Article 9 F1

A Member State which has a compulsory national control programme for one of the contagious diseases listed in Annex E (II) for all or part of its territory may submit the said programme to the Commission, outlining in particular:

• the distribution of the disease in the Member State,

• the reasons for the programme, taking into consideration the importance of the disease and the programme's likely benefit in relation to its cost,

• the geographical area in which the programme will be implemented,

• the status categories to be applied to the animal establishments, the standards which must be attained in each category, and the test procedures to be used,

• the programme monitoring procedures, the results of which must be supplied at least annually to the Commission,

• the action to be taken if, for any reason, an establishment loses its status,

• the measures to be taken if the results of the tests carried out in accordance with the provisions of the programme are positive.

The Commission shall examine the programmes presented by the Member States. Programmes as referred to in paragraph 1 may be approved in compliance with the criteria laid down in paragraph 1 in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 17. According to the same procedure, the additional guarantees, general or limited, which may be required in intra-Community trade, shall be defined at the same time or at the latest three months after approval of the programmes. Such guarantees must not exceed those which the Member State implements nationally.

Programmes submitted by Member States may be amended or supplemented in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 17. Amendments or additions to programmes which have already been approved or to guarantees which have been defined in accordance with paragraph 2 may be approved under the same procedure.