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COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 3403/89
of 13 November 1989
amending Regulation (EEC) No 2159/89 laying down detailed rules for applying the specific measures for nuts and locust beans as provided for in Title IIa of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 of 18 May 1972 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1119/89 (2), and in particular Article 14g thereof,
Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2159/89 (3) lays down the conditions for granting the aid for which nut and locust-bean producers' organizations may qualify under certain conditions;
Whereas, in order to facilitate the way in which those producers' organizations operate and in order to implement the quality and marketing improvement plans more expeditiously, provision should be made for the payment of advances;
Whereas the conditions for granting such advances and the amount thereof should be specified; whereas, however, the payment of the advance must be conditional on the lodging of a security such as to guarantee fulfilment of the beneficiaries' obligations; whereas the conditions for the lodging and release of the security must be determined;
Whereas the provisional conversion rate applicable to the maximum amount of the annual aid must be fixed where advances are paid on aid for implementing quality and marketing improvement plans;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fruit and Vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EEC) No 2159/89 is hereby amended as follows:
1. The following paragraph is added to Article 19:
'Except in cases of force majeure, an application submitted after the abovementioned period shall result in a 5% reduction of the aid; no application can be accepted after a delay exceeding 30 days.'
2. The following Article 22a is inserted:
'Article 22a
1. Member States may grant to producers' organizations which apply therefor advances on the aid for the establishment of a revolving fund and on the aid for implementing quality and marketing improvement plans.
2. In the case of aid for the establishment of the revolving fund, and advance may be paid once only:
- in respect of an application submitted at the latest within the 18 months following specific recognition and in the form set out in Annex V,
- where the applicant producers' organization furnishes proof that the fund's capital has been constituted as provided for in Article 14c (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72.
The amount of the advance shall not exceed 60% of the total financial contribution from the Member State and the Community to the financing of the revolving fund set up on the basis of estimated sales data for the marketing year following specific recognition, in accordance with point 6 of Annex V.
Where the advance is paid, the application for the balance of the aid shall be submitted in the form set out in Annex VI.
3. In the case of aid for implementing the plan, applications for an advance may be submitted, in the form set out in Annex VII, after approval of the plan. Only one application shall be submitted for each year of implementation of the plan on the submission of proof that the annual phase of implementation has begun. The proof, accompanied by supporting documents, must relate to at least 20% of the estimate referred to in point 7 of Annex VII.
The amount of the advance shall not exceed 80% of the total financial contribution from the Member State and the Community to the annual cost of implementing the plan, as estimated by the producers' organization and referred to in point 7 of Annex VII.
Such advance must not, however, exceed 90% of the amount referred to in Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 790/89. To this end, the rate to be applied for the conversion of the abovementioned maximum amount into national currency shall be the agricultural conversion rate in force on 1 September preceding the application for the advance.
The application for payment of the balance of the aid, in respect of an annual phase of implementation of the plan, shall be submitted in the form set out in Annex VIII.
4. The payment of the advances referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be conditional on the applicants' furnishing proof that a security equal to 110% of the advance has been lodged.
The security shall be lodged in accordance with Title VIII of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 (1).
5. The security shall be released forthwith:
(a) in respect of the advance on the aid referred to in paragraphe 2, once the balance of the aid has been paid;
(b) in respect of the advance on the aid referred to in paragraph 3, once the balance of the annual tranche of aid has been paid.
6. The security shall be forfeit in part if the advance exceeds the amount of the aid to be paid in the year; the security shall remain forfeit to the extent of the amount paid in error.
7. The security shall be forfeit in full:
- in respect of the aid for the setting-up of the revolving fund, if the application for aid has not been lodged within four months of the end of the second marketing year following the date of specific recognition of the producers' organization,
- in respect of the aid for the plan, if the application for the balance of the aid for the year has not been submitted in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 19.
Without prejudice to paragraph 6, if applications for the balance of the aid for the year are submitted after the abovementioned time limit but within a delay of not more than 15 days, 10% of the security shall be forfeit.
(1) OJ No L 205, 3. 8. 1985, p. 5.'
3. The Annex to this Regulation is added.
Article 2
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, 13 November 1989.