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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2777/2000
of 18 December 2000
adopting exceptional support measures for the beef market
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,
Having regard to the Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999
of17May1999onthecommonorganisationofthemarketinbeef and veal(
1), and in particular Article 38(2),
Whereas:
(1)The Community beef market is currently going through
a deep crisis due to a lack of consumer confidence inbeef created by the appearance of new cases of bovinespongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Consumption as wellas production have recently fallen to unprecedentedlevels followed by substantial reduction of producerprices. It is estimated that the crisis is likely to continuestill for some time. In such circumstances, Article 38(1)of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 provides for excep-tionalmarketsupportmeasurestobetakenwithaviewto re-balancing the market. One of those measuresshould be a scheme whereby animals which otherwisewould produce heavy surpluses on the market are with-drawn from meat production through a purchasingscheme with subsequent destruction of the animals.
(2)Commission Decision 2000/764/EC(2) lays down
specific rules for testing for BSE of animals above 30monthsandinparticulartheapprovedmethodsforsuchtesting. In accordance with that Decision, at the latestfrom 1 July 2001 all animals above 30 months subjectto normal slaughter for human consumption must betested for BSE. Until then, it is appropriate to concen-trate the withdrawal of animals from the market asreferred to above to animals of that age which atslaughter are not tested for BSE and only allow forhuman consumption in the Community and in thirdcountries meat from animals which have been testednegatively.
(3)In order to seek a quick improvement of the beefmarket, voluntary testing of animals above 30 monthsshould be encouraged in the meantime. Provisionsshould therefore be adopted providing for Communityco-financing of the tests required while guaranteeingthatnodoublepaymentaremadefromtheCommunitybudget.
(4)In order to take off the market such animals which inreal terms would reduce the output otherwise intendedfor consumption,it is essential that animals for destruc-tion comply with all veterinary requirements beforeslaughter including such antemorteminspection require-ments which would apply in the case of slaughter for
human consumption.
(5)Wherethemarketsituationsorequires,itisappropriatetoallowthepurchaseschemetobeextendedtoMemberStates which operate testing of all animals above 30months or of a substantial percentage of such animals.
(6)Where the market situation so permits, it is appropriatetoallowforthepossibilitytostoptheapplicationofthepurchase scheme in a Member State which can provideevidence that sufficient testing capacity for BSE is avail-ableforthenormalproductionoftheanimalsconcernedin that Member State.
(7)Inordertoensuretheproperfunctioningoftheschemeappropriate provisions should be laid down with regardto the organisation of purchases and deliveries ofanimals.
(8)The purchase price per animal should be fixed byMember States at such level which will ensure that theobjective of the measure is met. In fixing that price,account should in particular be taken of the currentrepresentative market price and the weight of theanimal.
(9)In view of the large number of animals expected to bepurchased under the scheme it would be appropriate toshare the expenditures between the Community and theMember States. The Community co-financing sould belimited to 70% of the purchase expenditures, while therest of the purchase expenditures as well as all othercosts related to the scheme should be financed by thenational authorities.
(10)TheprovisionsregardingtheslaughterpremiumreferredtoinArticle11ofRegulation(EC)No1254/1999applyto animals slaughtered under this scheme.
(11)Inordertoimprovethecontroloftheanimalsandtheirproducts before, during and after slaughter, specialprovisionsshouldbelaiddown,inparticularwithregardto separation and handling of such products.
(12)The market situation in Member States with particularlylow risk of BSE has not deteriorated to the same extentas in the rest of the Community. The purchase fordestruction scheme need not therefore be obligatory inthose Member States provided that all products fromanimals not tested for BSE remain in the Member Stateconcerned.
(13)With a view to providing for an effective monitoring ofthe scheme, Member States should on a weekly basisprovide the Commission with the necessary relevantinformation.
(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 21.
(2) OJ L 305, 6.12.2000, p. 35.
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(14)Provision should be made for Commission experts to
check compliance with the conditions as specified.
(15)The Management Committee for Beef and Veal has notgiven an opinion within the time limit set by itsPresident,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
This Regulation shall apply in all Member States with the
exception of United Kingdom where Article 2(1) only shallapply.
Article 2
1. Meat from bovine animals aged more than 30 months
and slaughtered in the Community after 1 January 2001 canonlybereleasedforhumanconsumptionintheCommunityorfor export to third countries if tested negatively for bovinespongiformencephalopathy(BSE)byanapprovedrapidtestasreferred to in Annex IV(A) of Commission Decision 98/272/EC(
1).
2. The Community shall co-finance the tests referred to in
paragraph 1. The financial participation by the Communityshallbeattherateof100%ofthecosts(VATexcluded)ofthepurchase of test-kits and reagents up to a maximum ofEUR 15 per test in respect of tests carried out on animalsslaughteredbeforetheentryintoforceoftheobligatorytestingprogram as provided for in Article 1(3) of Decision 2000/764/EC, and in any case before 1 July 2001.
Excluded from this co-financing are tests performed on:
— animals which are referred to in Article 1(1) of Decision
2000/764/EC,
— animals which benefit from the purchase scheme as
provided for in Article 3(3) of this Regulation.
Member States shall take the necessary measures to avoid any
double payment from the Community budget.
Article 3
1. A Member State shall purchase, in view of its slaughter
and full destruction without being subject to a test as referredto in Article 2(1), any animal aged more than 30 monthsoffered to it by any producer or his agent.
The animal must:
(a) during a period of at least 6 months prior to its sale, have
been present on one or several holdings located in theMember State concerned;
(b) complywiththerelevantveterinarylegislation,inparticular
the provisions laid down in Annex I, Chapter VI, toCouncil Directive 64/433/EEC(
2), allowing them to be
passed as fit for slaughter for human consumption.2. In addition and by way of derogation from the require-
mentinparagraph1ofnothavingbeentested,bovineanimalsreferred to in Article 1(1) of Decision 2000/764/EC shall bepurchased for destruction only where the Member StateensuresthatsuchanimalsareexaminedinconformitywiththeprovisionsofthesaidArticle1(1)andwherethetestresultsarenegative.
3. Following the procedure provided for in Article 43 of
Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999, it may be decided that thepurchaseschemeprovidedforinparagraph1isalsoapplicableto animals having been subject to a test referred to in Article2(1)givinganegativeresult,ifthemarketsituationsorequires,in the Member State where the testing is done in a generalisedway or to a substantial extent.
4. Member States who can demonstrate to the satisfaction
of the Commission that sufficient capacity is available fortesting as referred to in Article 2(1) of the normal slaughterthroughputofanimalsabove30monthsofagemaybeauthor-isedbytheCommission,followingtheprocedureforinArticle43 of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999, to stop the applicationof the purchase scheme provided for in paragraph 1 unless adecision as referred to in paragraph 3 is taken.
5. Member States shall indicate the slaughter houses at
whichtheanimalsshallbetakenforslaughter.Indoingso,theMember State shall as far as possible seek to minimise thegeographical distance for the animals to be transported.
Article 4
1. The prices to be paid by the Member State to producers
or their agents for animals referred to in Article 3(1) shall becalculated on the basis of:
(a) the weight of the carcase as defined in Article 2(1)(a) of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81(
3) and
(b) the price per kg deadweight fixed by the Member State.
However,thebasicpriceapplicableunderthisschemeshallbe the average of the market prices for the categoryconcernedrecordedinweekNos45,46,47and48oftheyear 2000.
In determining weekly prices, the Member State shall take as
far as possible into acocunt the current market price whererepresentative prices are available for the relevant categoriesand carcase qualities. Account should equally be taken of thetraditionalpricehierarchybetweencategoriesandclassesintheMember State concerned.
In all circumstances, the prices shall be fixed at levels which
guaranteees a proper functioning of the destruction scheme.However:
— any fixing of average prices per category below the above-
mentioned basic price, and
— any fixing of average prices per category exceeding the
abovementioned basic price by more than 5%,
can only be made upon prior approval from the Commission.
(1) OJ L 122, 24.4.1998, p. 59.
(2) OJ 121, 29.7.1964, p. 2012/64. (3) OJ L 123, 7.5.1981, p. 3.
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Member States shall no later than Wednesday of each week
inform the producers of the purchase prices to be applied inthe following week.
The payment for the animal shall be made as soon as possible
after slaughter.
2. For each fully destroyed animal the Community shall
co-financetheexpenditureincurredunderparagraph1ataflatrate calculated on the basis of the basic prices, the averageweight per category and a co-finaning rate of 70% to befinancedbytheCommunityleaving30%tobefinancedbythenationalauthorities.TheflatrateamountsarefixedinAnnexI.
No later than 1 October 2001, the Member States shall
communicate to the Commission the total purchase expendi-tures. The community co-financing shall be limited to 70% ofthis total amount.
Anadvanceequalto80%oftheCommunitycontributionmay
be provided after the animal concerned has been slaughteredand rendered in accordance with Article 5.
Except for the Community co-financing fixed above, all costs
of the operations from the offer for slaughter of the animaluntil its full destruction shall be financed by national authori-ties.
3. The provisions regarding the slaughter premium referred
toinArticle11ofRegulation(EC)No1254/1999andChapterV of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2342/1999(
1) shall
apply to animals slaughtered under the present Regulation.These costs shall not be deemed to be incurred under thepresent Regulation.
Article 5
1. Slaughterhouses slaughtering animals which are intended
fordestructionunderthisschemeshallbeorganisedandoper-ated in such a way as to ensure that:
— all animals and animal products which are intended for
human or animal consumption shall at all times becompletely separated from animals and products slaugh-tered and produced under this scheme, and
— where it is necessary for bovine animals to be slaughtered
under the scheme to be held in lairage, they shall be keptseparate from bovine animals which it is intended toslaughter for human or animal consumption,
2. Thecarcases,afterhavingbeenappropriatelyslashedshall
together with all other parts of the animals be permanentlystained. They shall subsequently be rendered and fullydestroyed by way of incineration or any other appropriatemeans.
3. Wherespecifiedriskmaterialarenotremoved,theentire
carcase shall be treated as specified risk material.
4. No parts of the animals may be used for human food or
animal feed, or in cosmetic or medical products or medicaldevices. By way of derogation from paragraphs 2 and 3 hidesdo not have to be stained or destroyed provided that they aretreated in such a way that they can only be used for leatherproduction. Fatty material attached to the internal side of the
hide must be removed and destroyed. Member States shallensure that such hides are stored and treated separate fromother hides.
5. Member States shall carry out the necessary adminis-
trative checks and effective on-the-spot supervision of alloperations to verify that all relevant products have beenrendered and fully destroyed.
Article 6
1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Decision 98/
272/EC and Decision 2000/764/EC, and by way of derogationfromtheprovisionsofArticle2(1),theMemberStateslistedinAnnex II may allow the slaughtering for human consumptionof bovine animals over 30 months of age, without the exam-ination for BSE referred to in Article 2(1).
2. Member States making use of the derogation referred to
inparagraph1shallensurethatthefollowingproducts,origin-ating from such animals which have been slaughtered forhumanconsumptionaftertheenteringintoforceofthisRegu-lation, are dispatched to other Member States or exported tothird countries only if the animals concerned are tested nega-tively, by a test referred to in Article 2(1):
— ‘fresh meat’ as defined by Directive 64/433/EEC,
— ‘mincedmeat’and‘meatpreparations’asdefinedbyCouncil
Directive 94/65/EC(
2),
— ‘meat products’ as defined by Council Directive 77/
99/EEC(3).
3. Themeatandproductsreferredtoinparagraph2origin-
atingfromanimalsnothavingbeentestedbyatestreferredtoin Article 2(1) shall be marked with a national mark, whichcannot be confused with the Community health mark and inparticular is not oval.
Article 7
Member States shall adopt all measures necessary to ensure
properapplicationofthisschemeandfullcompliancewiththeprovisions of this Regulation.
Member States shall as soon as possible establish a detailed
reportofthecontrolswhichtheyhavetakenunderthisArticleand communicate this to the Commission.
Article 8
For animals aged more than 30 months. Member States shall
on Wednesday of each week in respect of the preceding weeknotify the Commission of:
— the number of animals under each category referred to in
Article 3(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81 having beenoffered for slaughter and destruction,
— thenumberofslaughteredanimalsforhumanconsumption
under each category having been tested and the totalweight per category as well as the outcome of the tests,
(2) OJ L 368, 31.12.1994, p. 10.
(1) OJ L 281, 4.11.1999, p. 30. (3) OJ L 26, 31.1.1977, p. 85.
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— the number of slaughtered animals for destruction under
each category having been tested and the total weight percategory as well as the outcome of the tests,
— the number of slaughtered animals under each category
having not been tested and the total weight per category,
— the price offered to producers under each category and,
where available, under each class,
— the number of animals rendered,— the number of animals fully destroyed,— anyotherinformationpermittinganefficientmonitoringof
the operations.
Article 9
Without prejudice of Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No
1258/1999(
1), Commission experts accompanied where
appropriate by experts from Member States shall carry outon-the-spotcheckstoverifycompliancewithalltheprovisions
of this Regulation.
Article 10
The measures taken under this Regulation shall be considered
tobeinterventionmeasureswithinthemeaningofArticle1(2)of Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999.
Article 11
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
Itshallbeapplicablefrom1January2001until30June2001
at the latest.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 18 December 2000.
For the Commission
Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission
(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.
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Cows Heifers SteersANNEX I
Community financing per animal(1)(2) (EUR/head)
Belgium 544 727 —
Denmark 363 444 —
Germany 364 442 —
Greece 292 520 —
Spain 280 536 —
France 472 674 713
Ireland 285 421 543
Italy 294 561 —
Luxembourg 553 593 698
Netherlands 418 385 —
Austria 393 501 644
Portugal 281 543 —
Finland 272 306 —
Sweden 384 402 510
(1) Bulls offered under the scheme shall be Community financed with the rate for cows.
(2) Where no specific financing amounts are provided, steers offered under the scheme shall be Community financed with the rate of
heifers.ANNEX II
List of countries referred to in Article 6
AustriaSwedenFinland