COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 220/91 of 30 January 1991 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 on producer groups and associations thereof
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 of 19 June 1978 on producer groups and associations thereof (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3808/89 (2), and in particular Article 6 (3) thereof,
Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2083/80 of 31 July 1980 laying down detailed rules of application concerning the economic activity of producer groups and associations thereof (3), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2238/89 (4), has been substantially amended on a number of occasions; whereas it is appropriate, for reasons of clarity and rationality, to consolidate the said Regulation;
Whereas, in accordance with the provision referred to above, it is for the Commission to determine the detailed implementing rules on the minimum cultivated area, turnover, or volume of production coming from members which these groups or associations must represent and, if necessary, the minimum number of members they shall have;
Whereas, even those sectors where cultivated area could be used, volume of production constitutes a more reliable criterion of the efficiency of groups and associations; whereas volume of production also provides a better basis for long-term reference than turnover, which is subject to rapid variations in monetary values; whereas, however, turnover constitutes an appropriate criterion for certain sectors, in particular those less important sectors where, in view of the difficulty in determining a full list of specific limits, a single reference basis should be used;
Whereas, in view of the structure of agriculture in the regions and sectors covered by Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78, supply cannot be concentrated efficiently unless the information on volume of production or turnover of the producer groups is accompanied by an indication of the minimum number of members such as to facilitate participation by producers who, although they are geared towards the market in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78, are only small-scale producers;
Whereas the detailed rules relating to the economic activity of groups, while taking account of the situation in the regions referred to in Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78, should enable production and supply to be effectively adjusted to the concentration and growing requirements of demand; whereas, therefore, while encouraging a multiplicity of groups and associations; they should avoid excessive fragmentation in these regions;
Whereas certain differences in the volume and structure of demand in the various regions referred to in Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 make it appropriate to modulate the limits envisaged;
Whereas, in particular, the major differences in total production between the various regions of the Italian Republic justify the minimum volume of production controlled by groups in that country being proportional, subject to certain conditions, to the level of regional production; whereas, moreover, it is justified in the case of Italy for the number of members and the minimum volume of production to be set fairly high, as it is likely that the initiative to form groups will be taken mainly by the trade organizations, which are capable of mobilizing a large number of producers and of involving a fairly large amount of production; whereas, however, account should be taken of the far-reaching structural deficiencies in the supply of agricultural products in the Mezzogiorno and in the upland areas of the remainder of Italy;
Whereas in Portugal, since the fact that 'alentejanos de montado' pigs are reared extensively makes estimating national production difficult, the minimum share of national production volume required of associations in this sector should not be set;
Whereas for holdings in the Greek, Balearic and Canary Islands the far-reaching structural deficiencies in the supply of agricultural products justify a reduction of the minimum volumes of production;
Whereas requirements to guarantee the economic scale of the associations should also be laid down;
Whereas the sugar sector is characterized by a system of production quotas accompanied by specific provisions concerning inter-trade agreements; whereas for that reason Council Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 of 30 June 1981 on the common organization of the markets in the sugar sector (5), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2787/90 (6), lays down that Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 is not applicable to the sugar-beet sector as long as a quota system exists; whereas the limits in question should not therefore be set for that sector;
Whereas in the olive-oil sector account must be taken of the special provisions on the composition of groups of associations as laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 136/66/EEC of 22 September 1966 on the establishment of the common organization of the market in oils and fats (7), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3577/90 (8);
Whereas this Regulation does not cover the fishery and aquaculture products sector, which are subject to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3796/81 of 29 December 1981 on the common organization of the market in fishery products (9), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2886/89 (10);
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 789/89 (11) included locust beans in the common organization market in fruit and vegetables and, consequently, Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 no longer applies in the locust bean sector;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 (12), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 53/91 (13), instituted a combined goods nomenclature based on the Harmonized Community Description and Coding System;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Structures and Rural Development,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1
1. The minimum volume of annual production of turnover and the minimum number of members which the producer groups should represent, within the meaning of Article 6 (1) (e) of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78, shall be as laid down in the Annex.
In the Italian administrative regions in which the average production is lower than the minimum annual volume of production or minimum turnover provided for in the Annex, the minimum volume of production and number of members required of a producer group shall be reduced by 50 %.
Where they request recognition of products other than those listed in the Annex, the producer groups must have at least:
- an annual turnover of ECU 1 million or, in the case of Greece, ECU 500 000,
- 50 members.
The third subparagraph shall not apply to the sugarbeet sector.
2. The volume of production or the turnover referred to in paragraph 1 shall be in respect of products actually marketed or, in the case of the oliveoil sector, actually produced by the producers who are members of the producer group and shall be calculated as an average over three years prior to the application for recognition. Article 2
1. Notwithstanding Article 1, in those administrative districts of Italy where average production over the three years prior to 3 August 1980 exceeds 20 times the minimum volume of production for each sector, the groups must represent a minimum of 5 % of regional production, except in the sectors of oil seeds, live trees and other plants, bulbs, roots and the like, cut flowers and ornamental foliage, and honey.
Calculation of production in the various regions as provided for in the preceding subparagraph:
- shall be made on the basis of the official statistics of the Member State for the three years prior to 3 August 1980;
- shall be updated every five years.
For the purposes of these calculations, the figures may be rounded off to the nearest 1 000 or 100 depending on the orders of magnitude involved.
2. The minimum volume of production provided for in Article 1 and in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be reduced by:
- 30 % for producer groups made up mainly of farmers with farms situated in the Mezzogiorno and in areas covered by Article 3 (3) of Council Directive 75/268/EEC (14),
- 50 % for producers groups made up mainly of farmers with farms situated in the Balearic Islands or the Canary Islands. Article 3
1. For the purposes of Article 6 (1) (e) of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78, and without prejudice to paragraph 2, associations must account for a combined volume of production or turnover which:
(a) is at last three times the minimum size laid down for groups in the region in which they are registered;
(b) is no lower than 5 % of national production or, in the case of France, no lower than 5 % of:
- either the production of the metropolitan regions covered by Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78,
- or the production of a given overseas department.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1:
(a) in the case of Italy, associations must be composed of at least five recognized producer groups operating in five different administrative regions, this threshold being changed to:
- 10 recognized producer groups active in five administrative regions for olive oil producers,
- four recognized producer groups active in two administrative regions for producers of tropical fruit, medicinal plants and rice,
- three recognized producer groups active in two administrative regions for producers of buffalo meat;
(b) in the case of France, associations must consist of at least five recognized producer groups operating in two departments. In the olive oil sector, associations must number at least 5 000 producers and produce at least 1 000 tonnes of oil; in the table wine and musts sector associations must consist of at least three recognized groups and number at least 600 members;
(c) in the case of Belgium, associations must comply with the minimum requirements as regards area cultivated, turnover, share of national production and number of recognized producer groups laid down in point III of the Annex, and must cover at least one province;
(d) in the case of Greece, associations must comply with the minimum requirements as regards area cultivated (or equivalent), turnover, share of national production and number of recognized producer groups laid down in point IV of the Annex. For products not listed in the Annex, associations must consist of at least three recognized groups. The minimum area covered by the associations must be at least ten communes situated within a homogeneous area;
(e) in the case of Spain, associations must comply within the minimum requirements as regards area cultivated, turnover and share of national production laid down in point V of the Annex. Both for products listed in the Annex and for other products, associations must consist of at least five recognized groups and cover at least the area of one autonomous community;
(f) in the case of Portugal, associations must comply with the minimum requirements as regards area cultivated, turnover, share of national production and number of recognized producer groups laid down in point VI of the Annex. For products not listed in the Annex, associations must consist of at least three recognized groups and cover at least the area of one district;
(g) in the case of Ireland, associations must comply with the minimum requirements as regards area cultivated, turnover, share of national production and number of recognized producer groups laid down in point VII of the Annex. Irish associations must cover at least the area of one province. Article 4
1. Regulation (EEC) No 2083/80 is hereby repealed.
2. All references to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation. Article 5
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third 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, 30 January 1991.