Section 1 Granting of the status to a Member State or zone as free from infestation with varroa spp.

The status free from infestation with Varroa spp. may only be granted to the relevant honeybee population of a Member State or of a zone if:

1. (a)

   a risk assessment has been conducted, identifying all potential factors for Varroa spp. occurrence and its potential presence in the past;

2. (b)

   an ongoing awareness programme has been in place for at least one year to encourage reporting of all cases suggestive of Varroa spp.;

3. (c)

   there has been no confirmed case of infestation with Varroa spp. either in kept or in wild honeybee colonies;

4. (d)

   for at least one year, an annual surveillance has demonstrated the absence of infestations with Varroa spp. on a representative sample of kept honeybees of the Member State or zone thereof that allows at least for the detection, with a 95 % level of confidence, of the infestation with Varroa spp. at a target prevalence rate of 1 % of the apiaries and at a within-apiary target prevalence rate of 5 % of the beehives;

5. (e)

   in the presence of a wild self-sustaining population of the species of the genus Apis there has been in place for at least one year an ongoing surveillance programme in the wild population which demonstrates no evidence of infestation with Varroa spp.; and

6. (f)

   during the whole duration of the surveillance referred to in point (d) the competent authority makes appropriate arrangements for the survey and further handling of honeybees in any stage of their lifecycle, including honeybee brood, which are moved into that Member State or into that zone to prevent the infestation of its population from introduced honeybees of lesser health status.