Commission Regulation (EC) No 349/2005 of 28 February 2005 laying down rules on the Community financing of emergency measures and of the campaign to combat certain animal diseases under Council Decision 90/424/EEC

Article 1

Scope

This Regulation applies to Community financial contributions granted to Member States in respect of eligible expenditure as defined in Articles 3, 4 and 5, for disease eradication measures in the situations referred to in:

(a) Article 3(1) and Article 3a(1) of Decision 90/424/EEC, with the exception of equidae diseases; and

(b) Article 4(1) and (2), Article 6(2) and Article 11(1) of that Decision.

Without prejudice to the adoption of additional eligibility criteria which may be laid down by decisions under Articles 3(4), 6(2) and (3) and 11(4) of Decision 90/424/EEC (hereinafter referred to as ‘specific decisions’), application of this Regulation may be extended, through such decisions, to the financing of measures other than those referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, and in particular:

(a) to compensation for losses referred to in point (a)(v) of Article 11(4) of Decision 90/424/EEC in the event of vaccination; and

(b) to operational expenditure associated with the measures referred to in Articles 3(2a) and 6(2) of Decision 90/424/EEC.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions shall apply:

(a) ‘swift and adequate compensation’: payment, within 90 days of the slaughter of the animals, of compensation corresponding to the market value of the animals;

(b) ‘market value’: the price which the owner would normally have been able to obtain for the animal immediately before it became infected or was slaughtered, taking account of its fitness, quality and age;

(c) ‘reasonable expenditure’: costs incurred in purchasing equipment or services at prices that are not disproportionate to the market value before diagnosis of the disease;

(d) ‘necessary expenditure’: costs incurred in purchasing equipment or services referred to in the first, second and third indents of Article 3(2) of Decision 90/424/EEC, in the second indent of Article 3a(3) of that Decision, and in points (a)(i) to (iv) and point (b) of Article 11(4) thereof, where their nature and direct link with eligible expenditure as defined in Article 3 of this Regulation have been shown;

(e) ‘compulsory slaughter’: compulsory slaughter in declared areas and preventive slaughter if explicitly ordered and carried out owing to a specific health risk (as a result of contact, adjacent location, suspicion or suppressive vaccination).

The definitions in points (a) to (d) shall also apply in the event of compulsory destruction of eggs.

Article 3

Expenditure eligible for Community financial support

Member States shall benefit from Community financial support in respect of the following:

(a) swift and adequate compensation to owners forced to slaughter their animals or, where applicable, destroy eggs, in accordance with the first and seventh indents of Article 3(2), the first indent of Article 3a(3), and point (a)(i) of Article 11(4) of Decision 90/424/EEC;

(b) operational expenditure paid out in connection with the compulsory slaughter and destruction of animals and contaminated products, cleaning and disinfecting of buildings, and cleaning and disinfecting or, where necessary, destruction of contaminated equipment, in accordance with the first, second and third indents of Article 3(2), the second indent of Article 3a(3), and points (a)(i) to (iv) and (b) of Article 11(4) of Decision 90/424/EEC;

(c) expenditure paid out in connection with other measures capable of adoption in the context of, and in accordance with, the conditions laid down in specific decisions relating to the Community financial contribution to such measures, and in particular expenditure on any vaccination measures.

Article 4

Calculation of the maximum eligible compensation per animal

The unit value per animal or product taken into account in calculating Community financial support shall be restricted to an average unit value calculated on the basis of the total amount of compensation for the animals or products concerned, divided by the number of corresponding animals or products. The amount shall not exceed:

(a) EUR 900 per bovine animal slaughtered;

(b) EUR 125 per pig slaughtered;

(c) EUR 100 per sheep or goat slaughtered;

(d) EUR 2,20 per laying hen slaughtered; EUR 1,20 per broiler hen slaughtered,

(e) EUR 0,20 per hatching egg destroyed; EUR 0,04 per table egg destroyed.

Where the average unit value calculated exceeds the maximum amounts stipulated in the first subparagraph, and where it is justified to do so on the basis of the market values communicated by Member States pursuant to Article 6(1) and the observations made in connection with the audits referred to in Article 10, the Commission shall take the calculated value as the basis for calculating the Community contribution.

Article 5

Calculation of Community support for operational expenditure

Calculation of the amount of Community financial support shall exclude expenditure presented by the Member State, and in particular:

(a) value added tax and other taxes;

(b) salaries of civil servants or public employees;

(c) expenditure arising from the use of public equipment, in particular means of transport, with the exception of consumables;

(d) compensation for non-compulsory slaughter;

(e) compensation paid in addition to other Community support, such as slaughter premiums, in contravention of Community rules;

(f) compensation linked to the destruction or renovation of farm buildings, infrastructure costs and costs linked to financial losses or unemployment associated with the presence of the disease or a ban on restocking.

Article 6

Information required prior to the granting of Community financial support

Article 7

Payment conditions and supporting documents

The Community financial support referred to in Article 3 shall be paid on the basis of the following:

(a) an official request for reimbursement, accompanied by a financial report in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article;

(b) the supporting documents listed in Annex V, showing the costs of the various measures for which a Community contribution is requested;

(c) an epidemiological report on each holding where the animals have been slaughtered and destroyed;

(d) the results of the audits referred to in Article 10, where applicable.

The supporting documents referred to in point (b), together with all relevant information, including commercial information, shall be made available to the Commission, on request, for on-the-spot audits which it has to carry out.

The ‘operational expenditure’ section of the financial report referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 shall be submitted in the form of an electronic file in accordance with Annex IV within 60 calendar days from the date of notification of the specific decision establishing financial support.

The Commission may extend the deadlines set out in the first and second subparagraphs where objective and well-founded justifications are put forward by Member States.

Member States shall, in accordance with national laws, regulations and administrative provisions, take the measures necessary to:

(a) confirm the correctness and regularity of the operations financed for the purposes of disease eradication;

(b) prevent and pursue irregularities;

(c) recover sums lost as a result of irregularities or negligence;

(d) provide swift and adequate compensation for owners referred to in point (a) of Article 3;

(e) make advance arrangements for the use and public purchase of services and eligible equipment essential for crisis management, in particular for the slaughtering of animals, transport, destruction of carcasses, eggs and products, cleaning and disinfecting, in a manner which ensures the sound financial management of Member States’ own expenditure.

Member States shall inform the Commission, at its request, of the measures adopted for these purposes.

Article 8

Conversion rates

The conversion rate to be applied to reimbursement requests submitted in national currency within the meaning of point (d) of Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 2799/98, in month ‘n’, shall be as on the 10th day of month ‘n+1’, or the closest preceding day for which a rate is available.

Article 9

Reductions in eligible expenditure

Where the authorities concerned make compensation payments outside the period referred to in point (a) of Article 2, the following rules shall apply:

(a) 25 % reduction in eligible expenditure for payments made between 91 and 105 days after the slaughter of animals and/or destruction of eggs;

(b) 50 % reduction in eligible expenditure for payments made between 106 and 120 days after the slaughter of animals and/or destruction of eggs;

(c) 75 % reduction in eligible expenditure for payments made between 121 and 135 days after the slaughter of animals and/or destruction of eggs;

(d) 100 % reduction in eligible expenditure for payments made 135 days or more after the slaughter of animals and/or destruction of eggs.

However, the Commission may apply a different scale and/or lower, or zero, reduction rates where objective and well-founded justifications are put forward by Member States.

Article 10

Audits

The Commission, acting in cooperation with the competent authorities, may carry out audits on the implementation of the measures referred to in Article 3 or Article 7(3) or the eligibility of associated expenditure and on-the-spot audits in the Member State.

Audits may entail, inter alia, checks on documentation and verification of the consistency of financial files as regards prices, numbers, ages and weights of animals, laying date of eggs, recent invoices, registers of holdings, and removal and transport orders.

Article 11

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

ANNEX I

Eligible expenditure as referred to in Article 5(1)

1.Costs associated with the compulsory slaughter of animals:

(a) salaries and remunerations of personnel specifically employed for the slaughtering operation;

(b) consumables and specific equipment used for the slaughtering operation;

(c) purchases of services or hire of means of transport to take animals to the slaughtering location.

2.Costs associated with the destruction of carcasses and/or eggs:

(a) rendering: purchases of services or hire of means of transport to take carcasses and/or eggs to the rendering plant, processing of carcasses and/or eggs at the rendering plant, consumables and specific equipment used for the destruction of eggs, and destruction of meal;

(b) burial: personnel specifically employed, purchases of services or hire of means of transport and equipment for burying carcasses and/or eggs, and products used to disinfect the holding;

(c) incineration (where applicable on the spot): personnel specifically employed, fuel or other materials used, purchases of services or hire of means of transport for carcasses and/or eggs, and products used to disinfect the holding.

3.Costs associated with cleaning (¹), disinfecting (1)  and disinsectisation of holdings:

(a) products used for cleaning, disinfecting and disinsectisation;

(b) salaries and remunerations of personnel specifically employed.

4.Costs associated with the destruction of contaminated feedingstuffs (1)  and/or milk (1) :

(a) reimbursement of purchase price of feedingstuffs and/or milk;

(b) purchases of services or hire of means of transport and equipment for the destruction of feedingstuffs and/or milk.

5.Costs associated with the destruction of contaminated equipment, at market value (*1) .

6.In connection with vaccination, eligible expenditure may cover the salaries and fees of personnel specifically recruited, consumables and specific equipment used for vaccination and, where applicable, the purchase of the necessary vaccines for disease eradication by the Member State where the Community is not in a position to supply them.

ANNEX IIa

Type of animal or product	Number	Compensation (in national currency)

ANNEX IIb

Type of action	Amount (in national currency)
Slaughter
Transport of:
—  carcasses	…
—  eggs	…
—  milk	…
Destruction of:
—  carcasses	…
—  eggs	…
—  milk	…
Destruction of feedingstuffs
Destruction of equipment
Cleaning
Disinfecting/disinsectisation
Total

ANNEX III

Request for contribution to compensation for the cost of animals compulsorily slaughtered and eggs compulsorily destroyed