1. Dogs and Cats’ traceability
in Europe
History
Sophie Duthoit
EU Legal Research Officer
VIER PFOTEN / FOUR PAWS European Policy Office
More Humanity towards animals
VIER PFOTEN/FOUR PAWS, European Policy Office
19/11 Avenue de la Renaissance, 1000 Brussels (Belgium)

2. The ANIMO and SCHIFT systems
1990: (Dir 90/425/EEC), commitment to introduce a “computerized system linking veterinary authorities, with a view, in particular, to facilitating the exchange of information between the competent authorities”
ANIMO
1991, creation of the “ANIMO” system by the EU Commission.
But FAILURE (not enough interaction between the veterinary authorities, no archiving of messages, etc.
SCHIFT
Creation by the Council of another computer system called “SHIFT”
But Swine fever crisis + foot-and-mouth disease crisis = FAILURE
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3. TRACES and Pet Passport
2001: call of the EU Parliament on the European Commission to continue the aborted project.
End of 2003: launch of the TRACES project (Trade Control Expert System) on the basis of the former ANIMO and SHIFT systems ( operational in 2006)
Pet Passport
In the meantime (2003): Regulation 998/2003 has been introduced:
has modified the old directive on health requirements for trade in animals and has required the inclusion in the TRACES system of commercial movements of dogs and cats
Make the electronic identification of dogs, cats and ferrets crossing borders mandatory, together with the Pet Passport
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4. The System today Electronic identification
Electronic identification by transponder is used to identify :
pets (dogs, cats and ferrets) travelling from one European country to another
Equines, sheep and goats (optional but soon to become mandatory)
Protected wildlife (CITES)
Some laboratory animals (primates, dogs and cats).
The Commission is currently studying the possibility of introducing the identification by transponder of cattle.
BUT the ways of identifying electronically, including the generation of transponders’ unique codes, have not been harmonized at the EU level.
(EU rules only refer to ISO as the standard for identification, leaving all the responsibility to the Member States, which can themselves, according to ISO 11784, transfer this responsibility to transponder manufacturers)
This has led to false codes, inconsistent codes and duplicate codes
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5. The System today Movement of dogs, cats and ferrets and TRACES
Regulation 576/2013 and Directive 2013/31: any movement for commercial purposes of a dog, cat or ferret from one country to another must be accompanied by a veterinary health certificate issued within the previous 48 hours, which must be registered in TRACES.
In theory, via TRACES, the competent authorities of the 28 EU Member States are informed in real time of all the movements that start from, pass through or have their destination in their country.
The veterinary health certificate has to be validated only by the competent authority of the Member State of departure.
Other authorities may only carry out random checks, but this is not mandatory.
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6. The System today Movement of dogs, cats and ferrets and TRACES
The use of TRACES is compulsory not only for the 28 EU Member States, but also for EFTA States (cover today 76 states / 30,000 users).
The system is efficient for animals intended for food consumption (especially cattle) but less for dogs and cats:
Dogs or cats appear as "other mammals“ and are not identified clearly
The system established by the Pet Passport Regulations also has many flaws both in terms of traceability of animals and in terms of health safety, because it allows, among other things, the movement of unvaccinated or poorly vaccinated animals
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7. Constant requests for more traceability
The CAROdog/cat project
Started in 2010 with
Istituto Sperimentale Zooprofilattico dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Capporale” (IZSAM), Teramo.
The European Commission
the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE)
and, for CAROcat, the Advisory Board on Cat Diseases (ABCD)
Has an EU Expert Canine and Feline Traceability group
Organisation of many events and conferences ility
The CARO approach has pioneered companion animal traceability at the EU level by identifying its key elements
=> EU Concept for I&R: comprehensive and realistic set of proposals for the identification and registration of animals in Europe based on a delegated act as planned by the new Animal Health Law.
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8. The reiterated call of the Council
In its conclusion, repealed in 2012, the Council called on the EU Commission :
to “study and propose, if justified, options for facilitating compatible systems of identification and registration of dogs and cats in order to ensure better guarantees to the citizen through more efficient traceability of those animals”.
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9. The repeated calls of the EU Parliament
Lots of written questions, written declarations, recommendations etc.
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10. Why we need dogs and cats traceability in Europe today?
Today : EU Obligation to identify dogs and cats, but only when they travel beyond national borders.
No obligation to register dogs and cats:
The system does not guarantee the traceability of pets in Europe
The system does not allow the consumer acquiring such an animal to know the real origin of the animal he/she is buying, or the conditions under which it was born, raised and transported.
Mandatory I&R of all dogs and cats in Europe in their first days, even if they have no owner, and even if they never travel beyond the national borders of the State in which they were born, is today the only way to enable the responsible ownership and handling of such animals, and also to put an end to the health risks they may pose.
Such an obligation could help to reduce the growing number of animals abandoned or lost each year
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11. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME
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