Aquatic animal health measures applicable on arrival

Article 5.9.1.

1. An importing country should only accept into its territory live aquatic animals that have been subjected to examination by a member of the personnel of the Aquatic Animal Health Service of the exporting country or a certifying official approved by the importing country and that are accompanied by an international aquatic animal health certificate (see Model Certificates given in Chapter 5.11.).

2. An importing country may require sufficient advance notification regarding the proposed date of entry into its territory of aquatic animals, stating the species, quantity, means of transport and the name of the frontier post.

   In addition, any importing country shall publish a list of the specified frontier posts supplied with the equipment required for conducting control operations at importation and enabling the importation and transit procedures to be carried out in the most speedy and efficacious way.

3. An importing country may prohibit the introduction into its territory of aquatic animals if these were found, on examination carried out at the frontier post by a member of the personnel of the Aquatic Animal Health Service, to be affected by a listed disease of concern to the importing country.

   Refusal of entry may also be applied to aquatic animals that are not accompanied by an international aquatic animal health certificate conforming to the requirements of the importing country.

   In these circumstances, the Competent Authority of the exporting country shall be informed immediately, thereby providing an opportunity for checking the findings or correcting the certificate.

   However, the importing country may prescribe that the importation be placed immediately in quarantine in order to carry out a clinical observation and biological examinations with a view to establishing a formal diagnosis.

   If the diagnosis of a listed disease is confirmed, or if the certificate cannot be corrected, the importing country may take the following measures:

   1. return the aquatic animals involved to the exporting country if this rejection does not involve transit through a third country;

   2. slaughter and destroy in cases where re-shipment would be dangerous from a health point of view or impossible from a practical point of view.

Article 5.9.2.

1. An importing country should only accept into its territory raw uneviscerated fish of those species susceptible to a listed disease destined for introduction into an aquatic environment or for human consumption that have been subjected to examination by a member of the personnel of the Aquatic Animal Health Service of the exporting country or a certifying official approved by the importing country, and that are accompanied by an international aquatic animal health certificate (see Model Certificates given in Chapter 5.11.).

2. An importing country may require sufficient advance notification regarding the proposed date of entry into its territory of a consignment of products of aquatic animal origin destined for human consumption, together with information on the nature, quantity and packaging of the products, as well as the name of the frontier post.

Article 5.9.3.

On arrival at a frontier post of a vehicle transporting aquatic animals infected with any specified listed disease, the vehicle shall be considered to be contaminated and the Aquatic Animal Health Service shall apply the following measures:

1. unloading of the vehicle and immediate transportation of any possibly contaminated material, such as water or ice, to an establishment assigned in advance for its destruction and the strict application of the aquatic animal health measures required by the importing country;

2. disinfection of:

   1. outer clothes and boots of the crew on the transporting vehicle;

   2. all parts of the vehicle that were used in the transport, moving and unloading of the aquatic animals.