Article 1

The African swine fever diagnostic manual in the Annex is approved.

F1The Secretary of State, with the consent of each other authority who in relation to any constituent part of Great Britain is the appropriate Minister, shall ensure that the confirmation of African swine fever is carried out in accordance with the procedures, sampling methods and criteria for evaluation of laboratory test results laid down in the manual and based on:

The United Kingdom National Reference Laboratory may apply modifications to the laboratory tests referred to in the Manual annexed to this Decision or use different tests, provided that an equal sensitivity and specificity can be demonstrated. The sensitivity and specificity of these modified or different tests must be evaluated in periodic tests.

If modified or different tests are applied, their sensitivity and specificity must be evaluated in the framework of the periodic comparative tests organised by the Community Reference Laboratory for African swine fever.

For the purposes of this Decision—