IP/06/1535

Brussels, 9 November 2006

Commission approves over €11.5 million to tackle animal diseases in Bulgaria and Romania in 2007

A draft Commission Decision to allocate up to €11 506 000 to Bulgaria and Romania for the monitoring, eradication and control of animal diseases in 2007, was backed by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health yesterday.

The agreed co-funding will cover a series animal health programmes which were submitted by the Bulgarian and Romanian authorities to the Commission for approval, in line with EU veterinary legislation. These programmes are a crucial factor in preserving animal and public health, both in Bulgaria and Romania and throughout the EU. For example, Classical Swine Fever (CSF) is currently endemic in Romania, with over 500 cases having been reported there so far this year. In order to mitigate the risk that this poses to pig holdings in the rest of the EU, and to try to bring the disease situation under control as quickly as possible, the Commission has proposed that the EU should pay 100% of the Romanian costs of purchasing live attenuated vaccines against this disease. Likewise, rabies has almost been entirely eradicated in Western Europe, but is still prevalent in certain parts of Eastern Europe, including in Bulgaria and Romania. Therefore, the Commission has allocated €1.63 million towards rabies eradication measures in these two countries, which would be spent testing and vaccinating the wildlife responsible for spreading the disease. Surveillance for avian influenza, reducing salmonella in breeding hens and the application of mandatory EU TSE measures are among the other areas which will be co-financed in 2007, under this Decision which will be adopted by the Commission in the coming weeks.

Maximum EU co-funding for 2007 (EUR)