Third countries other than Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and The Vatican fall within two categories :

(1) THIRD COUNTRIES WITH A FAVOURABLE SITUATION WITH REGARD TO RABIES

Countries with a favourable situation with regard to rabies are listed in Part C of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 998/2003 .

(2) OTHER THIRD COUNTRIES

Countries with an unfavourable situation or for which no application to be listed has been submitted to the Commission are not listed in part C of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 998/2003. In order to be included on the list, a third country must demonstrate its rabies status and that it complies with certain conditions relating to notification, monitoring, veterinary services, prevention and control of rabies and regulation of vaccines (See Article 10 of Regulation 998/2003).

In order to be listed in Part C of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 998/2003, a third country must first demonstrate its status with regard to rabies. To this end a signed version of the application has to be mailed by the competent authorities of the third country to the European Commission. It must contain detailed information regarding the following points:

a) notification to the authorities of the suspicion of rabies is obligatory;
b) an efficient monitoring system has been in place for at least two years;
c) the structure and organisation of its veterinary services are sufficient to guarantee the validity of the certificates;
d) all the regulatory measures for the prevention and control of rabies have been implemented, including the rules on imports;
e) regulations are in force on the marketing of anti-rabies vaccines (list of authorised vaccines and laboratories).

There is no specific model application to be completed. The competent authority of the third country is free to present the abovementioned information in a format that it considers the most appropriate.