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(1) The breeding of animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine species occupies, in economic and social terms, a strategic place in Union agriculture and contributes to the Union's cultural heritage. This agricultural activity, which contributes to food security in the Union, is a source of income for the agricultural community. The breeding of animals of those species is best promoted by encouraging the use of purebred breeding animals or hybrid breeding pigs of recorded high genetic quality.

(2) Consequently, as part of their agricultural policy, Member States have consistently endeavoured to promote the production of livestock with particular genetic characteristics by setting standards, sometimes doing so through public investment. Disparities between those standards have the potential to create technical barriers to trade in breeding animals and their germinal products, as well as technical barriers to their entry into the Union.

(3) The legal framework for Union law on the breeding of purebred breeding animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine species and hybrid breeding pigs is provided by Council Directives 88/661/EEC , 89/361/EEC , 90/427/EEC , 91/174/EEC , 94/28/EC and 2009/157/EC . The aim of those Directives was to develop livestock breeding in the Union, while at the same time regulating the trade in breeding animals and their germinal products and their entry into the Union, thereby maintaining the competitiveness of the Union animal breeding sector.

(4) Council Directives 87/328/EEC , 90/118/EEC and 90/119/EEC were adopted to prevent Member States from maintaining or adopting national rules relating to the acceptance for breeding purposes of breeding animals of the bovine and porcine species and the production and use of their semen, oocytes and embryos which could constitute a prohibition or restriction on trade or an obstacle thereto whether in the case of natural service, artificial insemination or collection of semen, oocytes or embryos.

(5) On the basis of Directives 88/661/EEC, 89/361/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 91/174/EEC, 94/28/EC and 2009/157/EC, the Commission, after consulting Member States through the Standing Committee on Zootechnics established in accordance with Council Decision 77/505/EEC , adopted a number of Decisions laying down species-specific criteria for the approval or recognition of breeding organisations and breeders' associations, for the entry of breeding animals in herd-books, flock-books and stud-books, for the acceptance of purebred breeding animals of the ovine and caprine species for breeding and artificial insemination, for performance testing and genetic evaluation of breeding animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine and caprine species, and for the establishment of pedigree or zootechnical certificates for trade in breeding animals and their germinal products.

(6) The Commission also established a list of breeding bodies in third countries and the model pedigree or zootechnical certificates for entry into the Union of breeding animals and their semen, oocytes and embryos.

(7) Directives 88/661/EEC, 89/361/EEC, 90/427/EEC, 91/174/EEC, 94/28/EC and 2009/157/EC are largely similar in structure and content. Several of those Directives have been amended over time. In the interests of the simplicity and consistency of Union law, it is appropriate to streamline the Union rules laid down in those Directives.

(8) Over the last 20 years, the Commission has had to respond to a significant number of complaints, raised by breeders and operators carrying out breeding programmes, in relation to the national transposition and interpretation of Union legal acts on the breeding of animals in different Member States. To ensure the uniform application of Union rules on breeding animals and to avoid obstacles to trade in breeding animals and their germinal products resulting from divergences in the national transposition of those Directives, the zootechnical and genealogical conditions for trade in breeding animals and their germinal products and their entry into the Union should be laid down in a Regulation.

(9) In addition, experience has shown that, in order to facilitate the application of the rules provided for in those Directives, more precise wording needs to be used in a number of their provisions, along with consistent terminology that is standard across all Member States. In the interests of clarity and consistency of Union law, it is also appropriate to provide for more definitions, including a definition of ‘breed’.

(10) Efforts to achieve competitiveness in the animal breeding sector should not lead to the disappearance of breeds with characteristics that are adapted to specific biophysical contexts. If their population size is too small, local breeds could be at risk of losing genetic diversity. As an important part of the agricultural biodiversity, animal genetic resources provide an essential basis for the sustainable development of the livestock sector and offer opportunities to adapt animals to changing environments, production conditions and market and consumer demands. Union legal acts on the breeding of animals should thus contribute to the preservation of animal genetic resources, to the protection of biodiversity and to the production of typical quality regional products that rely on the specific hereditary characteristics of local breeds of domestic animals. Union legal acts should also promote viable breeding programmes for the improvement of breeds, and particularly in the case of endangered breeds or autochtonous breeds which are not commonly found in the Union, for the preservation of breeds and the preservation of the genetic diversity within and between breeds.

(11) Through selection and breeding significant progress has been achieved in the development of traits related to the productivity of farmed animals, leading to reduced production costs at farm level. However, this has, in some cases, led to undesirable side effects, raising concerns in society about animal welfare and environment-related issues. The application of genomics and the use of advanced information technologies such as ‘Precision livestock farming’ — which allows large data sets on alternative traits, directly or indirectly related to animal welfare and sustainability issues, to be recorded — hold considerable potential to address concerns in society and achieve the objectives of sustainable animal breeding in terms of improved resource efficiency and the enhanced resilience and robustness of animals. The collection of data on these alternative traits should gain in importance within the framework of breeding programmes and should be given greater prominence in the definition of selection objectives. In this context, genetic resources of endangered breeds should be considered to be a reservoir of genes that can potentially contribute to achieving these animal welfare and sustainability goals.

(12) This Regulation should apply to breeding animals of the bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equine species and their germinal products where it is intended that those animals or the offspring resulting from those germinal products be entered as purebred breeding animals in a breeding book or registered as hybrid breeding pigs in a breeding register, in particular with a view to trading within the Union, including within a Member State, or the entry into the Union of those breeding animals and their germinal products.

(13) The term ‘breeding animal’ or ‘purebred breeding animal’ should not be understood as only covering animals which still possess their reproductive function. Indeed, castrated animals might contribute with their genealogical and zootechnical records to the assessment of the genetic quality of the breeding population and thus to the integrity of the rankings of breeding animals based on those results. Depending on the objectives of the breeding programme, a lack of or loss of data resulting from the explicit exclusion of castrated animals from entry in a breeding book or register would be likely to bias the results of the assessment of the genetic quality of breeding animals that are genetically related to those castrated animals.

(14) The aim of the rules on purebred breeding animals laid down in this Regulation should be to grant access to trade based on agreed principles applicable to the recognition of breed societies managing breeds and the approval of their respective breeding programmes. This Regulation should also lay down rules governing the entry of purebred breeding animals in the main section of the breeding books and, where they exist, in the different merit classes of the main section. It should also lay down rules for performance testing and genetic evaluation and rules for the acceptance of breeding animals for breeding as well as the content of the zootechnical certificates.