GL WL  RM  WM 
New Zealand NZ WL  RM  WM 
Russia RU WL  RM  WM 
Any other third country or part thereof listed in columns 1 and 3 of the table in Part 1 of Annex II to Decision 79/542/EEC WL  RM   
MCModel veterinary certificate.AGAdditional guarantees.

PART 2
Model(s):

‘WL’Model veterinary certificate for meat of wild leporidae (rabbits and hares)‘WM’Model veterinary certificate for meat of wild land mammals other than ungulates and leporidae‘RM’Model veterinary certificate for meat of farmed rabbits

PART 3
PART 4
(a) 
Where additional guarantees are required by the Member State of destination for the commodity concerned, these shall also be entered on the original of the veterinary certificate.

(b) A separate, single certificate must be presented for each consignment of the commodity concerned, exported to the same destination from a territory appearing in column 2 of the table in Part 1 of this Annex and transported in the same railway wagon, lorry, aircraft or ship.

(c) The original of certificates shall consist of a single page printed on both sides or, where more text is required, such that all the pages form a whole and cannot be separated.

(d) The certificate shall be drawn up in at least one official language of the Member State where the border inspection takes place and in one official language of the Member State of destination. However, those Member States may allow another Community language instead of their own, accompanied, if necessary, by an official translation.

(e) Where additional pages are attached to the certificate for the purposes of identifying the items making up the consignment, such additional pages shall also be considered to form part of the original of the certificate, provided the signature and stamp of the certifying official veterinarian appear on each page.

(f) Where the certificate, including any additional pages as provided for in (e), comprises more than one page, each page shall be numbered ‘–x (page number) of y (total number of pages)–’ on the bottom and shall bear the code number of the certificate allocated by the competent authority on the top.

(g) 
The colour of the signature shall be different from that of the printing. The same rule shall apply to stamps other than embossed stamps.

(h) The original of the certificate must accompany the consignment as far as the border inspection post of entry into the European Community.

ANNEX II

ANNEX III
ANNEX IV
Decision 2000/585/EC This Regulation
Article 2 Article 1
— Article 2
Article 2a (a) Article 3
Article 2a (b, c and d) Article 4
Article 2b Article 5
Article 4(1) Article 6
Article 4(2) Article 7
Article 3 Article 8