Commission Regulation (EC) No 416/2002 of 5 March 2002 adopting exceptional support measures for the pigmeat market in Spain

Commission Regulation (EC) No 416/2002
of 5 March 2002
adopting exceptional support measures for the pigmeat market in Spain
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2759/75 of 29 October 1975 on the common organisation of the market in pigmeat(1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1365/2000(2), and in particular Article 20 and the second paragraph of Article 22 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The Spanish authorities have established protection and surveillance zones under Articles 9, 10 and 11 of Council Directive 2001/89/EC of 23 October 2001 on Community measures for the control of classical swine fever(3) on account of outbreaks of classical swine fever in certain production regions in Spain. As a consequence, the marketing of live pigs, fresh pigmeat and pigmeat products that have not undergone heat treatment is temporarily prohibited in those zones.
(2) The restrictions on the free movement of goods resulting from the application of veterinary measures are likely to cause serious disturbance of the pigmeat market in Spain. As a consequence, exceptional market support measures applying solely to live animals from the zones directly affected must be adopted for the time strictly necessary.
(3) With a view to preventing the disease from spreading any further, pigs reared in the zones concerned should be excluded from normal trade in products for human consumption and processed into products intended for uses other than human consumption in accordance with Article 3 of Council Directive 90/667/EEC of 27 November 1990 laying down the veterinary rules for the disposal and processing of animal waste, for its placing on the market and for the prevention of pathogens in feedstuffs of animal or fish origin and amending Directive 90/425/EEC(4), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden.
(4) Aid should be granted for the delivery to the competent authorities of pigs for fattening and piglets from the zones concerned.
(5) In view of the extent of the disease, and in particular its duration, and accordingly of the scale of the market-support efforts required, the cost of the aid actually paid to the producers should be shared between the Community and the Member State concerned.
(6) Provision should be made for the Spanish authorities to apply all controls and surveillance measures required and to inform the Commission accordingly.
(7) Restrictions on the free movement of live pigs have applied for several weeks in the zones concerned, which has lead to a substantial increase in the animals' weight and has consequently brought about an intolerable animal-welfare situation. This Regulation should therefore apply from 18 February 2002.
(8) With a view to ensuring sound financial management of the support measures, a ceiling should be put on the aid for pigs for fattening weighing more than 120 kg in order to preventing any misuse of the support measures through fattening for an excessively lengthy and unwarranted period. However, the ceiling should apply from 1 April 2002 only, when the time for delivering heavy pigs should have returned to normal.
(9) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Pigmeat,