Document type: Answer from the European Commission to Question E-003229/23
Authors: question: Petras Auštrevičius (Renew). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission.
Question: It is estimated that there are 104 million dogs and 127 million cats in Europe, with a substantial percentage being commercially transported between EU Member States and imported from outside the EU. Determining the exact number is vital in order to monitor their welfare closely and to understand market trends better. While such statistics are available for other species, in the specific case of cats and dogs, they are proving very difficult to obtain. The TRACES system is meant to provide for traceability and information exchange to ensure data accuracy and help decision-making. When there is no data or the existing data is incomplete, the objectives of TRACES, namely consumer protection, animal health, welfare and public health, are jeopardised.
1) Can the Commission provide the figures for commercial imports and intra-EU transport of cats and dogs and explain how this data might be obtained directly?
2) How can a generic and unspecific Harmonised System (HS) code such as ‘Live animals (excl. horses, asses, mules, hinnies, bovine animals, swine, sheep, goats, poultry, fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates, and microorganic cultures etc.)’ provide accurate numbers on the transport of cat and dogs when a large number of other ‘live animals’ are counted in the same group?
Answer: Data on imports into the EU and intra-EU movements of cats and dogs are recorded by Member States’ officials in the computerised information system TRACES[1] maintained by the Commission. Access to those data to operators and competent authorities is regulated by Article 36 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715[2]. As those data originate from the Member States’ authorities, in case of an application for access to documents in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001[3]their disclosure by the Commission requires the prior agreement of the relevant Member States. Accurate data on movements of cats and dogs are obtained with a combination of information provided in the official certificates, that include the relevant Harmonised System ( HS) code for those animals within the ‘live animals’ chapter[4]i.e. the HS code "01061900", and the animal species. On December 7, 2023, the Commission adopted a legislative proposal on the protection of animals during transport[5] according to which any transport of animals, be it in a short or a long journey, and regardless of whether they are crossing borders or not, must be accompanied by a journey log. The journey logs will be incorporated in TRACES which will, in turn, give better insight into the total numbers of dogs and cats commercially transported within the EU. The Commission also adopted a proposal on the welfare of dogs and cats[6]which would require dogs and cats entering the EU to be registered in a national database within 48 This should limit the existing frequent fraudulent practice of disguising commercial imports of dogs and cats as non-commercial movement, and ultimately lead to more reliable data in TRACES for commercial imports.
[1]http://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/traces_en
[2]Implementing Regulation (EC) 2019/1715 laying down rules for the functioning of the information management system for official controls and its system components ("IMSOC Regulation") (OJ L 261, 14.10.2019, p.37).
[3] Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).
[4]https://www.wcoomd.org/-/media/wco/public/global/pdf/topics/nomenclature/instruments-and-tools/hs-nomenclature-2017/2017/0101_2017e.pdf?la=en
[5]Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals during transport and related operations, amending Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/97 and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, COM/2023/770 final.
[6]Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the welfare of dogs and cats and their traceability, COM/2023/769 final.
