Commission Regulation (EC) No 1898/2005 of 9 November 2005 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards measures for the disposal of cream, butter and concentrated butter on the Community market

• Coming into Force: 02 December 2005,15 December 2005
• End of Effective Date: 30 June 2009
• Celex Number: 32005R1898
• ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2005/1898/oj
• Published date: 24 December 2008
• Date: 09 November 2005
• Court: European Commission

25.11.2005 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 308/1

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1898/2005

of 9 November 2005

laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards measures for the disposal of cream, butter and concentrated butter on the Community market

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products (1), and in particular Articles 10, 15 and 40 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) In the light of the experience gained in recent years, further changes should be made to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2571/97 of 15 December 1997 on the sale of butter at reduced prices and the granting of aid for cream, butter and concentrated butter for use in the manufacture of pastry products, ice-cream and other foodstuffs (2) in order to simplify the aid scheme.

(2) In the interests of harmonisation, that Regulation should also cover the other schemes for the disposal of the same products, provided for in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2191/81 of 31 July 1981 on the granting of aid for the purchase of butter by non-profit-making institutions and organisations (3), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 429/90 of 20 February 1990 on the granting by invitation to tender of an aid for concentrated butter intended for direct consumption in the Community (4) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1609/88 of 9 June 1988 setting the latest time of entry into storage for butter sold under Regulations (EEC) No 3143/85 and (EC) No 2571/97 (5).

(3) In the interests of clarity and rationality, Regulations (EEC) No 2191/81, (EEC) No 1609/88, (EEC) No 429/90 and (EC) No 2571/97 should therefore be repealed and replaced by a new Regulation.

(4) The intervention arrangements provided for in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3143/85 of 11 November 1985 on the sale at reduced prices of intervention butter intended for direct consumption in the form of concentrated butter (6) and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3378/91 of 20 November 1991 laying down detailed rules for the sale of butter from intervention stocks for export and amending Regulation (EEC) No 569/88 (7) have not been applied for some years and the current market situation does not warrant keeping them.

(5) Regulations (EEC) No 3143/85 and (EEC) No 3378/91 should therefore be repealed.

(6) There are surpluses on the Community butter market. Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 provides that when surpluses of milk products build up, or are likely to occur, the Commission may decide that aid is to be granted to enable cream, butter and concentrated butter to be obtained at reduced prices by purchasers for the purposes provided for.

(7) There are also substantial stocks on the Community butter market, formed as a result of intervention operations carried out under Article 6(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999. It is not possible to dispose of all these stocks in the normal way during the milk year. Special measures referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 6(4) of that Regulation should therefore be taken to facilitate disposal of the butter.

(8) Butter sold after intervention operations must have been taken into storage before a date to be determined. That date should be set in the light of the market situation, butter stock trends and available quantities.

(9) For the purposes of defining what kinds of butter and cream are eligible for aid for the manufacture of pastry products, ice-cream and other foodstuffs, it should be specified that in order to qualify for the aid, butter and cream must meet the requirements laid down in Article 6(3) and (6) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999.

(10) In order to ensure that only products offering a high standard of health protection are subsidised, butter, concentrated butter and cream eligible for aid should meet the requirements of Council Directive 92/46/EEC of 16 June 1992 laying down the health rules for the production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products (8). In particular, they should be prepared in an approved establishment and comply with the health marking requirements specified in Section A of Chapter IV of Annex C to that Directive.

(11) It should be specified that, with the exception of products falling within CN code ex 0405 10 30, products falling within CN codes 0401 to 0406 and certain mixtures may not be treated as intermediate products.

(12) In the case of concentrated butter, in the interests of clarity, it should be confirmed that the production method which has been in use for many years may include fractionation, to take account of technological developments in the production and use of the raw material. It should also be accepted that concentrated butter may be obtained, in an approved establishment, from cream, butter or milkfat falling within CN code ex 0405 90 10 produced within a limited maximum period before its use in the manufacture of concentrated butter. In this case, the milkfat should be put up, packaged and transported in accordance with certain requirements.

(13) In order to monitor the destination of subsidised products, rules should be laid down on the use and detection of tracers in such products and on the minimum content of tracers. In addition, certain tracers which are added in large quantities should be excluded.

(14) In order to facilitate verification of compliance with the time limit for incorporation of products under this scheme into final products, the number of the tendering procedure should be indicated on the packaging.

(15) The establishments at which the different manufacturing, processing and incorporation operations covered by this scheme are carried out, including the manufacture of milkfat, should be approved. In order to obtain approval, establishments should meet a number of conditions and give various undertakings. Where certain conditions or undertakings are not met, approval should be withdrawn or suspended for a period reflecting the seriousness of the breach.

(16) In order to ensure that all purchasers have equal access to the butter and that the aid is set at the level which is strictly necessary, and in order to supervise the quantities concerned effectively, the standing invitation to tender procedure should be used.

(17) In order to allow the Commission the flexibility it needs to manage the disposal measures properly, it should be allowed to decide that no award shall be made under a tendering procedure.

(18) The size of the reduction in the price, or the amount of aid when it is paid before the butter has reached its final destination, warrants the introduction of a system of securities, whether flat-rate tendering securities or processing securities fixed according to the price or aid amount, intended to ensure that the successful tenderers actually fulfil their obligations. However, certain derogations should be made from Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 of 22 July 1985 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of securities for agricultural products (9) to take account of the specific features of the disposal measures.

(19) To ensure that the disposal measures are applied in a uniform fashion and that the supervision procedures are effective, the subsidised products, whether or not tracers have been added, either without further processing or processed into concentrated butter, should be incorporated into final products within set deadlines. For the aid and the processing security, a penalty in butter equivalent should be calculated for cases where the subsidised products are not used and incorporated into final products by the deadline set. However, if for duly justified commercial reasons the basic products containing tracers cannot be used by the purchaser, the successful tenderer should be allowed, under certain conditions, to rework those products.

(20) In view of the current market situation and the reductions in the amount of aid fixed by tendering procedure during recent years, the tendering security should be reduced.

(21) Sold butter should, in principle, be under supervision from the time it leaves storage until it is incorporated into final products as defined. A distinction should be made between the supervision measures designed to ensure that subsidised products are not used for purposes other than their intended use according to whether or not the butter contains tracers and according to the quantities used and the size of the establishments using the products. Adequate supervision measures should also be adopted for milkfat, butter and cream intended for the manufacture of concentrated butter, including checks to ensure that those products do not contain fats other than butterfat.

(22) Disposal measures may include the grant of aid for concentrated butter intended for direct consumption. To ensure that such aid is fixed at the level which is strictly necessary and to supervise the quantities concerned effectively, a standing invitation to tender procedure should be used, which will also ensure equal access for interested operators. Moreover, aid should be granted only for butter offering a high standard of health protection.

(23) Steps should be taken to ensure differentiation at all stages of marketing between concentrated butter intended for direct consumption and other types of butter. To that end, provisions should be adopted concerning the

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