(1)

Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 lays down, inter alia, the animal health requirements applicable to non-commercial movements of pet animals into a Member State from a territory or a third country, and the rules for compliance checks on such non-commercial movements. Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 has been repealed by Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council (2) but, as a transitional measure, it continues to apply until 21 April 2026 in respect of non–commercial movements of pet animals, in place of Part VI of Regulation (EU) 2016/429.

(2)

Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 provides for the compulsory anti-rabies vaccination of certain pet animals, namely dogs, cats and ferrets, subject to non-commercial movements into a Member State from territories or third countries. More specifically, it provides that dogs, cats and ferrets are not to be moved into a Member State unless they have received an anti-rabies vaccination and have undergone a rabies antibody titration test that both comply with the requirements laid down in that Regulation. In addition, Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 provides that the Commission is to adopt a list of territories or third countries from which dogs, cats or ferrets moved for non-commercial purposes into a Member State are not required to undergo a rabies antibody titration test. That list is duly set out in Annex II to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 (3).

(3)

Moreover, when a rabies antibody titration test is compulsory, it must comply with the validity requirements set out in Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 576/2013. That Annex lays down the validity requirements for the rabies antibody titration test and it establishes that, for the purposes of the non-commercial movement of pet animals from third countries or territories, the rabies antibody titration test must be performed in a laboratory approved in accordance with Article 3 of Council Decision 2000/258/EC (4). However, that Decision has been repealed by Regulation (EU) 2016/429. It is therefore necessary to determine which laboratory is to perform the rabies antibody titration test required for the non-commercial movement of dogs, cats and ferrets.

(4)

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 (5) lays down supplementing animal health rules concerning the entry into the Union of consignments of certain species and categories of animals. It therefore applies to commercial movements of those species and categories of animals. It results from Article 3 of that Delegated Regulation that consignments of dogs, cats and ferrets are only permitted to enter the Union if the third country or territory of origin of the consignment, or zone or compartment thereof, is listed in Annex VIII to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/404 (6). Article 9 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 provides that consignments of dogs, cats and ferrets are only permitted to enter the Union if the laboratory tests required by that Delegated Regulation have been carried out in an official laboratory designated in accordance with Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7). Article 76 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 requires a valid rabies antibody titration test for consignments of dogs, cats and ferrets that are entering the Union from third countries or territories, unless they are listed in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013. Therefore, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 already determines the laboratories that can perform the rabies antibody titration test required for the entry into the Union of dogs, cats and ferrets.

(5)

Accordingly, in the interest of consistency of Union rules, the requirements to be complied with by the laboratory where the rabies antibody titration test is to be performed for non-commercial movements of pet animals into a Member State from a third country or territory should be consistent with the requirements laid down in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/692 as regards the laboratories where the rabies antibody titration test can be performed, and which refer to Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625.

(6)

Article 37(4) and (5) of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 lays down the eligibility requirements for a laboratory to be designated as an official laboratory in a Member State or a third country that is a Contracting Party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area. These eligibility requirements are to be complied with also by laboratories designated in a third country to ensure the same level of performance of rabies antibody titration test for non-commercial movements of pets originating from third counties.

(7)

Therefore, Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 should be amended as regards the laboratories that may perform valid rabies antibody titration tests for the purposes of non-commercial movements of dogs, cats and ferrets into a Member State,