Have a zone or compartment in fish farming in aquaculture establishments declared free of aquatic animal diseases

If you keep aquatic animals in aquaculture, you can, under certain conditions, have the compartment or zone in which your farm is located declared free of certain aquatic animal diseases.

If you operate aquaculture, you can, under certain conditions, have the compartment or zone in which your farm is located declared free from certain aquatic animal diseases.

A declaration of disease-free status is particularly relevant for aquaculture businesses where aquatic animal species are kept that are listed for category B or C aquatic animal diseases. These diseases and the aquatic animal species concerned are listed in the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882.

To obtain disease-free status for one or more of these EU-listed aquatic animal diseases, you must be able to prove that the compartment or zone was free of this disease or these diseases or that measures to eradicate an outbreak have been successfully implemented. Different documents are required depending on which case applies to you.

You can apply for the declaration either for one compartment only or for an entire zone. A zone comprises a complete, self-contained water system, for example a lake or river from its source to its mouth. Such a zone often comprises several aquaculture businesses, for which a joint application for a declaration of disease-free status must be submitted. A compartment, on the other hand, comprises a delimitable sub-functional unit to which several aquaculture businesses with a common system for protection against biological hazards belong. The compartment does not necessarily have to be independent of the adjacent natural water cycle.

The declaration is valid throughout the EU and only becomes effective once it has been submitted to the EU Commission and the other Member States as a preliminary declaration and no explanations or additional information have been requested by the EU Commission or the other Member States within 60 days.

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State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES) Lower Saxony

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• All aquaculture establishments concerned must be approved or, where applicable, registered
• All establishments operating in the zone or compartment must comply with the obligations regarding biosecurity measures in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2016/429
• The identification of animals of the target animal population must be ensured.
• At the time of movement, the animals of the targeted animal population or their products must comply with the animal health requirements for the movement of such animals and products within the Union and their entry into the Union.
• One of the following justifications for freedom from the disease must be demonstrated:
  • The disease has not been previously detected and the listed species are not present in the populations of kept and wild animals (zone only).
  • The disease has not been detected in the last five years and the disease has either never been reported in the zone or it has been reported but the disease agent has not survived (zone only).
  • The disease has been reported in the last 25 years but has been eradicated and disease surveillance of kept animals and prevention measures has been carried out over the last ten years confirming that the disease is not known to occur in wildlife of listed species within the zone (zone only).
  • An eradication program has been approved and successfully implemented by the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES)
  • For compartments only: The farms in the compartment are starting up operations for the first time or again
• Only for compartments: If the compartment is dependent on the health status of the neighboring natural waters, effective disease-specific separation must be ensured
• For compartments only: All aquaculture businesses operating in the compartment must be subject to a uniform management system for protection against biological hazards

Action before the administrative court

The application for a declaration of freedom from disease can be made in writing or online. If you are of the opinion that the requirements are met, apply to the LAVES for the declaration.

• You submit the application and all necessary evidence in accordance with the basis for the disease-free status.
• The authority will check whether all requirements have been met.
• If necessary, the authority will contact you with further questions or request additional documents or evidence.
• If the authority considers the requirements to have been met, it will notify the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), which in turn will publish a provisional declaration. The EU Commission and the other Member States are informed by the BMEL of the publication of the provisional declaration.
• If no explanations or additional information are requested by the EU Commission or the other Member States within 60 days of the publication of the provisional declaration, the provisional declaration is effective.
• The authority shall send a corresponding decision on the disease-free declaration of the compartment or zone concerned.

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