Criteria for Entering Cattle in Herd-Books Regulations, 2003

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L.N. 316 of 2003

VETERINARY SERVICES ACT

(ACT NO. XXIII OF 2001)

Criteria for Entering Cattle in Herd-Books Regulations, 2003

IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 34(a) of the Veterinary Services Act,

2001,the Minister for Rural Affairs and the Environment has made the following

regulations:-

Title and Scope

(1) The title of these regulations is the Criteria for Entering Cattle in Herd-

Books Regulations, 2003

(2) The scope of these regulations is to implement the provisions found under

European Union Commission Decision 84/419/EEC laying down the criteria for

entering cattle in herd-books. This Decision finds a legal basis under European

Union Council Directive 77/504/EEC, article 6(1), fourth indent.

Entry in the main section of herd-book

To qualify for entry in the main section of the herd-book of its breed an

animal must -

(a) be descended from parents and grandparents entered in a herd-book of

that same breed;

(b) be identified at birth according to the rules of that book;

(c) have a pedigree established in accordance with the rules of that herd-book.

Sectioning of herd-books

The main section of a herd-book may be divided into several classes

according to the animals' merits. Only cattle meeting the criteria laid down in

regulation 2 may be entered in one of those classes.

Criteria for females

(1) A breeders' organisation or association keeping a herd-book may

decide that a female, which does not meet the criteria laid down in regulation 2, may

be entered in a supplementary section of that herd-book. The female must meet the

following requirements -

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(a) be identified in accordance with the herd-book rules,

(b) be judged to conform to the breed standard,

(c) have a minimum performance criteria as laid down by the herd-book

rules.

(2) The requirements mentioned in (b) and (c) of sub-regulation (1) of this

regulation may be differentiated according to whether the female belongs to the

breed although it has no known origin or was obtained from a crossing programme

approved by the breeders' organisation or association managing the herd-book.

Pure-bred females

A female whose mother and maternal grandmother are entered in a

supplementary section of the herd-book as provided for in regulation 4 (1) and whose

father and two grandfathers are entered in the main section of the book in accordance

with the criteria laid down in regulation 2, shall be regarded as a pure-bred female

and entered in the main section of the book, provided for in regulation 2.

Criteria for imported animals

Where a book contains several classes in the main section, an animal not

originating from Malta but from a Member State shall be entered in the class of the

book whose criteria it meets.