Portugal has informed the Commission about the aggravation of the situation of farmers in the Portuguese dairy sector in 2012. This aggravation is the consequence of both a continuous increase of feed prices due to the combined effects of adverse climatic conditions affecting some of the most important Union and world suppliers of grains, and of the decrease of prices resulting from the reduction of the internal demand in the context of the economic crisis affecting Portugal. The increase of the feed prices which represent a significant part of the production costs has immediate consequences on the Portuguese dairy sector in particular by squeezing the margins and putting holdings in financial difficulties at the end of the year 2012. This in turn has led to an emergency for the dairy sector, resulting in serious practical and specific problems for farmers of dairy cows that could not have been foreseen at the time when decisions, for the year 2012, for support pursuant to Article 68 of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 could be reviewed in accordance with Article 68(8) of that Regulation.

Portugal wishes to increase the level of support foreseen in the framework of the dairy specific support measure currently implemented under Article 68(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in order to help farmers concerned to face this situation in the short term. Accordingly, Portugal has requested to be authorised to revise its decision on the implementation of specific support for 2012 in view of introducing support under Article 68(1)(a)(v) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in substitution to support currently implemented under Article 68(1)(a)(i) of that Regulation. Portugal intends to use the resulting available amounts for increasing the level of support to dairy farmers within the measure implemented under Article 68(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009.

Therefore, and given that a review of the decision on the implementation of specific support for 2012 is no longer possible under Article 68(8) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009, it is appropriate to derogate from that provision to allow Portugal to amend the scheme implemented for that year.

According to Portugal, there is a decline in the population of the bovine breeds ‘Alentejena’ and ‘Mertolenga’, of the sheep breeds ‘Serra de Estrela’ and ‘Churros’ and of the ‘Serrana’ goat breed due to the increasing trend in crossing or substituting local breeds with exotic breeds, putting them under threat of being lost for farming. Even so, given their great capacity of adaptation to the environment without producing an excessive pressure on the natural resources, those local breeds are part of agricultural and pasture systems with high natural value. For the purpose of granting support under Article 68(1)(a)(v) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 in view of maintaining the population of such animals at an appropriate level for preserving the genetic heritage they represent, while protecting the legitimate expectations of farmers having applied for support under Article 68(1)(a)(i) for the year 2012, it is necessary to derogate from Article 44(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1120/2009 as regards the criteria for determining the threshold of loss to farming of local breeds indigenous to the area and in danger of being lost to farming.

Given that specific support under Article 68 of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 consists of several measures with different eligibility conditions, farmers are required to indicate in the single application for which specific measure they apply. In order to address the situation in the dairy sector still in 2012, Portugal intends to consider applications lodged in the calendar year 2012 for support under Article 68(1)(a)(i) of Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 as applications for the envisaged support under Article 68(1)(a)(v) of that Regulation for the same calendar year, taking into account the legitimate expectations of farmers concerned. In this respect, it is therefore appropriate to derogate from Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1122/2009.

As the derogations concern the year 2012, this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Direct Payments,