Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 708/2007 of 11 June 2007 concerning use of alien and locally absent species in aquaculture^f1, and in particular the third paragraph of Article 23 and Article 24(3) thereof,

Whereas:

Regulation (EC) No 708/2007 establishes a framework governing aquaculture practices in relation to alien and locally absent species to assess and minimise the possible impact of these and any associated non-target species on aquatic habitats. It provides, inter alia, that detailed rules implementing the conditions necessary for adding species to Annex IV to that Regulation are to be adopted.

It is therefore appropriate to establish a transparent procedure in order to assess the requests made by the Member States for the addition of species to Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 708/2007. In particular, it is necessary to further clarify and define the conditions provided for in Article 24(2) of Regulation (EC) No 708/2007 and to identify the information Member States should provide to support their requests for the addition of species.

In addition, Regulation (EC) No 708/2007 provides that a specific information system may be developed to allow Member States to share the information contained in the registers concerning alien and locally absent species in aquaculture.

It is therefore necessary to develop common informatics standards and communication language to be used by the Member States in order to share a set of minimum data contained in their national registers of introductions and translocations. Provisions should be laid down to assist the harmonisation of the information systems to be implemented by the Member States.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fisheries and Aquaculture,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: