COMMISSION DECISION of 19 May 1998 on financial assistance from the Community for storage in France, Italy and the United Kingdom of antigen for production of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine (notified under document number C(1998) 1365) (Only the English, French and Italian texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (98/393/EC)
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Decision 90/424/EEC of 26 June 1990 on expenditure in the veterinary field (1), as last amended by Decision 94/370/EC (2), and in particular Article 14 thereof,
Whereas by virtue of Council Decision 91/666/EEC of 11 December 1991 establishing Community reserves of foot-and-mouth disease vaccines (3), establishment of antigen banks is part of the Community's action to create Community reserves of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine;
Whereas Article 3 of that Decision designates the 'Laboratoire de pathologie bovine du Centre national d'études vétérinaires et alimentaires` at Lyon in France, the 'Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale die Brescia` in Italy and the 'Institute for Animal Health` at Pirbright in the United Kingdom as antigen banks holding Community reserves;
Whereas the functions and duties of these antigen banks are specified in Article 4 of that Decision; whereas Community assistance must be conditional on accomplishment of these;
Whereas Community financial assistance should be granted to these banks to enable them to carry out during 1998 the said functions and duties;
Whereas for budgetary reasons the Community assistance should be granted for a period of one year;
Whereas for supervisory purposes Articles 8 and 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 of 21 April 1970 on financing of the common agricultural policy (4), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1287/95 (5), should apply;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Veterinary Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
1. The Community shall grant France financial assistance for the stocking of antigen for production of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine.
2. The 'Laboratoire de pathologie bovine du Centre national d'études vétérinaires et alimentaires` at Lyon in France shall hold the stock of antigen to which paragraph 1 relates. The provisions of Article 4 of Decision 91/666/EEC shall apply.
3. The Community's financial assistance shall be a maximum of ECU 40 000 for the period 1 January to 31 December 1998.
Article 2
1. The Community shall grant Italy financial assistance for the stocking of antigen for production of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine.
2. The 'Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Brescia` in Italy shall hold the stock of antigen to which paragraph 1 relates. The provisions of Article 4 of Decision 91/666/EEC shall apply.
3. The Community's financial assistance shall be a maximum of ECU 40 000 for the period 1 January to 31 December 1998.
Article 3
1. The Community shall grant the United Kingdom financial assistance for the stocking of antigen for production of foot-and-mouth disease vaccine.
2. The Institute for Animal Health at Pirbright in the United Kingdom shall hold the stock of antigen to which paragraph 1 relates. The provisions of Article 4 of Decision 91/666/EEC shall apply.
3. The Community's financial assistance shall be a maximum of ECU 40 000 for the period 1 January to 31 December 1998.
Article 4
1. The Community's financial assistance referred to in Article 1(3), Article 2(3) and Article 3(3) shall be paid as follows:
- 70 % by way of an advance at the request of the Member State concerned,
- the balance following presentation, by the Member State concerned, of supporting documents which demonstrate the effective completion of the tasks.
2. The supporting documents referred to in paragraph 1 must be presented to the Commission before 1 March 1999 and they should include:
(a) technical information on:
- the amount and type of antigen stored (storage records),
- storage equipment used (type, number and capacity of tanks),
- security system in place (temperature control, anti-theft measures),
- insurance arrangements (fire, accidents);
(b) financial information (completion of table as shown in the Annex).
Article 5
Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Article 6
This Decision is addressed to the French Republic, the Italian Republic and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Done at Brussels, 19 May 1998.