WRITTEN QUESTION P-0674/97 by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission (26 February 1997)

Subject: Swine fever in Europe

1. Can the Commission indicate which countries of the European Union have had outbreaks of swine fever during the last three years and, in each individual case, after what period of time and on what grounds was an export ban announced by the EU?

2. Can it confirm that in all cases 50% of the costs associated with the slaughter of infected animals were charged to the European Union's budget?

3. Can it indicate in which cases and under what conditions costs other than those referred to above were charged to the European budget, with particular reference to market support funds, compensation for indirect victims, compensation for the reduced possibilities for dung transport and measures relating to the wellbeing of animals.

4. Is the Commission prepared to make the funds referred to under 3 above available to victims of the recent outbreak of swine fever in the Netherlands and if so, to what extent and is the Commission willing, in view of the seriousness of the situation in the above-mentioned cases, to move to 70% co-financing?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (19 March 1997)

1. Four Member States reported outbreaks of classical swine fever in domestic pigs during 1994-96.

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The control measures to be applied by Member States if an outbreak is confirmed are laid down in Council Directive 80/217/EEC introducing Community measures for the control of classical swine fever ((OJ L 47, 21.2.1980. )). This requires stamping-out of infected herds, epidemiological investigation to detect the source of infection and potential spread of the virus from the infected herd, and the establishment of movement restrictions. Movement restrictions apply to a protection zone with a minimum radius of 3 kilometres around the outbreak site and to a surveillance zone with a minimum radius of 10 kilometres. The objective of these restrictions is to prevent the spread of the virus in pigs which may incubate classical swine fever but not show clinical signs of disease.

Within the framework of Council Directive 90/425/EEC concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animals and products with a view to the completion of the internal market ((OJ L 224, 18.8.1990. )), the Commission may adopt protection measures in addition to those in Directive 80/217/EEC. The protection or safeguard measures will frequently include trade restrictions or export bans on live pigs from areas affected by disease. The safeguard measures to be established in the event of disease will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and take into account the evolution of the disease, results from epidemiological investigations carried out by the Member States concerned and the potential risk for the spread of disease.

From 1994-1996 no safeguard measures were adopted in relation to the disease situation in Austria and Belgium. With regard to Germany, Commission Decision 94/27/EC concerning certain protection measures relating to classical swine fever in Germany and repealing Decision 93/566/EC ((OJ L 19, 22.1.1994. )) was adopted on 20 January 1994. The measures were adopted as it had been possible to identify geographically limited areas in Germany which presented a particular risk for the spread of disease. They replaced certain measures adopted on 30 December 1993.

From January 1994 to December 1996 the Commission amended the protection measures by a total of 11 decisions to ensure that the safeguard measures adopted could prevent the spread of infection out of an area, by containing pig herds which might be infected but undetected, and that the area under trade restrictions should be as small as possible to ensure that resources could be used to focus on disease control in the problem area.

When reviewing the situation as regards Italy it must be emphasised that classical swine fever is endemic on the island of Sardinia and only sporadic cases have occurred on the mainland of Italy. The safeguard measures adopted with regard to Italy are only applicable to the island of Sardinia. The measures adopted by Commission Decision 95/108/EC concerning health protection measures against African swine fever in Sardinia ((OJ L 79, 7.4.1995. )) replaced a ban established in 1992 on the movement of live pigs out of Sardinia. The safeguard measures are primarily directed against the spread of African swine fever, but also give protection against classical swine fever.

2. Costs related to the eradication of classical swine fever including the slaughter of infected animals, can be reimbursed in accordance with the provisions of Council Decision 90/424/EEC on expenditure in the veterinary field ((OJ L 224, 18.8.1990. )). Under this the Commission decides on financial aspects related to outbreaks reported by individual Member States. Reimbursements of up to 50% are made for the slaughter of infected pigs, subject to fulfilment of the requirements provided for by the relevant legislation.

3. Following the appearance of classical swine fever in Germany and Belgium between 1993 and 1995, the Commission adopted several regulations introducing special market support measures in the pigmeat sector in those two Member States. Under those measures, approximately 1.4 million fattening pigs and 360 000 piglets were delivered to the national authorities. Expenditure on these measures borne by the Community budget was approximately ECU 153 million. Other measures were not financed by the Community budget.

4. Immediately after the first cases of classical swine fever in the Netherlands in February 1997, the Commission adopted special market support measures for the Dutch pigmeat sector. These measures are more or less identical to those applied in Germany and Belgium in 1993, 1994 and 1995. 70% of the expenditure is covered by the Community budget.

With regard to other support measures referred to by the Honourable Member, Commission intervention is not possible because the legal basis for these is very restrictive and budgetary resources limited.