{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2020-686/annex-III/part-2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2020-686/annex-III/part-2.json",
  "legislation": "eur/2020/686",
  "legislation_title": "Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/686 of 17 December 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the approval of germinal product establishments and the traceability and animal health requirements for movements within the Union of germinal products of certain kept terrestrial animals (Text with EEA relevance)",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-regulation-2020-686",
  "path": "annex/III/part/2",
  "kind": "part",
  "number": "2",
  "heading": "ANIMAL HEALTH REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COLLECTION AND PROCESSING OF IN VIVO DERIVED EMBRYOS OF BOVINE, PORCINE, OVINE, CAPRINE AND EQUINE ANIMALS",
  "text": "In vivo derived embryos shall be collected, processed and preserved in accordance with the following requirements:\n1.. Embryos shall be collected and processed by an embryo collection team, without coming into contact with any other consignment of embryos not complying with the requirements of this Regulation.\n2.. Embryos shall be collected in a place which is separated from other parts of the premises or establishment and which shall be kept in good repair and constructed with materials which permit its effective and easy cleansing and disinfection.\n3.. Embryos shall be processed (examined, washed, treated and placed in straws or other packages) in either a permanently located laboratory or a mobile laboratory.\n4.. All equipment used to collect, handle, wash, freeze and store embryos shall be cleansed and either disinfected or sterilised before use, according to the IETS Manual, or be a new single-use equipment.\n5.. Any biological product originating from animals used in the media and solutions for the collection, processing, washing or storage of embryos shall be free from pathogenic microorganisms. Media and solutions used in the collection, freezing and storage of embryos shall be sterilised by methods approved in accordance with the IETS Manual and handled in such a manner as to ensure sterility.\n6.. Where, according to the IETS Manual, antibiotics or a mixture of antibiotics are added to the collection, processing, washing and storage media, the names of the antibiotics added and their concentration shall be stated in the animal health certificate accompanying the consignment.\n7.. The cryogenic agents used for the preservation or storage of embryos shall not have previously been used for other biological products originating from animals.\n8.. The embryos shall be washed according to the IETS Manual and have an intact zona pellucida or, in the case of equine embryos, the embryonic capsule, before and immediately after washing. Each embryo shall be washed at least 10 times in a special fluid for embryos, which shall be changed each time. Each wash shall be a 100-fold dilution of the previous wash and a sterile micropipette shall be used to transfer the embryo on each occasion.\nThe standard washing procedure shall be modified to include additional washes with the enzyme trypsin, according to the IETS Manual, when inactivation or removal of certain pathogens is required.\n9.. Embryos from different donor animals shall not be washed together.\n10.. The zona pellucida or, in the case of equine embryos, the embryonic capsule of each embryo shall be examined over its entire surface area at not less than 50× magnification and certified to be intact and free of adherent material.\n11.. Embryos that have successfully undergone the examination set out in point 10 shall be placed in a cleansed and either disinfected or sterile, except for a new single-use, straw or another package which is marked in accordance with Article 10(1) and (5) and which shall be sealed immediately.\n12.. Each embryo shall, where appropriate, be frozen as soon as possible and stored in a storage premises, referred to in point 2(b) of Part 2 of Annex I, which is under the responsibility of the team veterinarian.\n13.. Where there is no other procedure to verify the health status of the donor animals, or in order to verify compliance with the animal health and biosecurity requirements laid down by the team veterinarian, including in the framework of the quality control scheme referred to in point 1(b) of Part 2 of Annex I, the embryo collection team shall, in accordance with the IETS Manual, submit to an official or authorised by the competent authority laboratory routine samples of non-viable embryos or oocytes, flushing fluids or washing fluids resulting from its activities for the detection of bacterial and viral contamination at a frequency to be established by the team veterinarian.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2020/686/annex/III/part/2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T14:42:38.781688+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}