Brussels, 08/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - The EU's Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) said on Wednesday that it was following closely the issue of compensations paid to British livestock farmers for the slaughter of their herds of animals having contracted foot-and-mouth, while remaining cautious as to its intentions of whether r not to launch an investigation into allegations of fraud against the Community budget. "For now, we are examining three reports from the Food and Veterinary Office drawn up in April handed to us by the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Protection. Should it transpire that there was indeed fraud, we shall launch an enquiry", said Olaf's spokesman, recalling that the European Commission has to contribute to the tune of 60% of the total bill for "foot-and-mouth".
This "swelling" of the bill has led to dispute in Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom due to breeders being made "millionaires" through compensation. The British press revealed last weekend that 37 farmers had or were to be paid aid in excess of a million pounds (1.6 million euro). The disease should cost in all (compensation to farmers, cost of personnel, slaughter and veterinary inspections) some £2.2 billion (3.5 billion euro), close to half of which said to concern compensation for the slaughter of animals, said a spokesperson for the British Ministry of the Environment and Rural Affairs. Last week, the weekly The Independent on Sunday went as far as writing that, in the United Kingdom, there was a market for sheep afflicted with foot-and-mouth sold on to breeders who voluntarily contaminated their herds to benefit from compensation for slaughter.