2000/34/EC: Commission Decision of 16 December 1999 on a Community financial contribution to cover expenditure incurred by Portugal for the purpose of combating organisms harmful to plants or plant products (notified under document number C(1999) 4516) (Only the Portuguese text is authentic)
Date: 1999-12-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, Portugal, crop production, financial aid, parasitology, plant health treatment

L 12/26

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

18. 1. 2000

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 16 December 1999

on a Community financial contribution to cover expenditure incurred by Portugal for the purpose
of combating organisms harmful to plants or plant products

(notified under document number C(1999) 4516)

(Only the Portuguese text is authentic)

(2000/34/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 77/93/EEC of 21 December
1976 on protective measures against the introduction into the
Community of organisms harmful to plants or plant products
their spread within the Community (1), as last
and against
amended by Commission Directive 1999/53/EC (2), and in
particular Article 19c thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Pursuant to Directive 77/93/EEC, a financial contribu-
tion from the Community may be granted to Member
States to cover expenditure relating directly to the neces-
sary measures which have been taken or are planned to
be taken for the purpose of combating harmful organ-
isms introduced from third countries or from other
areas in the Community, in order to eradicate or, if that
is not possible, to contain them;

the allocation of

such a
Portugal has applied for
Community financial
contribution and supplied a
programme of actions to eradicate Ralstonia solanacearum
the causal agent of potato
(Smith) Yabuuchi et al.,
brown rot,
in 1995. This
programme specifies the objectives to be achieved, the
measures carried out, their duration and their cost so
that the Community may contribute to financing it;

introduced in Portugal

The Community financial contribution may cover up to
50 % of eligible expenditure;

The expenditure which Portugal has incurred in the
years 1996 and 1997 relates directly to the destruction
of infected potatoes, the disinfection of machinery and

(1) OJ L 26, 31.1.1977, p. 20.
(2) OJ L 142, 5.6.1999, p. 29.

premises, the weed control of the infected area, plant
health inspections, potato sampling and analyses;

The technical
information provided by Portugal has
enabled the Standing Committee on Plant Health to
analyse the situation accurately and comprehensively;

The Region of Madeira benefits of a specific Community
financial contribution for
the implementation of a
programme for the eradication and control of harmful
organisms for plants and plant products, other than
Ralstonia solanacearum (Smith) Yabuuchi et al;

The contribution referred to in Article 2 is without
prejudice to a possible contribution for further actions
taken or to be taken necessary for the achievement of
the objective of eradication or control of the relevant
harmful organisms; such a contribution would be the
subject of a subsequent Decision;

The present Decision is without prejudice to the
outcome of the verification by the Commission under
Article 19d of Directive 77/93/EEC on whether the
introduction of the relevant harmful organism has been
caused by inadequate examinations or inspections and
the consequences of such verification;

The measures provided in this Decision are in accord-
ance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on
Plant Health,

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The allocation of a Community financial contribution to cover
expenditure incurred by Portugal relating directly to necessary
measures as specified in Article 19c(2) of Directive 77/93/EEC
and taken for the purpose of combating Ralstonia solanacearum,
is hereby approved.

18. 1. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 12/27

Article 2

The maximum amount of the Community financial contribu-
tion shall be EUR 137 819.

Article 3

1.
Subject to the verifications of the Commission under
Article 19d(1) of Directive 77/93/EEC, the Community finan-
cial contribution shall be paid only when evidence of the
measures taken has been given to the Commission through
documentation related to the occurrence and the eradication of
Ralstonia solanacearum.

The documentation referred to in paragraph 1 shall

2.
include:

(a) an eradication report in respect of each holding on which
plants and plant products were destroyed. The report shall
contain information on:

— location and address of the holding,

— date on which the presence of Ralstonia solanacearum
was suspected and the date on which its presence was
confirmed,

— quantity of plants and plant products destroyed,
— method of destruction and disinfection,
— amount of samples taken for examination and for
testing for the presence of Ralstonia solanacearum,

— method of testing,
— results of examinations and/or testing,
— presumed origin of the occurrence in Portugal;

(b) a monitoring report on the presence of Ralstonia solana-
cearum and on the extent of the contamination by Ralstonia
solanacearum including detailed data of inspections and tests
carried out thereon;

(c) a financial report including the list of beneficiaries and their
addresses, and the amounts paid (excluding VAT and taxes).

This Decision is addressed to the Portuguese Republic.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 16 December 1999.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission