1996R0717 — EN — 11.04.1996 — 000.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No717/96
of19April1996
adopting exceptional support measures for the beef and veal market in Belgium, France and the
Netherlands
(OJ L 99, 20.4.1996, p. 16)
Amended by:
OfficialJournal
No page date
►M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 841/96 of 7 May 1996 L 114 18 8.5.1996
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999
should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) and
CouncilRegul ation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
1996R0717 — EN — 11.04.1996 — 000.001 — 2
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No717/96
of19April1996
adoptingexceptionalsupportmeasuresforthebeefandvealmarket
inBelgium,FranceandtheNetherlands
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to CouncilRegul ation (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968
on the common organization of the market in beef and veal(1), as last
amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2417/95 (2), and in parti-
cular Article 23 thereof,
Whereas Commission Decision 96/239/EEC of 27 March 1996 on emer-
gency measures to protect against bovine spongiform encephalopathy
(BSE) (3) prohibits the exportation of live bovine animals, or any part of
them, from the United Kingdom to other Member States and theirexport to third countries as a result of the incidence of BSE in theUnited Kingdom; whereas calves born in the United Kingdom had beenexported to other Member States for fattening prior to the introduction
of that export ban; whereas the possibility that these calves may enter
the human food or animal feed chains has led to a lack of consumerconfidence in beef and a disturbance of the markets in Belgium, Franceand the Netherlands; whereas it is therefore necessary to take excep-tionalmeasures to support these markets; whereas it is appropriate to
establish a Community co-financed scheme authorizing Belgium,
France and the Netherlands to purchase the animals concerned with aview to killing and subsequently destroying them;
Whereas, in view of the extent of the disease and consequently of the
magnitude of the efforts needed to support the market, it would be
appropriate for such efforts to be shared by the Community and theMember States concerned;
Whereas the most recently observed price of carcases of calves on the
Community market was equivalent to ECU 2,8 per kilogram live weight
and that it is therefore appropriate to base the purchase price on this,
without prejudice to the possibility of subsequent adjustment in the lightof developments; whereas, in similar cases the Community has contrib-uted to the overall expenditure incurred at a rate of 70 %; whereas it isappropriate, to provide a Community contribution of 70 % of the
purchase price paid by Belgium, France and by the Netherlands per
animaldestroyed under this Regul ation;
Whereas, it is necessary to ensure that the animals concerned are killed
and destroyed in a hygienic manner; whereas the price paid to producersis to compensate them for not selling the calves in question; whereas
those calves must therefore be prohibited from being marketed; whereas
it is therefore necessary to specify the conditions for the destruction ofthese animals and of the controls to be carried out by the authorities ofthe Member States concerned;
Whereas, provision should be made for Commission experts to check
compliance with the conditions as specified;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance
with the opinion of the Management Committee for Beef and Veal,
(1) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 24.
(2) OJ No L 248, 14. 10. 1995, p. 39.
(3) OJ No L 78, 28. 3. 1996, p. 47.
1996R0717 — EN — 11.04.1996 — 000.001 — 3
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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
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1. The competent authorities in Belgium, France and the Netherlands
shall be authorized to purchase any bovine animal born on or after 1September 1995 and present on 20 March 1996 on a holding located inthe territory of Belgium, France or the Netherlands respectivelypresented to them by any producer, which can be proved by him tohave been born in the United Kingdom.
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2. The animals referred to in paragraph 1 shall be killed in specially
designated slaughterhouses. If the hide is removed the head, internal
organs and carcases shall be permanently stained. The stained materialor the whole animal shall be transported in sealed containers tospecially authorized incineration or rendering plants for disposal in sucha way that no part of it may be placed on the market. No part of the
abovementioned animals may enter into the human food or animal feed
chains or be used for cosmetic or pharmaceuticalproducts. A represen-tative of the competent authority of Belgium, France and the Nether-lands respectively shall be permanently present in the slaughterhousesreferred to above in order to supervise the operations in question.
Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, the competent authorities of
Belgium, France and the Netherlands may allow the on-farm slaughterof an animalwhere existing animalwel fare practice woul d require this.
Notwithstanding the second subparagraph, the hides of the animals
referred to in paragraph 1 do not have to be stained or destroyed
provided that they have been treated in such a way that they can only
be used for leather production.
3. The slaughterhouses referred to in paragraph 2 shall be organized
and operated in such a way as to ensure that:
— no bovine animal, the product from the slaughter of which is
intended for human or animalconsumption, is present in the sl augh-terhouse when animals are being slaughtered under this scheme orin the lairage of the slaughterhouse when animals to be slaughteredunder this scheme are present, and
— where it is necessary for products derived from animals slaughtered
under the scheme to be stored, such storage shall be separate fromany storage facility used for meat or other products destined for
human or animalconsumption.
4. The competent authority of the Member State concerned shall:
— carry out the necessary administrative checks and effective on-the-
spot supervision of the operations referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3,and
— controlthose operations on the basis of frequent and unannounced
inspections, in particular to verify that all material has been effec-tively destroyed;
The results of these checks and controls shall be made available to the
Commission on request.
5. If the number of animals presented for sale and subsequent
destruction exceeds the number for which there is capacity to destroy inthe Member State concerned, the competent authority may limit accessto this scheme.
Article 2
1. The price in respect of the animalto be paid by the competent
authority of the Member State concerned under Article 1 (1) shall beECU 2,8 per kilogram live weight. If the weight is assessed after theanimal has been bled, the weight shall be increased by 5 %.
2. The Community shall co-finance the purchase price paid by the
Member State concerned per purchased animalwhich has been
1996R0717 — EN — 11.04.1996 — 000.001 — 4
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destroyed in accordance with the provisions of Article 1, at a rate of
70 %.
3. The conversion rate to be applied shall be the agricultural rate in
force on the first day of the month of purchase of the animalin ques-tion.
Article 3
Belgium, France and the Netherlands shall adopt all measures necessary
to ensure its proper application and full compliance with the provisions
of this Regulation. They shall inform the Commission as soon as
possible of the measures which they have taken and of any amendmentsthereto.
Article 4
The competent authorities in Belgium, France and the Netherlands:
(a) shall inform the Commission each Wednesday, of the number of
animals:
— purchased, and
— slaughtered,
under this scheme during the previous week;
(b) shall establish a detailed report of the controls which they have
taken under the measures referred to in Article 3 and shall commu-nicate this to the Commission each month.
Article 5
Without prejudice to Article 9 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/
70 (
1), Commission experts, accompanied where appropriate by experts
from the Member States, shall carry out, in collaboration with the
competent authority of the Member State concerned, on-the-spot checksto verify compliance with all the provisions of this Regulation.
Article 6
The measures taken under this Regulation shall be considered to be
intervention measures within the meaning of Article 1 (2) of Regulation(EEC) No 729/70.
Article 7
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in
theOfficial Journal of the European Communities.
It shall be applicable from 11 April 1996.This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.
(1) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.