Bureau d'Intervention et de Restitution belge / Belgisch Interventie en Restitutiebureau

The BIRB is a federal institution and was liquidated as of 1 January 2015 and dissolved on 31 December 2015. The building owned by the BIRB and where most of the offices are located was transferred to the federal government, together with the working capital, i.e. the registered capital and reserves. The burdens of the past, in other words the legal disputes of the BIRB in the context of its activities as an accredited paying agency, were also transferred to the federal government. The other assets, rights and obligations were transferred to the Regions.

The BIRB is a parastatal institution, which is also accredited as a paying agency under the European Union's common agricultural policy (CAP) to execute payments financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF). The BIRB is in charge of paying financial compensation to operators who are not producers and of controlling such expenditure. These interventions take the form of refunds (export subsidies), interventions (direct purchase or surplus storage aid) or support measures (production, processing and promotion aid).