Commission Regulation (EC) No 659/97 of 16 April 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards intervention arrangements in the fruit and vegetables sector

• Published date: 17 April 1997
• Subject Matter: Fruit and vegetables
• Official Gazette Publication: Official Journal of the European Communities, L 100, 17 April 1997

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31997R0659

Commission Regulation (EC) No 659/97 of 16 April 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards intervention arrangements in the fruit and vegetables sector

Official Journal L 100 , 17/04/1997 P. 0022 - 0038

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 659/97 of 16 April 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards intervention arrangements in the fruit and vegetables sector

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (1), and in particular Articles 30 (6), 48 and 57 thereof,

Whereas Title IV of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 establishes the intervention arrangements for the products referred to in Article 1 (2) thereof; whereas the detailed rules of application must therefore be laid down;

Whereas, in relation to products, the terms 'not put up for sale` and 'withdrawn from the market` should be treated as equivalent and should be included in a single definition; whereas it should also be clarified that the provisions on packaging requirements do not apply to the products withdrawn from the market;

Whereas the marketing years for the products listed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 must be established;

Whereas, to apply the limits laid down in Article 23 and 24 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, the 'marketed quantity` of a given product marketed by a producer organization must be defined, taking account of the production actually disposed of by the producer organization in question, the production from other producer organizations and the production of producers not affiliated to any producer organization;

Whereas Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 requires Member States to notify the Commission of the prices recorded on representative producer markets for certain products and for certain periods; whereas a list of those markets and of the products in question should therefore be drawn up;

Whereas Article 26 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 establishes the Community withdrawal compensation for the products listed in Annex II to that Regulation; whereas a system should be introduced for paying this compensation in such a way as to ensure that the limits laid down in Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 are complied with at all times;

Whereas, to prevent irregularities in applying the scheme and to ensure its transparency, the producer organizations must notify the responsible monitoring authorities in advance of each withdrawal; whereas, in the absence of this notification, the product can be disposed of only after authorization from the Member State; whereas, furthermore, a communications system for the producer organizations and the Member States should be set up;

Whereas, for the implementation of Article 25 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, the time limits should be laid down for presenting the measures taken by the Member States to ensure environmentally sound practice in the withdrawal operations;

Whereas the first, second and third indents of point (a) of Article 30 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 provide that the fruit and vegetables withdrawn from the market in accordance with Article 23 (1) and which remain unsold may be distributed free, both within and outside the Community, as humanitarian aid to certain needy categories of the population through charitable organizations; whereas the charitable organizations should be approved beforehand;

Whereas, in the case of free distribution of fruit and vegetables withdrawn from the market, the transport costs are to be borne by the Community pursuant to Article 30 (6) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96; whereas it must be stipulated that those costs must be paid to the consignor who has borne the cost of transport; whereas flat rates should be laid down for the defrayal of such costs;

Whereas, in the case of free distribution of apples and citrus fruits withdrawn from the market, the actual costs of sorting and packaging may be defrayed by the Community pursuant to Article 30 (6) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, up to a specific limit; whereas, to qualify for this measure, the charitable organizations and the producer organizations must conclude contractual agreements; whereas provisions governing such agreements should be laid down;

Whereas the procedures for the physical and documentary monitoring of the intervention and free distribution operations must be laid down; whereas, in cases of infringement, deterrent penalties that are in line with the seriousness of the offence should be stipulated; whereas the monitoring operations must cover the producer organizations and charitable organizations involved;

Whereas, for the 1997 marketing year and as a transitional measure, producer organizations which have submitted an operational programme in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 411/97 (2) should be allowed to supplement the Community withdrawal compensation;

Whereas it is necessary to repeal Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3587/86 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1363/95 (4), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 827/90 (5), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 771/95 (6), Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2103/90 (7), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1363/95, Regulation (EEC) No 2276/92 (8), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1363/95, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 113/97 (9), whose provisions have become obsolete or are to be replaced by this Regulation;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables and the Committee of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

Intervention arrangements

Article 1

This Regulation lays down the detailed rules for the application of the intervention arrangements provided for in Title IV of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 and applies to the products referred to in Article 1 (2) thereof.

Article 2

1. For the purposes of this Regulation, products 'withdrawn from the market` and 'not put up for sale` mean products which are not sold via a producer organization, in accordance with the intervention arrangements referred to in Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.

2. Products withdrawn from the market must comply with the standards in force if such standards have been adopted pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96. However, in that event, the standards on packaging and wrapping shall not apply.

Article 3

1. For each product the 'marketed quantity` of a producer organization, as referred to in Article 23 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, shall be the sum of:

(a) the production of members actually sold through the producer organization or processed by it;

(b) the production of members of a producer organization sold directly by its members as provided for in the first and fourth indents of Article 11 (1) (c) (3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96;

(c) the production of members of other producer organizations marketed through the producer organization concerned in accordance with the second and third indents of Article 11 (1) (c) (3) thereof.

The marketed quantity referred to in the first subparagraph shall not include the marketed production of members of a producer organization who are authorized to sell in accordance with the second and third indents of Article 11 (1) (c) (3).

2. The marketed production referred to in Article 23 (4) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 shall be equivalent to the marketed quantity as defined in paragraph 1.

Article 4

The marketing years for products qualifying for Community withdrawal compensation in accordance with...