Within the European Union (EU), regional specialisation in meat production has resulted in intra-community trade of meat and live animals between Member States (MSs). Therefore, millions of animals are traded each year between MSs in hundreds of thousands of consignments. Animals are moved for several purposes: for slaughter, for production, for fattening, for breeding, or for any other purpose. Most animals are being moved for slaughter, for production, and for fattening. Current rules for intra-EU trade, aiming at protecting both animal and public health and ensuring animal welfare, require that specific health and welfare requirements are complied with when animals and their products are moved between MSs. In general, operators have to notify each movement to the competent authority (CA) in the MS of origin of the movement, to enter data about the animals, transport itinerary, and transport vehicle into the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES) database of the European Commission, and to obtain an animal health certificate from the CA. The CA verifies the provided movement data, and an official veterinarian (OV) performs checks at the place of origin at the time of departure of a consignment to verify if both animal health and welfare requirements are met. If those requirements are met the OV issues an animal health certificate for the consignment. The obligations vary depending on the species of animals or their products and the context of the movement. For example, the animal health and welfare check at location is mandatory for animals moved for slaughter, but not needed in the case of day-old chicks. During the Evaluation of the Community Animal Health Policy 1995-2004, this system was perceived as being complicated, expensive, and causing administrative burden for operators and CAs. This administrative burden was regarded not proportionate to the health risks posed by such movements, especially in the case of frequent cross-border movements between two adjacent MSs with a similar or identical animal health status.
