Decree-Law No. 119/2012 creating the Sanitary and Food Security Fund Plus.

This Decree-Law, consisting of 19 articles, creates, within the Ministry of Agriculture, the Sea, the Environment and Land Planning, the Sanitary and Food Security Fund Plus, and the food security tax. The Fund is an autonomous entity, without legal personality and endowed with administrative and financial autonomy. The objectives of the Fund aiming to protect food safety and consumer health and to comply with European quality standards are: a) to finance the costs of carrying out official controls in the field of food safety, animal health and plant protection; b) to support the prevention and eradication of animal and plant diseases including parasite infestations, sanitary controls, testing and other measures for the screening, purchase and administration of vaccines, medicinal products and plant protection products, slaughter and destruction of crops; c) support the preservation of genetic heritage or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies; d) encourage the development of the quality of agricultural products. The provisions of this Decree-Law do not apply to the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira.