2454 final report.pdf - Agra CEAS Consulting

Evaluation of the Community Plant Health Regime: Final Report
DG SANCO Evaluation Framework Contract Lot 3 (Food Chain)
CPHR obligations; and, better understanding of the drivers of costs behind each CPHR
obligation.
Following this, the main cost survey was developed and launched in October 2009. This
survey aimed at getting specific data on the costs (distinguishing between the
administrative 20 and the substantive compliance costs of the CPHR), the fees system, the
Community financing, the national cost-sharing schemes, the benefits as well as the way to
improve the cost-benefit balance in the future.
1.5.2 Development of a cost matrix and cost model
The evaluation of the costs was based on a cost model specifically developed for this purpose.
The model distinguishes between input parameters, calculation, and model output, as
illustrated in the figure below.
Different approaches were used to estimate the administrative costs and the other operational
costs, as required in the ToR:
The administrative costs were estimated using the Standard Cost Model approach. The
total administrative cost is calculated as P x Q where: Q is the number of times per year
(occurrences) that each information obligation has to be complied with, multiplied by
the number of entities concerned; P is the administrative cost per entity of complying
with the obligation. P is the sum of staff costs and equipment costs. The staff costs
include the annual gross salary of the personnel and a part of the overheads costs
(estimated by default at 25% of the gross salary);
The other operational costs (called ‗Substantive compliance costs‘) were assessed from
a general perspective, as a total amount in €, for the different CPHR obligations
classified as ‗compliance obligations‘.
In total, 13 obligations were considered in the cost model. For each of these, costs were
estimated on an average annual basis. A 14 th obligation refers to the implementation of
measures to eradicate or inhibit the spread of HO, which cannot be estimated on an annual
basis (as the number and intensity of outbreaks may vary in time) and this has therefore been
considered separately.
Finally, the costs associated with the general surveillance (i.e. the surveillance for other
organisms than those covered by the Community emergency measures and Control
Directives) and exports checks have also been analysed. Although these costs do not refer to
CPHR obligations, for specific HO they have been considered because:
20 Introducing questions on administrative costs into the cost survey was not originally foreseen in the Inception
Report (data on the administrative costs were to be collected during the field visits). Such questions concern all
entities relevant for agriculture, horticulture, forestry and the environment and therefore do not focus specifically
on the apple tree sector as foreseen in the Inception Report, mainly because, as discussed and agreed with the
SG, focusing on such a specific case would not provide us with the required data to be able to extrapolate
administrative costs for all sectors at EU level.
Food Chain Evaluation Consortium 11