(1)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1439/95 lays down the list of the authorities of the third countries empowered to issue documents of origin.

(2)

Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 748/2008 lays down the authorities in Argentina empowered to issue the certificates of authenticity.

(3)

Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 810/2008 lays down the list of the authorities in exporting countries empowered to issue certificates of authenticity.

(4)

Argentina has notified the Commission that from 1 July 2011 the new authority empowered to issue the documents of origin and the certificates of authenticity for beef, sheepmeat and goatmeat originating in Argentina is the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

(5)

Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1439/95, Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 748/2008 and Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 810/2008 should be amended accordingly,

‘1.

Argentina: Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas Públicas’

‘—

MINISTERIO DE ECONOMÍA Y FINANZAS PÚBLICAS:

for meat originating in Argentina and meeting the definition in Article 2(a).’

(1)

Council Decision 2009/371/JHA of 6 April 2009 establishing the European Police Office (Europol) (2) (‘Europol Decision’), replaces the Council Act of 26 July 1995 drawing up the Convention based on Article K.3 of the Treaty on European Union, on the establishment of a European Police Office (3) (‘Europol Convention’) as of its date of application, that is as of 1 January 2010.

(2)

The Europol Decision provides that all measures implementing the Europol Convention shall be repealed with effect from 1 January 2010, unless otherwise provided in the Europol Decision.

(3)

The Europol Decision further provides that the Europol Staff Regulations and other relevant instruments shall continue to apply to staff members who are not recruited under the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union in accordance with Article 57(2) of that Decision.

(4)

The Europol Decision also provides that the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union, as laid down in Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (4) shall apply to the Director, the Deputy Directors and to Europol staff engaged after 1 January 2010.

(5)

The Europol Decision furthermore provides that all employment contracts concluded by Europol as established by the Europol Convention and in force on 1 January 2010 shall be honoured until their expiry date and may not be renewed on the basis of the Europol Staff Regulations after the date of application of the Europol Decision.

(6)

The Europol Decision also provides that members of staff under contract on 1 January 2010 shall be offered the possibility of concluding temporary agent or contract agent contracts under the Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Union. Several members of staff have made use of this possibility.

(7)

Consequently, the number of staff members continuing to be employed under the Europol Staff Regulations, and hence their contributions to the Europol pension fund pursuant to Article 37(1) of Appendix 6 of the Europol Staff Regulations, have, as from 1 January 2010, steadily decreased and are to be discontinued once the last employment contract to which the Europol Staff Regulations apply has expired.

(8)

As a result, the management of the fund is to be adapted to the decreased volume of both the contributions and disbursements to be made by the fund, by reducing the number of members of the Board of the fund and the number of its meetings.

(9)

It is also reasonable to limit the personal liability of members of the Board acting in the fulfilment of their tasks to gross negligence and serious wrongdoings.

(10)

The liabilities of the fund are also to end at an earlier stage than foreseen when it was created. In the event that the fund’s assets would not suffice to fulfil its liabilities, the shortfall should be covered by Europol’s budget. Given the present financial state of the fund, this eventuality appears to be theoretical, taking also into account that Europol has reinsured the risks stemming from its obligations under Articles 63 to 71 of the Europol Staff Regulations by concluding an insurance on invalidity and survivors’ pensions.

(11)

The Council Act of 12 March 1999 adopting rules on the Europol pension fund (5) should thus be amended accordingly. Other technical amendments to that Act resulting from the entry into force of the Europol Decision should also be introduced,

(1)

in Article 1 the following point is inserted:

(*1)   OJ L 121, 15.5.2009, p. 37.’;"

(2)

in Article 1, point (b) is replaced by the following:

(3)

in Article 1, point (g) is replaced by the following:

(4)

in Article 1 the following point is added:

(*2)   OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1.’;"

(5)

in Article 3(1), point (g) is replaced by the following:

(6)

in Article 3(2), point (d), the words ‘or desirable’ are deleted;

(7)

Article 4(2) is replaced by the following:

(8)

Article 4(3) is replaced by the following:

(9)

in Article 4(7), the words ‘the secretary shall in all cases be from the members appointed by Europol or the Europol Staff Committee’ are replaced by the words ‘the secretary shall in all cases be either the member appointed by Europol or the one appointed by the Europol Staff Committee’;

(10)

in Article 5, the following paragraph is added:

(11)

in Article 6(1), the word ‘twice’ is replaced by the word ‘once’;

(12)

Article 7(1) is replaced by the following:

(13)

in Article 8(1), the words ‘solvability, liquidity, rentability’ are replaced by the words ‘solvency, liquidity, profitability’;

(14)

in Article 10(3), the second sentence is replaced by the following:

‘To this end, the Board shall appoint a certified accountant registered in accordance with the applicable Dutch law.’;

(15)

Article 10(4) is replaced by the following:

(16)

the following Article is inserted:

(17)

the following Article is inserted:

(18)

Article 13(1) is replaced by the following:

(19)

Article 14 is repealed.

(1)

In accordance with Article 75 of the Financial Regulation and Article 90(1) of the Implementing Rules, the commitment of expenditure from the Union budget shall be preceded by a financing decision setting out the essential elements of the action involving expenditure and adopted by the institution or the authorities to which powers have been delegated by the institution.

(2)

Decision 2009/470/EC lays down the procedures governing the financial contribution from the Union towards specific veterinary measures, including emergency measures. With a view to helping to eradicate avian influenza as rapidly as possible the Union should contribute financially to eligible expenditure borne by the Member States. Article 4(3) first and second indents of that Decision lays down rules on the percentage that must be applied to the costs incurred by the Member States.

(3)

Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 349/2005 of 28 February 2005 laying down rules on the Community financing of emergency measures and of the campaign to combat certain animal diseases under Council Decision 90/424/EEC (2) sets rules on the expenditure eligible for Union financial support.

(4)

Commission Decision 2010/148/EU of 5 March 2010 on a financial contribution from the Union towards emergency measures to combat avian influenza in the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France and Italy in 2009 (3) granted a financial contribution by the Union towards emergency measures to combat avian influenza in Italy in 2009.

(5)

On 24 March 2010, Italy submitted an official request for reimbursement in the amount of EUR 966 694,15 as set out in Article 7(1) and 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 349/2005.

(6)

The payment of the financial contribution from the Union must be subject to the condition that the planned activities were actually implemented and that the authorities provided all the necessary information within the set deadlines. The Commission’s observations, method of calculating the eligible expenditure and final conclusions were communicated to Italy by e-mail dated 14 February 2011. An amount of EUR 552 110,80 has been deemed non-eligible in accordance with the eligibility rules of Regulation (EC) No 349/2005. Italy agreed by e-mail dated 16 March 2011.

(7)

The Italian authorities have fully complied with their technical and administrative obligations as set out in Article 3(4) of Decision 2009/470/EC and Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 349/2005.

(8)

In view of the above considerations, the total amount of the financial support from the Union to the eligible expenditure incurred associated with the eradication of avian influenza in Italy in 2009 should now be fixed.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 lays down the general principles governing food and feed in general, and food and feed safety in particular, at Community and national level. It provides for emergency measures where it is evident that food or feed imported from a third country is likely to constitute a serious risk to human health, animal health or the environment, and that such risk cannot be contained satisfactorily by means of measures taken by the Member State(s) concerned.

(2)

On 22 May 2011 Germany reported an outbreak of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli- bacteria (STEC), serotype O104:H4 in the Northern part of Germany. Based on epidemiological investigations and laboratory testing the source of contamination could be linked to the consumption of sprouted seeds produced in one establishment south of Hamburg.

(3)

On 15 June 2011 France reported an outbreak in Bordeaux, France, which –according to preliminary results– was caused by the same E. coli strain (Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli – bacteria (STEC), serotype O104:H4) as the one found in Germany. Just as in the case of Germany, investigations indicate that consumption of sprouted seeds may have caused the outbreak.

(4)

Further indicators suggest that the dry seeds used for sprouting could be the original cause of the outbreak in Germany and in France. In order to ascertain the origin of the contamination, the Commission initiated a tracing back exercise coordinated by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in consultation with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organisation. On 5 July 2011, EFSA published its final report. The report states that the comparison of the back tracing information from the French and German outbreaks leads to the conclusion that a lot of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt is the most likely common link although it cannot be excluded that other lots may be implicated. Given the possible severe human health impact arising from exposure to a small quantity of contaminated material, and, in the absence of information regarding the source and means of contamination as well as possible cross-contamination, it seems appropriate currently to consider all lots of the identified exporter as suspect.

(5)

In addition the present tracing back exercise supports the hypothesis that the outbreaks are linked and are due to the import of fenugreek seeds which were contaminated at the importation or prior to import into the EU. The contamination of seeds with the E. coli O104:H4 strain reflects a production process which allowed contamination of faecal material of human and/or animal origin. Where exactly in the food chain this took place is still uncertain and whether this has in the meantime been remedied is also unknown. Further microbiological sampling shall be carried out in Member States to complement the evidence derived from the epidemiological studies as provided for in Article 8 of Directive 2003/99/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 November 2003 on the monitoring of zoonoses and zoonotic agents amending Council Decision 90/424/EEC and repealing Council Directive 92/117/EEC (2).

(6)

On the basis of the precautionary principle it is necessary to temporary prohibit also the import of all seeds and beans originated from Egypt, identified in the Annex, to allow the time necessary for further assessment of their safety. It is evident that there is possible severe human health impact arising from exposure to a small quantity of contaminated material also from other seeds and beans and that there is no precise information regarding the exact origin in Egypt and means of the contamination as well as possible cross-contamination.

(7)

Therefore it is appropriate to adopt, at European Union level, certain precautionary emergency measures to ensure that Member States adopt all necessary measures to withdraw from the EU market all lots of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt during the period 2009 – 2011 mentioned in the notifications of the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed linked to the tracing back exercise, to sample them and then destroy them and to temporarily suspend import from Egypt of all seeds and beans identified in the Annex to this Decision.

(8)

In order to allow the time necessary for the Competent Authorities of Egypt to provide feedback and to consider the appropriate risk management measures the temporary suspension of imports should be in force at least until 31 October 2011.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee of the Food Chain and Animal Health.