Brussels, 17/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 16 April, the management committee of the EU voted in favour of a draft regulation aiming to provide compensation to pig farmers in regions of Lithuania hit by commercial restrictions as a result of the two cases of African swine fever detected in wild boars near to the border with Belarus.
The measures are similar to those agreed for Poland last month (see EUROPE 11044), apart from the fact that in the case of Lithuania, slaughtered piglets will also be eligible for aid. The level of the aid for slaughter pigs will be €30/100 kg. The aid measure will apply between 17 February and 16 May and will be limited to 7,600 piglets and 700 tonnes of pig carcasses. The total cost of the aid for Lithuanian pig farmers will be €292,000, half of which (€146,000) will come from the EU budget. In the case of Poland, the maximum cost of the aid regime is €7.1 million, 50% of which will be paid for out of the EU budget. The regulation on the compensation for Lithuanian farmers will be formally adopted by the European Commission on 25 April and will be published in the Official Journal of the EU the day after. (LC)