The person named applied on 118 ewes under the 2003 ewe premium scheme, which he declared to be in his ownership and possession at the time of application on 6 January 2003 and which he undertook to keep on his holding up to 13 April 2003. At an inspection of his flock on 17 December 2003 only 84 ewes were presented. The person named was unable to account for the 34 missing ewes. He was given the opportunity to submit sales dockets to prove that he disposed of the 34 ewes after the retention period but he failed to do so. As the person named failed to satisfy my Department that he had 118 ewes when he applied in early 2003, he cannot be paid 2003 ewe premium according to the relevant EU regulations.