Division 7 A Member State or a region of a Member State may be declared officially brucellosis-free according to the procedure laid down in Article 17 if it meets the following conditions:F1F2

no case of abortion due to brucella infection and no isolation of B. abortus has been recorded for at least three years and at least 99,8 % of herds have achieved officially brucellosis-free status each year for five consecutive years, the calculation of this percentage to take place on 31 December each calendar year. However, where the competent authority adopts a policy of whole herd slaughter, isolated incidents shown by epidemiological enquiry to be due to the introduction of animals from outside the Member State or part of the Member State and herds whose officially brucellosis-free status has been suspended or withdrawn for reasons other than suspicion of disease, is to be disregarded for the purpose of the above calculation provided that the central competent authority of the Member State concerned by these incidents makes an annual record and forwards them to the Commission in accordance with Article 8(2), and

F3each bovine animal is identified in accordance with Community legislation, and

notification of cases of abortion is mandatory and they are investigated by the competent authority.