Commission Regulation (EC) No 1040/2002 of 14 June 2002 establishing detailed rules for the implementation of the provisions relating to the allocation of a financial contribution from the Community for plant-health control and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2051/97
Date: 2002-06-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, financial aid, plant disease, plant health control

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1040/2002

of 14 June 2002

establishing detailed rules for the implementation of the provisions relating to the allocation of a
financial contribution from the Community for plant-health control and repealing Regulation (EC)
No 2051/97

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 2000/29/EC of 8 May 2000
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 2002/36/EC (2), and in
particular the last subparagraph of Article 23(5) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Pursuant to Directive 2000/29/EC, 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 for
the purpose of combating harmful organisms introduced
from third countries or from other areas in the Commu-
nity, in order to eradicate or, if that is not possible, to
contain them.

Member States may, in particular, request a Community
financial contribution for specific measures which they
have adopted or planned to adopt to control infections
by harmful organisms introduced in their territory. The
upper limit of this contribution is 50 % of eligible expen-
diture.

The application of Commission Regulation (EC) No
2051/97 of 20 October 1997 establishing detailed rules
for the implementation of the provisions relating to the
allocation of a plant-health control financial contribution
from the Community (3) has shown that more detailed
rules are necessary, and in particular the requirements
concerning the information which Member States must
submit to justify a claim for a Community financial
contribution should be made more precise.

The new rules should specify the information to be
provided by the Member States’ applications for the
Community financial contribution, in particular evidence
of the eradication programme in respect of the harmful
organism for which a financial contribution for plant-
health control is requested.

In accordance with Article 3(2) of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1258/1999 (4), veterinary and plant health
measures undertaken in accordance with Community
rules shall be financed under the Guarantee section of
the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee
Fund. Financial control of these measures comes under
Articles 8 and 9 of the above Regulation.

(1) OJ L 169, 10.7.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 116, 3.5.2002, p. 16.
(3) OJ L 287, 21.10.1997, p. 13.
(4) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.

(6)

(7)

Regulation (EC) No 2051/97 should therefore be
repealed.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on Plant Health,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 23(4), first
subparagraph, of Directive 2000/29/EC, Member States’ appli-
cations for the allocation of a financial contribution from the
Community for plant-health control pursuant to Article 23(5)
of Directive 2000/29/EC shall be submitted in writing by 30
April at the latest of each year by the authority referred to in
Article 1(4) of that Directive for examination in that year and
addressed to the Commission of the European Communities,
Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General, B-1049
Brussels, Belgium.

2.
Applications shall include information on the eradication
programme in respect of the harmful organism for which a
financial contribution for plant-health control is requested, in
particular:

(a) general

information on the appearance of

the relevant
harmful organism, including details as the date on which its
presence was suspected or confirmed, and the presumed
cause of the appearance;

(b) the necessary measures which have been taken or are
planned for combating the relevant harmful organism, their
expected duration and where available, the results obtained,
the actual or estimated cost of the expenditure incurred or
to be incurred, and the proportion of such expenditure
covered or to be covered from public funds. The duration
shall be no more than two years after the date of detection
of the appearance of the relevant harmful organism, except
in duly justified cases, where two such further applications
of each one year may be submitted.

Article 2

For the purposes of the examination referred to in Article
1.
1(1), Member States shall submit a dossier including, for each
year of the programme:

(a) a copy of the notification of the presence or of the appear-
ance of the relevant organism, in accordance with Article
16(1) or (2) of Directive 2000/29/EC;

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(b) information on inspections, testing and other actions under-
taken to determine the nature and extent of the appearance
of the relevant harmful organism,
including the method
used for these actions;

(c) the statutory notice requiring treatments like destruction,
disinfection, disinfestation, sterilisation and other treatments
to be carried out and an official description and assessment
of their achievement/results,
including the description of
the methods used for these treatments;

(d) in case of payments of compensation for financial losses,
other than loss of earnings, due to prohibitions and/or
restrictions, as defined in point (c) of Article 23(2) of Direc-
tive 2000/29/EC, an official statement for payments made
or to be made and the method of calculation;

(e) information on the identity of the consignment in accor-
dance with the provisions of Article 23(4) of Directive
2000/29/EC or if not possible the reasons why it cannot be
identified.

2. Moreover, Member States shall also submit the list of the
amounts excluding VAT and taxes, paid or to be paid for
carrying out the necessary measures for combating the relevant
harmful organism and the part of these amounts covered by
public funds. For each kind of such measures, the appropriate
details shall be enclosed:

(a) for inspections and analyses, through a summary table indi-

cating, inter alia, their dates, places and the unit costs;

(b) for treatments referred to in paragraph 1(c), the list of hold-
ings/places treated, and the quantity of plants/areas treated;

(c) for payments referred to in paragraph 1(d), the list of bene-

ficiaries.

Article 3

1.
For each application received, the Commission shall deter-
mine whether the phytosanitary measures have been appro-
priate and the costs of those measures are reasonable.

In the above ranking, priority shall be given to those
programmes that satisfy as much as possible the following
criteria:

— protect the interest of the whole Community,

— show a higher probability of efficacy,

— supply the required information regarding the identity of

the consignment.

2.
The list, which shall detail the amount of the proposed
Community financial contribution to each programme, shall be
submitted for discussion to the Standing Committee on Plant
Health. If applicable, the rate of degressivity of the financial
contribution shall also be mentioned.

3.
Each programme included in the list referred to in point
2 shall be approved individually in accordance with the proce-
dure laid down in Article 18 of Directive 2000/29/EC. Such
approval shall
include the rate of the financial contribution
from the Community, any conditions to which it may be
subject and the upper limit of the contribution. The financial
contribution from the Community shall not be granted where
the total amount of eligible expenditure per year, defined
according to the provision of Article 4(1),
than
EUR 50 000.

less

is

Article 5

In order to receive payment of the financial contribution from
the Community for an approved programme, the Member State
shall submit a request for payment of the financial contribution
in Euro to the Commission, by 30 September of the year
following the year in which the programme has been approved
at the latest.

The Member State’s request shall include proof or evidence of
payments through appropriate documentation, such as invoices
or receipts.

The Member State concerned shall, on request, communi-
information the

2.
cate to the Commission any additional
Commission requires for its examination.

Article 6

Regulation (EC) No 2051/97 is repealed.

Article 4

Article 7

1.
Each year, by 15 September at the latest, the Commission
shall prepare a list of programmes to be considered which
therefore are eligible for a financial contribution from the
Community. For the purpose of assuring an effective and
consistent contribution, and taking into account the evolution
of the phytosanitary situation in the Community, the Commis-
sion shall rank the above programmes.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

It shall apply to applications seeking the payment of a financial
contribution from the Community from 2003 onwards.

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This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 14 June 2002.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission