CELEX: 51986PC0392
Language: en
Date: 1986-07-18
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION INTRODUCING A COMMUNITY FINANCIAL MEASURE FOR THE ERADICATION OF AFRICAN SWINE FEVER IN PORTUGAL

No C 203/8                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    12.8.86
                                                                 II
                                                         (Preparatory Acts)
                                                   COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Decision introducing a Community financial measure for the eradication
                                                of African swine fever in Portugal
                                                        COM(86) 392 final
                                 (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 28 July 1986)
                                                          (86/C 203/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                             Whereas, in order to benefit from the results obtained,
                                                                     this request should be granted so that the systematic
 Having regard to the Treaty esablishing the European                action already undertaken can be maintained and
Economic Community, and in particular Article 43                     consolidated;
thereof,
                                                                     Whereas the reinforced eradication plan must include
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                   measures ensuring the effectiveness of the action
                                                                     undertaken; whereas a procedure closely associating the
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                    Member States and the Commission should be
liament,                                                             introduced by means of which such measures can firstly
                                                                     be adopted and secondly adapted as the situation
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                     develops;
Social Committee,
                                                                     Whereas the Member States should be kept regularly
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                     informed of the progress of the measures undertaken,
Social Committee,
                                                                     HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Whereas African swine fever            has been present     in
Portugal for many years;
                                                                                              Article 1
Whereas, in order to prevent the disease from spreading              Portugal shall draw up a reinforced plan for the
to its territory, the Community granted financial support            eradication of African swine fever and the restructuring
for a period of five years by means of Council Decision              of pig farms so as to protect the health of their livestock.
80/877/EEC of 15 September 1980 on financial aid
from the Community for the eradication of African
swine fever in Portugal (');                                                                  Article 2
                                                                    The plan referred to in Article 1 must provide for:
Whereas the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal
specifically    provides   for     the    continuation    and        1. Measures to eliminate outbreaks of African swine
intensification of the measures against African swine                   fever, and more particularly:
fever carried out by the Republic of Portugal;
                                                                        (a) the immediate slaughter and destruction of all
Whereas the efforts already made have served to                             pigs on those holdings where a case of African
stabilize the incidence of the disease; whereas the                         swine fever is diagnosed and on those holdings
resources deployed must, however, be maintained and                         which, as a result of an epizootiological
reinforced in order to eradicate African swine fever from                   investigation, can be considered as contaminated.
the entire territory of Portugal and thus contribute to the                 Slaughter and destruction shall be effected in such
establishment of the internal market;                                       a way as to avoid any danger of spreading the
                                                                            virus;
Whereas the Portuguese authorities have appealed to the
Community for a contribution towards the expenditure                    (b) the cleansing and disinfection of, and elimination
involved in the continuation and reinforcement of the                       of insect and rodent pests from, holdings after the
eradication programme undertaken in 1981;                                   elimination of the pigs;
                                                                        (c) immediate and adequate compensation for the
                                                                            owners of holdings whose pigs have been
0) OJ No L 250, 23. 9. 1980, p. 12.                                         slaughtered in accordance with (a);
 ---pagebreak--- 12.8.86                                   Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 203-/9
   (d) a delay before restocking of holdings, the                           — the application of health measures with regard
       duration of such delay being at least one month                          to any person entering the farm,
       after slaughter and the completion of the                            — arrangements for the disinfection         of   any
       operations provided for in paragraph (b) for                             vehicle having to enter the farm,
       holdings operating in enclosed premises and at
       least three months for other holdings;                               — the installation of safety gates for the delivery
                                                                                of feedingstuffs and various supplies,
                                                                            — the installation of safety gates for the removal
   (e) the gradual restocking of holdings by the prior                          of pigs;
       introduction of 'sentinel' pigs, the absence of
       African swine fever antibodies from which has
       been checked prior to their entry and again one
       month later;                                                     (g) the implementation of health measures in respect
                                                                            of all animals entering the farm for the purposes
                                                                            of breeding or fattening. More particularly these
   (f) continuous serological surveillance of holdings                      measures must entail:
       until they are fully restocked.
                                                                            — an obligation to acquire animals from a farm
                                                                                presenting the same assurances,
2. Measures for the control of pig farms and the                            — serological investigation of all breeding pigs,
   establishment of zones free from African swine fever,
                                                                            — monitoring of breeding pigs before their entry
   and in particular:
                                                                                into the production cycle;
   (a) serological testing by representative sampling of
       all pigs farms in each region of production.                     (h) establishment of criteria for the recognition of
                                                                            holdings free of African swine fever. The criteria
       However, the following rules shall apply in the                      must include at least the following:
       special cases described below:                                       — absence of clinical disease on the holding for
       — in the case of breeding farms, multiplication                          at least one year,
            farms or mixed closed-circuit farms, all                        — absence of clinical disease within a radius of
            breeding sows and sows intended for breeding                        two kilometres around the holding for at least
            must be subjected to serological investigation,                     one year,
       — in the case of mixed farms receiving pigs from                     — execution of the serological            operations
            external sources, if no clear separation exists                     provided for in (a), (b) and (c);
            between the breeding unit and the pig
            fattening unit, all the pigs on the holding must
            be subjected to serological investigation;
                                                                        (i) clearly distinguishable marking of all pigs on
                                                                            holdings recognized as free of African swine
   (b) systematic serological investigation on all farms                    fever;
       where one or more animals have reacted
       positively to the serological test provided for in
       (a) and the continuation of this investigation until
       all positive animals are eliminated;                          3. Measures to create regions free of African swine
                                                                        fever, entailing more particularly:
   (c) an epizootiological investigation to identify the
       farms on which pigs reacting positively to sero-
       logical tests originate and systematic serological               (a) the establishment of a system of identifying all
       investigation on such farms:                                         pigs on the national territory so that the region
                                                                            and holding of origin can be traced at any time;
   (d) elimination by slaughter and destruction of all
       animals reacting positively to serological tests
       following measures provided for in (a), (b) and                  (b) the registration of all holdings enganged in pig
       (c);                                                                 farming, specifying the type of production, their
                                                                            position with regard to African swine fever and
                                                                            the size of their stock;
   (e) immediate and adequate compensation for owners
       of pigs slaughtered and destroyed in accordance
       with (d);
                                                                        (c) the monitoring of stock of holdings by the intro-
                                                                            duction of a pig-farming register or file recording
   (f) health protection measures on farms where pigs                       in particular entries of pigs to the holding and
       react negatively to serological tests. More parti-                   their origin, exit of pigs and their destination,
       cularly such protection must entail:                                 mortality and the causes thereof;
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 203/10                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                    12. 8. 86
   (d) the monitoring of movements of pigs within a                        — obligation to transport fattened pigs direct to
       region or between regions irrespective of their                         the slaughterhouse,
       origin and destination by regional bodies                           — serological testing of all pigs fattened on
       established for that purpose;                                           grazing land both before they are turned out
                                                                               and at the time of slaughter,
   (e) a general ban on the entry of live pigs originating                 — where the result of serological testing is
       in a region which does not have the same health                         positive, seizure and destruction of the
       status;                                                                 carcases in question and a ban on the use of
                                                                               the grazing land of origin for the fattening of
                                                                               Pigs,
   (f) the promotion of regional groups of farmers to                      — serological testing of all wild              swine
       combat African swine fever so as to engender                            slaughtered in the region concerned;
       more effective cooperation with the technical and
       administrative departments and voluntary control
       over the application of the plan;                               National and regional protection measures, entailing
                                                                       more particularly:
   (g) serological testing by sampling of pigs at the time             (a) control and destruction of all waste from inter-
       of their slaughter;                                                 national means of transport;
   (h) serological testing by sampling of slaughtered wild             (b) control of all scraps and swill from kitchens and
       swine;                                                              industries using pigmeat;
                                                                       (c) ban on the use for feeding to pigs of scraps and
4. Measures to restructure pig farms in order to ensure                    swill from kitchens and industries using pigmeat.
   greater health protection and prevent the spread of                     However,      the    competent    authorities    may
   the disease, entailing more particularly:                               authorize the use of scraps for feeding in specially
                                                                           designated farms where there are only fattening
                                                                           pigs provided that these scraps are collected and
   (a) adaptation of existing piggeries so as to ensure                    treated in specialized establishments under official
       effective health protection. Such adaptations must                  control;
       entail:
       — protective installations for the entry of vehicles            (d) obligation to slaughter pigs in slaugherhouses
           and persons and safety gates for deliveries of                  under permanent veterinary control.
           feedingstuffs and various supplies,
       — safety gates for the delivery or removal of live
           pigs;                                                                              Article 3
                                                                   After examination of the plan           submitted by the
   (b) encouragement for the replacement of traditional            Portuguese authorities and of any       amendments to be
       farms by closed-circuit farms with clear and                made thereto, the Commission             shall decide, in
       effective separation between the breeding unit and          accordance with the procedure laid      down in Article 9,
       the fattening unit;                                         whether or not to approve it.
                                                                   The Committee of the European Agricultural Guidance
   (c) for fattening farms, the establishment of systems
                                                                   and Guarantee Fund shall be consulted on the financial
       for the supply of piglets requiring the direct trans-
                                                                   aspects and the Standing Committee on Structure on the
       portation of animals from recognized multi-
                                                                   structural aspects of the. plan.
       plication farms to the fattening farm;
   (d) in the case of farms continuing to use grazing                                         Article 4
       land in certain regions where this practice cannot          The measure provided for in this Decision shall qualify
       be abandoned:                                               for financial aid from the Community.
       — the establishment of closed and protected
           housing for breeding stock and their piglets,
       — establishment of enclosed and protected runs                                         Article 5
           for sows and fattening piglets until the latters'       1.     Community financial assistance shall be granted for
           departure to the grazing land,                          a period of five years from the date fixed by the
       — prohibition on the return of fattening pigs               Commission in its Decision approving the plan referred
           from grazing land to the breeding unit,                 to in Article 1.
 ---pagebreak--- 12.8.86                                  Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 203/11
2.    The estimated assistance to be charged to the                                           Article 9
Community budget under the chapter covering
expenditure relating to agriculture shall be 10 million             1.    Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to
ECU for the duration of the measure provided for in                 be followed, matters shall be referred without delay by
paragraph 1.                                                        the chairman, either on his own initiative or at the
                                                                    request of a Member State, to the Standing Veterinary
                                                                    Committee (hereinafter called the 'Committee') set up by
                          Article 6                                 Decision 68/361/EEC (3).
1.     On condition that all the measures laid down are             2.    Within the Committee, the votes of Member States
applied and are in compliance with the plan approved by             shall be weighted as laid down in Article 148 (2) of the
the Commission pursuant to Article 3, the expenditure               Treaty. The chairman shall not vote.
incurred by Portugal:
                                                                    3.    The representative of the Commission shall submit
— under Article 2 (1) (a), (b), (c), (e) and (f), (2) (a),          a draft of the measures to be adopted. The Committee
    (b), (c), (d) and (e), (3) (d), (f), (g) and (h) and the        shall deliver its opinion on such measures within the time
    last three indents of (4) (d),                                  limit set by the chairman according to the urgency of the
— under Article 2 (3) (c) and (4) (a), (b), (c) and the             matters under consideration. Opinions shall be "delivered
    first two indents of (d),                                       by a qualified majority of 54 votes.
shall qualify for Community financial aid within the                4.    The Commission shall adopt the measures and shall
limits laid down in Article 5.                                      apply them immediately where they are in accordance
                                                                    with the opinion of the Committee. Where they are not
2.    The Community shall refund 50 % of the                        in accordance with the opinion of the Committee, or if
expenditure referred to in the first indent of paragraph 1          no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall without
and 30 % of the expenditure referred to in the second               delay propose to the Council the measures to be taken.
indent of paragraph 1.                                              The Council shall adopt the measures by a qualified
                                                                    majority.
3.     Detailed rules for the application of this Article           If, within three months from the date on which the
shall be adopted, as required in accordance with the                proposal was submitted to it, the Council has not
procedure laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC)               adopted any measures, the Commission shall adopt the
N o 729/70 0).                                                      proposed measures and shall apply them immediately.
                          Article 7                                                           Article 10
1.    Applications for payment shall relate to expenditure          1.    The Commission shall monitor the situation with
incurred by Portugal during the calendar year and shall             regard to African swine fever in Portugal and the
be submitted to the Commission before 1 July of the                 implementation of the eradication plan. The Commission
following year.                                                     shall inform the Member States within the Committee of
                                                                    developments, regularly, at least once a year, in the light
2.    Article 7 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall             of the information provided by the Portuguese auth-
apply to the decisions adopted by the Commission                    orities, who shall submit a progress report to the
relating to the financing of this measure by the                    Commission together with the applications for payment,
Community.                                                          and any reports from experts who, acting on behalf of
                                                                    the Community and appointed by the Commission, have
3.     Detailed rules for the application of this Article           visited Portugal.
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid              2.    Should the need arise to amend the eradication
down in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.                   plan in the course of its execution, a new decision
                                                                    approving it shall be taken in accordance with the
                           Article 8                                procedure laid down in Article 9.
Regulation (EEC) No 129/78 (2) and Articles 8 and 9 of                                        Article 11
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall apply mutatis
mutandis.                                                           This Decision is addressed to the Portuguese Republic.
0) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
O OJ No L 20, 25. 1. 1978, p. 16.                                   O OJ No L 255, 18. 10. 1968, p. 23.