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PARALLEL TEXTS
L’obbligo di identificazione elettronica individuale per gli ovini e i caprini è valido
Inglese tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-131_en.htm
Italiano tratto da:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_CJE-13-131_it.htm
Data documento: 17-10-2013
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The obligation of individual electronic identification for sheep and goats is valid
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L’obbligo di identificazione elettronica individuale per gli ovini e i caprini è valido
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By adopting that measure intended to improve prevention of epizootic diseases, the legislature did not infringe the freedom of animal keepers to conduct a business or the principle of equal treatment
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Quando ha adottato tale misura, volta a una migliore prevenzione delle epizoozie, il legislatore europeo non ha violato la libertà d’impresa degli allevatori né infranto il principio della parità di trattamento
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Up until the major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001, keepers of sheep and goats only had to mark their animals with an eartag or a tattoo that made it possible to determine the holding from which they came.
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Fino all’importante epidemia di afta epizootica del 2001, gli allevatori di ovini e di caprini dovevano marchiare i loro animali solo attraverso un marchio auricolare o un tatuaggio, atti a consentire l’individuazione dell’azienda di provenienza.
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Furthermore, those animal keepers had to keep a register indicating the total number of sheep and goats present each year.
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Dovevano inoltre tenere un registro indicante il numero totale di ovini e caprini presenti ciascun anno nell’azienda .
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During that epizootic disease outbreak, it was necessary to systematically slaughter millions of animals because sheep were unidentified and could not be traced, only to then discover that many of them were not infected.
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Orbene, durante tale epizoozia, si è dovuto procedere all’abbattimento sistematico di diversi milioni di animali, in ragione di ovini non identificati e dell’assenza di tracciabilità, per poi scoprire che un grande numero di essi non era infetto.
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Moreover, it was necessary to impose various restrictions within the EU and a worldwide ban on all exports of livestock, meat and animal products from the United Kingdom.
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Oltre a ciò, è stato necessario ricorrere a varie restrizioni in seno all’Unione e a un divieto su scala mondiale di tutte le esportazioni di bestiame, di carne e di prodotti di origine animale a partire dal Regno Unito.
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In the interest of improving the prevention of such epidemics and improving the functioning of the trade in sheep and goats between Member States, the EU legislature introduced a new system under which each animal must be identified individually by two means of identification, namely by a traditional eartag and by an electronic device.
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Ai fini di una miglior prevenzione di epidemie di questo tipo e di un migliore funzionamento degli scambi di ovini e di caprini fra gli Stati membri, il legislatore dell’Unione ha introdotto un nuovo sistema per cui ciascun animale deve essere identificato individualmente attraverso due strumenti: un marchio auricolare tradizionale e un dispositivo elettronico.
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The latter may take the form of an electronic eartag, a ruminal bolus, an electronic transponder or an electronic mark on the pastern.
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Quest’ultimo può avere la forma di un marchio auricolare elettronico, di un bolo ruminale, di un transponder iniettabile o di un marchio elettronico sul pastorale.
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The identity of each animal must be recorded in a holding register.
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L’identità di ciascun animale deve inoltre essere iscritta in un registro d’azienda.
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Moreover, when animals leave the holding, their movements are to be recorded in a document accompanying those animals.
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Inoltre, quando gli animali lasciano l’azienda, i loro movimenti devono essere registrati in un documento di accompagnamento.
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In addition, each Member State is obliged to set up a central register or computer database recording all holdings located on its territory and, at regular intervals, to take an inventory of the animals kept on those holdings.
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In aggiunta, ogni Stato membro è tenuto a predisporre un registro centrale o una banca dati informatica in cui registrare tutte le aziende situate sul proprio territorio e ad effettuare, a scadenze regolari, un censimento degli animali detenuti in tali aziende.
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Mr Schaible, a keeper of sheep with 450 ewes, brought an action before the Verwaltungsgericht Stuttgart (Stuttgart Administrative Court, Germany) seeking a declaration that he is not obliged to individually identify his animals or to individually identify them electronically, nor to keep a holding register.
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Il sig. Schaible, un allevatore di ovini tedesco che detiene 450 pecore, ha presentato un ricorso dinanzi al Verwaltungsgericht Stuttgart (Tribunale amministrativo di Stoccarda, Germania), al quale ha chiesto di dichiarare che egli non è soggetto né agli obblighi di identificazione individuale e di identificazione elettronica individuale dei propri animali, né all’obbligo di tenere un registro d’azienda.
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It is against that background that the Administrative Court requested the Court of Justice to verify whether those obligations are valid or whether they infringe the freedom to conduct a business and the principle of equal treatment.
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In tale contesto, il Tribunale amministrativo ha chiesto alla Corte di giustizia di accertare se tali obblighi siano validi oppure se violino la libertà di impresa e il principio della parità di trattamento.
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By today’s judgment, the Court finds that the obligations of keepers of sheep and goats to identify their animals individually and electronically and to keep an up-to-date holding register does not infringe the freedom to conduct a business or the principle of equal treatment.
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Nell’odierna sentenza, la Corte dichiara che gli obblighi per gli allevatori di ovini e di caprini di identificare i loro animali individualmente ed elettronicamente, nonché di tenere un registro d’azienda, non violano né la libertà d’impresa né il principio della parità di trattamento.
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Although those obligations may limit the exercise of the freedom to conduct a business, they are, however, legitimate objectives in the public interest, namely health protection, the control of epizootic diseases, the welfare of animals and the completion of the internal market for those animals.
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Benché tali obblighi possano limitare l’esercizio della libertà d’impresa, essi sono tuttavia giustificati da obiettivi legittimi di interesse generale, segnatamente la tutela sanitaria, la lotta contro le epizoozie e il benessere degli animali, nonché la realizzazione del mercato interno di tali animali.
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In that they facilitate the traceability of each animal and thereby enable the competent authorities, in the event of an epizootic disease outbreak, to take the necessary measures to prevent the spread of contagious disease among sheep and goats, those obligations are appropriate and necessary to achieve those objectives.
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Infatti, agevolando la tracciabilità di ciascun animale e permettendo quindi alle autorità competenti, in caso di epizoozia, di adottare i provvedimenti necessari ad impedire la propagazione di malattie contagiose fra gli ovini e i caprini, tali obblighi sono adeguati e necessari al fine di conseguire i suddetti obiettivi.
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Moreover, those obligations are not disproportionate.
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Inoltre, gli obblighi in questione non sono sproporzionati.
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As regards the financial burdens on animal keepers resulting from those obligations, the Court points out several factors that must be taken into account, in particula
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Riguardo agli oneri economici che ad essi conseguono per gli allevatori, la Corte richiama vari elementi che occorre considerare:
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(i) that those burdens may be less than the costs of non-selective measures, such as the ban on exports or the preventive slaughter of livestock in the event of the occurrence of a disease;
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(i) i costi possono essere meno elevati rispetto ai costi di strumenti non selettivi, quali il divieto di esportazioni o l’abbattimento preventivo di bestiame in caso di comparsa di una malattia;
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(ii) that the new system makes provision for several exceptions;
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(ii) il nuovo sistema prevede diverse deroghe;
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(iii) that the electronic identification obligation was only introduced gradually and
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(iii) l’obbligo di identificazione elettronica è stato introdotto solo in modo progressivo e
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(iv) that it is possible for animal keepers to obtain financial support to contribute partly to the additional costs connected to the introduction of the system.
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(iv) gli allevatori hanno la possibilità di ottenere un aiuto finanziario a copertura parziale dei costi aggiuntivi legati all’introduzione del sistema.
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As regards animal welfare, the Court observes that the fact that two means of identification must be affixed to the animals instead of one and the fact that the new means of identification statistically cause more injuries and complications than traditional devices, are not such as to demonstrate that the assessment of the EU legislature concerning the benefits of introducing the obligation of electronic identification was wrong.
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Quanto al benessere degli animali, la Corte osserva che il fatto che debbano essere applicati sugli animali due mezzi di identificazione, anziché uno solo, e che i nuovi mezzi di identificazione provochino statisticamente maggiori lesioni e complicazioni rispetto ai dispositivi tradizionali, non sono tali da dimostrare che la valutazione del legislatore dell’Unione in merito ai vantaggi dell’introduzione dell’obbligo di identificazione elettronica degli ovini e dei caprini fosse errata.
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In addition, it points out that, by facilitating the control of epizootic diseases and thereby enabling the suffering of infected animals to be avoided, the new system contributes positively to the protection of animal welfare.
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La Corte rileva inoltre che il nuovo sistema contribuisce in modo attivo a proteggere il benessere degli animali, in quanto facilita la lotta contro le epizoozie e permette così di evitare di dover abbattere animali infetti.
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The new system also complies with the principle of equal treatment.
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Il nuovo sistema rispetta anche il principio della parità di trattamento.
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In that respect, the derogation which permits Member States with a small sheep or goat population to make the electronic identification system optional does not discriminate against animal keepers established in a Member State where that identification is obligatory.
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Infatti, la deroga che autorizza gli Stati membri aventi un patrimonio ovino o caprino ridotto a rendere facoltativo il sistema di identificazione elettronica non discrimina gli allevatori stabiliti in uno Stato membro dove tale identificazione è obbligatoria.
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In that regard, the Court notes, in particular, that the thresholds provided for are reasonable and proportionate to the objectives pursued by the new system and that that derogation only applies to animals which are not involved in intra-Community trade.
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La Corte rileva, in particolare, che le soglie previste sono ragionevoli e proporzionate ai fini previsti dal nuovo sistema e che detta deroga si applica soltanto agli animali non destinati agli scambi intracomunitari.
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Finally, that system does not discriminate against keepers of sheep and goats as opposed to keepers of cattle and pigs, who are not subject to the same obligations.
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Infine, tale sistema non è neppure tale da discriminare gli allevatori di ovini e di caprini rispetto agli allevatori di bovini e di suini, i quali non sono soggetti ai medesimi obblighi.
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Despite some similarities of those various types of mammals, there are differences that justify a specific regulatory framework for each animal species.
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Infatti, nonostante talune similitudini, sussistono, fra questi diversi tipi di mammiferi, differenze tali da giustificare un quadro normativo specifico per ciascuna specie.
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Given the historical context of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis in 2001, the EU legislature could legitimately introduce specific legislation providing for the electronic identification of sheep and goats that were particularly affected by that crisis.
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In considerazione del contesto della crisi dell’afta epizootica del 2001, il legislatore dell’Unione poteva legittimamente introdurre una normativa specifica che prevedeva l’identificazione elettronica degli ovini e dei caprini, particolarmente interessati da tale crisi.
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However, the Court notes that, although the legislature could lawfully make use of such a step-by-step approach for the introduction of electronic identification, it must, in view of the objectives of the contested legislation, consider the need to review the measures adopted, inter alia as regards whether electronic identification is optional or obligatory.
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Tuttavia, la Corte rileva che, benché il legislatore potesse legittimamente basarsi su un approccio progressivo per l’introduzione dell’identificazione elettronica, esso è tenuto, in considerazione degli obiettivi del regolamento censurato, a valutare la necessità di procedere al riesame delle misure istituite, in particolare per quanto riguarda il carattere facoltativo oppure obbligatorio dell’identificazione elettronica.
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NOTE:
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IMPORTANTE:
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A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them, to refer questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European Union law or the validity of a European Union act.
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Il rinvio pregiudiziale consente ai giudici degli Stati membri, nell'ambito di una controversia della quale sono investiti, di interpellare la Corte in merito all’interpretazione del diritto dell’Unione o alla validità di un atto dell’Unione.
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The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
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La Corte non risolve la controversia nazionale.
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It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other national courts or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised. |
Spetta al giudice nazionale risolvere la causa conformemente alla decisione della Corte.Tale decisione vincola egualmente gli altri giudici nazionali ai quali venga sottoposto un problema simile. |
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LISTEN WITH READSPEAKER
T he obligation of individual electronic identification for sheep and goats
is valid
By adopting that measure intended to improve prevention of epizootic
diseases, the legislature did not infringe the freedom of animal keepers to
conduct a business or the principle of equal treatment
Up until the major outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001, keepers of
sheep and goats only had to mark their animals with an eartag or a tattoo that
made it possible to determine the holding from which they came.
Furthermore, those animal keepers had to keep a register indicating the total
number of sheep and goats present each year.
During that epizootic disease outbreak, it was necessary to systematically
slaughter millions of animals because sheep were unidentified and could not be
traced, only to then discover that many of them were not infected.
Moreover, it was necessary to impose various restrictions within the EU and a
worldwide ban on all exports of livestock, meat and animal products from the
United Kingdom.
In the interest of improving the prevention of such epidemics and improving
the functioning of the trade in sheep and goats between Member States, the EU
legislature introduced a new system under which each animal must be identified
individually by two means of identification, namely by a traditional eartag and
by an electronic device.
The latter may take the form of an electronic eartag, a ruminal bolus, an
electronic transponder or an electronic mark on the pastern.
The identity of each animal must be recorded in a holding register.
Moreover, when animals leave the holding, their movements are to be recorded
in a document accompanying those animals.
In addition, each Member State is obliged to set up a central register or
computer database recording all holdings located on its territory and, at
regular intervals, to take an inventory of the animals kept on those holdings.
Mr Schaible, a keeper of sheep with 450 ewes, brought an action before the
Verwaltungsgericht Stuttgart (Stuttgart Administrative Court, Germany) seeking a
declaration that he is not obliged to individually identify his animals or to
individually identify them electronically, nor to keep a holding register.
It is against that background that the Administrative Court requested the
Court of Justice to verify whether those obligations are valid or whether they
infringe the freedom to conduct a business and the principle of equal treatment.
By today’s judgment, the Court finds that the obligations of keepers of sheep
and goats to identify their animals individually and electronically and to keep
an up-to-date holding register does not infringe the freedom to conduct a
business or the principle of equal treatment.
Although those obligations may limit the exercise of the freedom to conduct a
business, they are, however, legitimate objectives in the public interest,
namely health protection, the control of epizootic diseases, the welfare of
animals and the completion of the internal market for those animals.
In that they facilitate the traceability of each animal and thereby enable
the competent authorities, in the event of an epizootic disease outbreak, to
take the necessary measures to prevent the spread of contagious disease among
sheep and goats, those obligations are appropriate and necessary to achieve
those objectives.
Moreover, those obligations are not disproportionate.
As regards the financial burdens on animal keepers resulting from those
obligations, the Court points out several factors that must be taken into
account, in particula
(i) that those burdens may be less than the costs of non-selective measures,
such as the ban on exports or the preventive slaughter of livestock in the event
of the occurrence of a disease;
(ii) that the new system makes provision for several exceptions;
(iii) that the electronic identification obligation was only introduced
gradually and
(iv) that it is possible for animal keepers to obtain financial support to
contribute partly to the additional costs connected to the introduction of the
system.
As regards animal welfare, the Court observes that the fact that two means of
identification must be affixed to the animals instead of one and the fact that
the new means of identification statistically cause more injuries and
complications than traditional devices, are not such as to demonstrate that the
assessment of the EU legislature concerning the benefits of introducing the
obligation of electronic identification was wrong.
In addition, it points out that, by facilitating the control of epizootic
diseases and thereby enabling the suffering of infected animals to be avoided,
the new system contributes positively to the protection of animal welfare.
The new system also complies with the principle of equal treatment.
In that respect, the derogation which permits Member States with a small
sheep or goat population to make the electronic identification system optional
does not discriminate against animal keepers established in a Member State where
that identification is obligatory.
In that regard, the Court notes, in particular, that the thresholds provided
for are reasonable and proportionate to the objectives pursued by the new system
and that that derogation only applies to animals which are not involved in
intra-Community trade.
Finally, that system does not discriminate against keepers of sheep and goats
as opposed to keepers of cattle and pigs, who are not subject to the same
obligations.
Despite some similarities of those various types of mammals, there are
differences that justify a specific regulatory framework for each animal
species.
Given the historical context of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis in 2001,
the EU legislature could legitimately introduce specific legislation providing
for the electronic identification of sheep and goats that were particularly
affected by that crisis.
However, the Court notes that, although the legislature could lawfully make
use of such a step-by-step approach for the introduction of electronic
identification, it must, in view of the objectives of the contested legislation,
consider the need to review the measures adopted, inter alia as regards whether
electronic identification is optional or obligatory.
NOTE:
A reference for a preliminary ruling allows the courts and tribunals of the
Member States, in disputes which have been brought before them, to refer
questions to the Court of Justice about the interpretation of European Union law
or the validity of a European Union act.
The Court of Justice does not decide the dispute itself.
It is for the national court or tribunal to dispose of the case in accordance
with the Court’s decision, which is similarly binding on other national courts
or tribunals before which a similar issue is raised.
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