Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2000:233
Date: 2000-05-11
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Agriculture and Fisheries;Beef and veal;Monetary measures in the field of agriculture
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Ireland

Summary of the Judgment 
1. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Export 
refunds — Special refunds on certain cuts of boned meat — Conditions for grant­
ing — Need for each piece of meat to be individually wrapped regardless of its nature 
(Commission Regulation No 1964/82, Art. 1) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-436/98 
2. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Export 
refunds — Special refunds on certain cuts of boned meat — Exclusion of trimmings 
whose weight is below a certain limit — Permissible 
(Commission Regulation No 1964/82, Arts 7 and 8) 
3. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Private 
storage aid — Storage aid in respect of carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters and 
forequarters from adult male bovine animals — Exclusion of trimmings left over from 
cutting or boning 
(Commission Regulation No 2675/88, Art. 4(4}) 
4. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Export 
refunds — Special refunds on certain cuts of boned meat — Carton of meat 
containing items prohibited by the legislation — Loss of entitlement to a refund in 
respect of the entire carton and forfeiture of the related security — Discretion enjoyed 
by the competent authority 
(Council Regulation No 565/80; Commission Regulations No 1964/82 and 
No 3665/87) 
5. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Private 
storage aid — Storage aid in respect of carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters and 
forequarters from adult male bovine animals — Carton of meat containing items 
prohibited by the legislation — Loss of entitlement to aid in respect of the entire 
carton and forfeiture of the related security — Discretion enjoyed by the competent 
authority 
(Commission Regulations No 1091/80, No 2220/85 and No 2675/88) 
6. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Export 
refunds — Special refunds on certain cuts of boned meat — Private storage aid — 
Storage aid in respect of carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters and forequarters from 
adult male bovine animals — Checks on cartons of meat revealing a deliberate and 
persistent policy of infringement of the legislation — Extrapolation of the results of 
those checks across the production of the plants concerned — Permissible 
(Council Regulation No 565/80; Commission Regulations No 1091/80, No 1964/82, 
No 2220/85, No 2675/88 and No 3665/87) 
7. Agriculture — Common organisation of the markets — Beef and veal — Private 
storage aid — Storage aid in respect of carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters and 
forequarters from adult male bovine animals — Sampling checks revealing a deliberate 
and persistent policy of infringement of the legislation — Extrapolation of the results 
of those checks across a body of products — Loss of entitlement to aid in respect of 
that body of products and forfeiture of the related security — Discretion enjoyed by 
the competent authority 
(Commission Regulations No 1091/80, Art. 5(2)(c), and No 2675/88, Art. 4(4)) 
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HMIL 
1. On a proper construction of Article 1 
of Regulation No 1964/82 laying 
down the conditions for granting spe­
cial export refunds on certain cuts of 
boned meat of bovine animals, as 
amended by Regulation No 3169/87, 
every piece of meat must be individu­
ally wrapped, whatever its size, weight 
and nature, and without distinguishing, 
in particular, between scraps and trim­
mings. 
(see para. 43 and operative part 1) 
2. On a proper construction of Articles 7 
and 8 of Regulation No 1964/82 laying 
down the conditions for granting spe­
cial export refunds on certain cuts of 
boned meat of bovine animals, as 
amended by Regulation No 3169/87, 
the Member States have the right to 
exclude from entitlement to special 
export refunds trimmings whose 
weight is below a certain limit, such 
as a limit of 100 grams. 
(see para. 43 and operative part 2) 
3. On a proper construction of Arti­
cle 4(4) of Regulation No 2675/88 
providing for the grant of private 
storage aid fixed at a standard rate in 
advance in respect of carcases, half-
carcases, hindquarters and forequarters 
from adult male bovine animals, as 
amended by Regulation No 3258/88, 
trimmings left over from cutting or 
boning, whatever their weight, do not 
qualify for private storage aid under 
contracts entered into pursuant to that 
regulation. 
(see para. 53 and operative part 3) 
4. On a proper construction of Regula­
tion No 1964/82 laying down the con­
ditions for granting special export 
refunds on certain cuts of boned meat 
of bovine animals, as amended by 
Regulation No 3169/87, of Regulation 
No 565/80 on the advance payment of 
export refunds in respect of agricul­
tural products, as amended by Regula­
tion No 2026/83, and of Regulation 
No 3665/87 laying down common 
detailed rules for the application of 
the system of export refunds on agri­
cultural products, as amended by Reg­
ulation No 3494/88 and Regulation 
No 3993/88, where the competent 
authority establishes that a carton of 
meat subject to the scheme covered by 
Regulation No 1964/82 contains items 
prohibited by the legislation, whether 
trimmings rolled up within other pieces 
of meat, separate pieces of fat rolled up 
within pieces of meat, or non-individu-
ally wrapped pieces of meat, those 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-436/98 
regulations permit it to hold that the 
entire contents of the carton do not 
qualify for special export refunds and 
to forfeit the security given for the 
advance payment made in respect of 
that carton plus 20%. 
(see para. 64 and operative part 4) 
5. On a proper construction of Regula­
tion No 2675/88 providing for the 
grant of private storage aid fixed at a 
standard rate in advance in respect of 
carcases, half-carcases, hindquarters 
and forequarters from adult male 
bovine animals, as amended by Regu­
lation No 3258/88, of Regulation 
No 1091/80 laying down detailed rules 
for granting private storage aid for beef 
and veal , and of Regula t ion 
No 2220/85 laying down common 
detailed rules for the application of 
the system of securities for agricultural 
products, as amended by Regulation 
No 1181/87, where the competent 
authority establishes that a carton of 
meat subject to the scheme covered by 
Regulation No 2675/88 contains items 
prohibited by Article 4(4) thereof, such 
as trimmings or pieces of fat rolled up 
within pieces of meat, those regulations 
permit it to hold that the entire con­
tents of the carton do not qualify for 
private storage aid and to forfeit the 
security given for the advance payment 
made in respect of that carton plus 
20%. 
(see para. 75 and operative part 5) 
6. On a proper construction of Regula­
tion No 1964/82 laying down the con­
ditions for granting special export 
refunds on certain cuts of boned meat 
of bovine animals, as amended by 
Regulation No 3169/87, of Regulation 
No 2675/88 providing for the grant of 
private storage aid fixed at a standard 
rate in advance in respect of carcases, 
half-carcases, hindquarters and fore-
quarters from adult male bovine ani­
mals, as amended by Regulation 
N o 3 2 5 8 / 8 8 , of R e g u l a t i o n 
No 565/80 on the advance payment 
of export refunds in respect of agricul­
tural products, as amended by Regula­
tion No 2026/83, of Regulation 
No 2220/85 laying down common 
detailed rules for the application of 
the system of securities for agricultural 
products, as amended by Regulation 
No 1 1 8 1 / 8 7 , of R e g u l a t i o n 
No 3665/87 laying down common 
detailed rules for the application of 
the system of export refunds on agri­
cultural products, as amended by Reg­
ulation No 3494/88 and Regulation 
No 3993/88, and of Regulation 
No 1091/80 laying down detailed rules 
for granting private storage aid for beef 
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HMIL 
and veal, where checks relating to 
cartons of meat reveal evidence in 
particular production plants of a delib­
erate and persistent policy of infringe­
ment of Regulations No 1964/82 and 
No 2675/88, the competent authority 
may extrapolate the results of those 
checks across the production of the 
production plants in question. 
(see para. 88 and operative part 6) 
7. Where the sampling checks have 
revealed evidence of a deliberate and 
persistent policy of storing material 
which does not qualify for the private 
storage aid scheme by virtue of Arti­
cle 4(4) of Regulation No 2675/88, the 
competent authority is permitted to 
refuse to grant private storage aid and 
to forfeit the security in its entirety, 
pursuant to Article 5(2)(c) of Regula­
tion No 1091/80, in respect of the 
whole of the material to which it has 
extrapolated the results of the check. 
(see para. 88 and operative part 7) 
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