COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 585/93 of 12 March 1993 on the implementation of promotional and publicity measures in respect of milk and milk products
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1079/77 of 17 May 1977 on a co-responsibility levy and on the measures for expanding the markets in milk and milk products (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1374/92 (2), and in particular Article 4 thereof,
Whereas promotional and publicity measures for milk and milk products were introduced in the Community in 1978 and have continued since then owing to their effectiveness in expanding the markets in milk products in the Member States; whereas they should accordingly be continued and duly qualified organizations should again be invited to propose detailed programmes of measures which they themselves would carry out;
Whereas the organizations which will be responsible for the measures must satisfy certain conditions; whereas, in particular, care must be taken to ensure that milk products from the Community are promoted; whereas the guidelines to be followed in this context were laid down in Commission communication 86/C 272/03 concerning State involvement in the promotion of agricultural and fisheries products (3); whereas the activities of the organizations concerned as a whole must not in particular be liable to clash with the aim of promoting the disposal of milk products; whereas it is therefore essential that proposals from organizations whose activities also cover the production, distribution or sales-promotion of products imitating milk and milk products should be barred;
Whereas the provisions of this Regulation should not affect Council Regulations (EEC) No 2081/92 (4) and (EEC) No 2082/92 (5) on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs and on certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs;
Whereas, in order to ensure that the deadline for the presentation of the report by the contractor is complied with, provision should be made whereby, if that deadline is exceeded, an amount shall be withheld from the Community funds allocated;
Whereas the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Subject to the conditions laid down in this Regulation, publicity and promotional measures for the human consumption of milk and milk products in the Community shall be partially financed.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 above, 'measures' shall mean any publicity or promotional measure, including referring to the products' nutritional characteristics, which is selected by the Commission in accordance with the procedure set out in
Article 5
hereof.
3. Measures shall be carried out within two years of the signing of contracts as referred to in Article 5 (1).
4. The time limit fixed in paragraphe 3 above shall not prevent measures as referred to in paragraph 2, implemented on or after 1 May 1993, from qualifying for Community financing.
Article 2
1. The measures:
(a) shall be proposed by organizations which have several years' experience of promoting milk and milk products, have the necessary qualifications to carry out the proposed measures and can ensure the satisfactory completion of the work;
(b) shall be carried out as far as possible by the organization which has made the proposal. In cases where that organization must use subcontractors, the proposal must contain a duly justified application for a derogation.
2. Such measures shall:
- make use of the publicity media best suited to ensure maximum effectiveness for the measure undertaken,
- take account of the particular conditions obtaining with regard to the marketing and consumption of the milk and milk products in the various regions of the Community,
- take account of the special need to dispose of milk-fat,
- be of a generic nature and not orientated on particular brand names or firms,
- promote Community milk products without reference to their country or region of manufacture; however, this condition shall not exclude the mention of the traditional name of a product which includes a specified locality, region or country of the Community, without prejudice to the provisions deriving from the rules on designations of origin and certificates of specific character,
- not replace similar measures but, where appropriate, expand them,
- mention the Community's financial contribution to the measures concerned.
Proposals put forward by organizations whose activities are wholly or partly concerned with the production, distribution or sales-promotion of products imitating milk and milk product shall not be taken into consideration.
3. Community financing shall be limited to 90 %.
4. For the purposes of applying paragraph 3, no account shall be taken of administrative expenses incurred in carrying out the measures in question.
5. The contractor's overhead costs, including those of any subcontractors, shall be borne only up to a maximum of 2 % of total eligible expenditure, with a ceiling of ECU 10 000, provided that they are contained in the proposal. A contractor may not claim the maximum amount of ECU 10 000 more than once, even if he concludes several contracts. If the total overhead costs exceed ECU 2 000, they must be fully accounted for.
Article 3
1. Interested parties shall forward to the competent authority designated by the Member State in which the head office of the organization concerned is situated, (hereinafter referred to as 'the competent authority') detailed proposals concerning the measures in question, accompanied by a summary highlighting the main features of the proposed measures.
Should the proposed measures be carried out wholly or partly in the territory of one or more Member States other than that in which the head office of the organization concerned is situated, the organization shall send a copy of its proposal to each of the competent authorities in those other Member States.
Proposals must reach the competent authority before 15 April 1993. Where this date is not complied with, proposals shall be considered null and void.
2. Further rules for the submission of proposals shall be as set out in Annex I.
Article 4
1. Complete proposals shall include:
(a) the name and address of the party concerned;
(b) all details concerning the measures proposed, together with detailed descriptions and considerations indicating the time required for completion, the expected results and any third party who may be involved;
(c) a detailed presentation of the planned strategy for the whole programme and a summary of the proposal containing its main points;
(d) the price asked for these measures, net of taxes, expressed in ecus, giving an intemized breakdown of this amount (in accordance with the table in Annex II) and showing the relevant financing plan;
(e) the most recent report available on the party's activities, unless it is already in the possession of the competent authority.
2. Proposals shall be valid only where they are accompanied by a written undertaking to comply with the implementation criteria laid down by the Commission and put at the disposal of the parties concerned by the competent authority.
The implementation criteria shall be attached to the contract and shall form an integral part thereof.
Article 5
1. Before 10 May 1993, the competent authority shall compile a list of all the proposals received and forward it to the Commission, together with copies of each proposal, including any supporting documents, and a reasoned opinion indicating whether the proposal complies with the provisions applying.
The competent authority shall examine all proposals received and any supporting documents on a bilateral basis with the Commission and a group composed of experts on marketing, advertising and milk sales techniques.
After consulting the relevant economic groups and following examination by the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products of the proposals pursuant to Article 31 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 (6), the Commission shall establish as soon as possible a list of the proposals selected for financing and determine the date by which the competent authorities shall conclude with the interested parities contracts for the measures selected. The contracts shall be concluded in as many copies as there are signatories and shall be signed by the parties concerned and the competent authority. For that purpose the competent authorities shall use standard contracts to be provided by the Commission.
2. The competent authorities shall inform each applicant as soon as possible of the decision taken in respect of his proposal.
3. Conclusion of a contract shall be subject to the lodging of a security equal to 15 % of the planned maximum amount of the Community funding. The security is intended to ensure that the contract is properly carried out.
Article 6
1. Contracts shall include the details referred to in Article 4 or make reference to them and supplement those details, where necessary, by additional conditions.
2. The competent authorities:
(a) shall send a copy of the contract to the Commission forthwith;
(b) ensure compliance with the conditions of the contract, in particular by means of the following checks:
- administrative checks and audits to verify the costs financed and compliance with financing rules,
- checks to verify that measures are implemented in accordance with the provisions of the contract,
- other on-the-spot checks, where necessary.
Contracting parties must be subject to at least two inspections during the period of validity of the contract.
Article 7
1. The financing shall be paid by the competent authority to the contractor in full in the form of a single advance transfer by 30 September 1993 at the latest.
2. For this purpose each contractor shall lodge a security equal to 120 % of the Community financing with the competent authority, at the latest when the contract is signed.
3. The securities referred to in paragraph 2 and in Article 5 (3) shall be released subject to:
(a) the forwarding to the Commission and to the competent authority of the report referred to in Article 8 (1) and to verification of the details contained in that report;
(b) confirmation by the competent authority that the party concerned has fulfilled his obligations under the contract; and
(c) confirmation by the competent authority that the party concerned or any third party named in the contract has spent his own contribution for the purposes laid down.
4. Where securities are forfeit the amount in question shall be deducted from the expenditure of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guarantee Section, expenditure and more particularly from expenditure arising out of the measures referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 1079/77.
Article 8
1. Each party responsible for one of the measures concerned shall submit to the Commission and to the competent authority, within four months of the final date fixed in the contract for implementing the measures, a detailed report on the utilization of the Community funds allocated and on the foreseeable results of the measures in question, in particular as regards the trend in sales of milk and milk products. If that report is submitted later than four months after that final date, 10 % of the Community contribution shall be withheld for each month commenced after expiry of that time limit.
2. The competent authority concerned shall forward to the Commission a statement to the effect that each contract has been performed satisfactorily, together with a copy of the final report.
Article 9
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 12 March 1993.