1. As from 1 January 1998, the competent authority shall, for each animal which has to be identified in accordance with Article 4, issue a passport within 14 days of the notification of its birth, or, in the case of animals imported from third countries, within 14 days of the notification of its re-identification by the Member State concerned in accordance with Article 4(3). The competent authority may issue a passport for animals from another Member State under the same conditions. In such cases, the passport accompanying the animal on its arrival shall be surrendered to the competent authority, which shall return it to the issuing Member State.
However, at the request of a Member State and in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 23(2), the Commission may determine the circumstances under which the maximum period may be extended.
2. Whenever an animal is moved, it shall be accompanied by its passport.
3. By way of derogation from the first sentence of paragraph 1 and from paragraph 2, Member States:
- which have a computerised database which the Commission deems to be fully operational in accordance with Article 5 may determine that a passport is to be issued only for animals intended for intra-Community trade and that those animals shall be accompanied by their passports only when they are moved from the territory of the Member State concerned to the territory of another Member State, in which case the passport shall contain information based on the computerised database.
In these Member States, the passport accompanying an animal imported from another Member State shall be surrendered to the competent authority on its arrival;
- may until 1 January 2000 authorise the issue of collective animal passports for herds moved within the Member State concerned provided that such herds have the same origin and destination and are accompanied by a veterinary certificate.
4. In the case of the death of an animal, the passport shall be returned by the keeper to the competent authority within seven days after the death of the animal. If the animal is sent to the slaughterhouse, the operator of the slaughterhouse shall be responsible for returning the passport to the competent authority.
5. In the case of animals exported to third countries, the passport shall be surrendered by the last keeper to the competent authority at the place where the animal is exported.