Identification, vaccination and movement of dogs and cats in the EU:
How to improve the Pet Passport and TRACES systems?
Brussels, 21-22 June 2016
How does TRACES system work for
companion animals
What are the issues
Magdalena Gajdzinska
VIER PFOTEN
European Policy Office
More Humanity towards Animals
the TRACES system
The Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) is an online system that makes it easier for importers and
exporters to provide health certification and track consignments of animals or animal products.
TRACES:
• Facilitates the exchange of information between all involved
trading parties and control authorities and speeds up the
administrative procedures;
• Traceability of animals, semen and embryo, food, feed and plants
(reduction of the impact of disease outbreaks and a quick response
to sanitary alert);
• Its main objective is to digitise the entire certification process;
• Aims to strengthen cooperation with EU partners, facilitate trade,
accelerate administrative procedures and improve the risk
management of health threats, while combating fraud and
enhancing the safety of the food chain, animal health, and plant
health.
© TRACES
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Movement of pets
NON-COMMERCIAL
MOVEMENT WITHIN
THE EU
• Marking
• Vaccination against rabies
• E. multilocularis treatment
(FI, IE, MT, NO, UK)
• Passport and declaration
NON-COMMERCIAL
MOVEMENT FROM
NON EU
INTRA-UNION TRADE
• Marking
• Vaccination against rabies
• E. multilocularis treatment
(FI, IE, MT, NO, UK)
• Rabies antibody test
• Health Certificate and
Declaration
• Travellers' point of entry
• Marking
• Vaccination against rabies
• E. multilocularis treatment
(FI, IE, MT, NO, UK)
• Registered establishments
• Clinical examination
• Passport
• Health certificate
IMPORTS FROM NONEU COUNTRIES
• Marking
• Vaccination against rabies
• E. multilocularis treatment
(FI, IE, MT, NO, UK)
• Authorised countries
• Registered establishments
• Rabies antibody test
• Clinical examination
• Border Inspection Post
• Common Veterinary Entry
Document
• Health certificate
Marking: Regulation (EU) No 576/2013
Rabies vaccination: Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 576/2013
Rabies antibody test: Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 576/2013
E.Multiloculatis treatment: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1152/2011
Passport: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013)
Health certificate: Commission Decision 2013/518/EU
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Intra-Union Trade
Functioning of the TRACES INTRA certification
For the trading of animals within the EU, the INTRA form is used.
TRACES certification includes 3 parts:
•
•
•
Part 1 is filled in by the operator (the “sender/exporter”)
It specifies the identity of the sender and the recipient, the species of the
animals , how many animals are being transported and their transponder or
passport numbers. Part 1 can also be filled in directly by the certifier (official
veterinarian).
Part 2 is completed by the competent authority of the place of departure.
The certificate guarantees the health, necssary vaccinations , marking and
age of the animal(s)
Part 3 (in case of control only): is optional and is only completed if a control is
carried out during transport or on arrival, whatever the result of that control.
The controls are in any case not mandatory, and if they do not take place, Part
3 will stay blank.
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Model of Animal Health Certificate
Annex of Commission Implementing
Decision 2013/518/EU of 21 October
2013 amending Part 1 of Annex E to
Council
Directive 92/65/EEC as regards the
model health certificate for animals
from holdings
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Intra-Union Trade
According to the documents, the health certificate must be completed by an official and approved veterinarian
(hereinafter the “certifying veterinarian”) less than 48 hours before departure, and aims to certify the good
health of the animals and the validity of their identification after the individual examination of each animal.
.
the certifying veterinarian
veterinarian who completed the
Passport and performed the
necessary vaccinations
the certifying veterinarian should assume the reliability of the information filled in by another veterinarian, without
knowing the vet, the animal or the owner as well as should formally validate the certificate without performing
detailed check
What is the value of this certification?
In practice there are so many cases of animals with non-compliant documents that are able to obtain a TRACES certification
Recommendation:
The name of the original breeder, the dates of identification and of rabies vaccinations should be
integrated into the health certificate.
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Imports From Non-EU Countries
Functioning of the TRACES IMPORT certification
The IMPORT form is used in combination with the CVED (Common Veterinary Entry Document).
TRACES certification includes 3 parts:
•
•
•
•
•
Part 1 (optional): IMPORT certificate is filled in by the operator (the “Seller”) and specifies the
identity of the sender and of the recipient, the species of the animals, how many animals are
being transported as well as their transponder or passport numbers.
Part 2 (optional): is completed by the competent authority of the place of departure.
The certificate guarantees the health, necssary vaccinations , marking and
age of the animal(s)
CVED Part 1: At the first EU border ,the customs authorities will check will copy the IMPORT
certificate data into Part 1 of a new certificate called CVED. If there was no IMPORT certificate
made, Part 1 of the CVED certificate will be filled in by the customs authorities directly.
FOURTH STEP: Part 2 of the CVED certificate has to be completed by the BIP (Border
Inspection Post). This is the certification guaranteeing the health of the animal(s) and allowing
their transportation.
Part 3 (in case of control only): is optional and is only completed if a control is carried out
during transport or on arrival, whatever the result of that control. The controls are in any case
not mandatory, and if they do not take place, Part 3 will stay blank.
© TRACES
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System Design Errors
The limited access to TRACES for national authorities
The TRACES system is only accessible for the competent authorities of the countries of departure, transit and arrival.
In practice, this can cause many problems, especially when a regular exporter of animals is being investigated in a Member
State. The authorities of that State might not have access to TRACES reports involving the same person in other States.
The absence of verification of the validity of the animal identification code
Wrong or duplicated transponders’ numbers can be entered in the TRACES system which does not verify the compliance of the
transponder codes of dogs and cats.
Recommendation:
The access to TRACES should be expanded for States so that it is no longer
limited to the departure , transit or destination country.
An integrated and consistent control system not only for the validity of
transponder codes (DVC) but also for the adequacy of the rabies
vaccination dates should be implemented.
© TRACES
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The technical issues of the TRACES system
The “weekend issue”: alerts received at the last moment by transit
countries, depriving them of any possibility of control
Transit countries are informed of a movement only after when Part
I of the TRACES certification has been submitted and validated.
This creates problems when the application has been done just
before the weekend for a movement starting on Monday. In this
case, competent authorities of the transit countries are informed
only the day of the departure.
The way in which passport or transponder numbers are registered
is not standardized
Searching for a transponder or passport number may not be
possible if special characters such as full stops, commas or spaces
were used when entering the number for the first time. However,
nothing in the TRACES system prohibits the use of such special
characters.
© FOUR PAWS
Recommendation:
Increassed access to TRACES should be permitted for States when conducting a search for a specific animal (transponder or
passport number) or looking for an exporter or recipient.
The way in which data is entered in TRACES (transponder/tattoo/passport/registration numbers, licence plates, etc.) should be
harmonized and standardized.
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The lack of controls and the inadequacy of
resources allocated by the States
The lack of human resources in the competent authorities to monitor
in detail each TRACES notification
According to data, in 2014 alone, 1,544,117 TRACES certificates
(CVED-Animals and CVED-Products together) were issued by the
system (all species and all origins). This means that on average each
day, each State could have received up to 151 TRACES notifications
informing them of a movement to or from their country. At such a
rate, the risk of fraud (and the health risk) is very serious.
Control of livestock trade between Member States (INTRA)
The 2014 statistics reveal that 654,632 INTRA certificates were issued
for 1,368 local authorities, which represents on average 478
certificates to be examined for each authority.
© TRACES
Recommendation:
It should be compulsory for Member States to guarantee a sufficient minimum number
of qualified personnel and specially trained staff to carry out preliminary and a
posteriori checks in TRACES.
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TRACES,
an unsuitable system for the safe movement of pets
According The purpose of TRACES is to follow the movement of animals and
animal products during the time of their transportation, as well as to trace the
movement back to the exporter.
The system does not aim to collect full statistical and traceability data on all
animals and animal products passing through the EU.
Access to TRACES data is extremely limited: only the competent authorities
approved in the departure, transit and the destination countries have access to
the data.
TRACES does not allow the competent authorities of a State to cross-search
information about an exporter, importer or animal with regard to animal
movements that were made between other States.
TRACES will not in any case enable the animal’s original breeder to be traced (if
the latter is not the exporter), or the animal’s movement to be followed through
to its final purchaser (if the latter is not the recipient).
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© TRACES