TITLE IIOFFICIAL CONTROLS AND OTHER OFFICIAL ACTIVITIES ...

CHAPTER VIFinancing of official controls and of other official activities

Article 79Mandatory fees or charges

1.

The competent authorities shall collect fees or charges for the official controls performed in relation to the activities referred to in Chapter II of Annex IV and on animals and goods referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of Article 47(1), F1... either;

(a)

at the level of the cost calculated in accordance with Article 82(1); or

(b)

at the amounts provided for in Annex IV.

2.

The competent authorities shall collect fees or charges to recover the costs they incur in relation to:

(a)

official controls performed on animals and goods referred to in points (d), (e) and (f) of Article 47(1);

(b)

official controls performed at the request of the operator, to obtain the approval provided for in Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 183/2005;

(c)

official controls which were not originally planned, and which;

  1. (i)

    have become necessary following the detection of a case of non-compliance by the same operator, during an official control performed in accordance with this Regulation; and

  2. (ii)

    are performed to assess the extent and the impact of the case of non-compliance or to verify that the non-compliance has been remedied.

3.

Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, F2competent authorities may F3decide to reduce the amount of, or waive, the fees or charges, after having had regard to any considerations that the competent authority considers to be relevant, including, but not limited to:

(a)

the interests of operators with a low throughput;

(b)

the traditional methods used for production, processing and distribution;

(c)

the needs of operators located in regions subject to specific geographical constraints; and

(d)

the operators’ record of compliance with the relevant rules referred to in Article 1(2) as ascertained through official controls.

4.

F4Competent authorities may decide that fees and charges calculated in accordance with point (b) of Article 82(1) shall not be collected below the amount at which, taking into account the cost of collection and the overall income expected from the fees and charges, the collection of that fee or charge would be uneconomical.

5.

This Article shall not apply to official controls performed to verify compliance with the rules referred to in points (i) and (j) of Article 1(2).