1993R0536 — EN — 17.03.1993 — 000.001 — 1
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►B COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 536/93
of 9 March 1993
laying down detailed rules on the application of the additional levy on milk and milk products
(OJ L 57, 10.3.1993, p. 12)
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 273, 16.11.1995, p. 54(536/93)
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COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 536/93
of 9 March 1993
layingdowndetailedrulesontheapplicationoftheadditionallevy
on milk and milk products
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 of 28
December 1992 establishing an additional levy in the milk and milkproducts sector(
1), and in particular Article 11 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3813/92 of 28
December 1992 on the unit of account and the conversion rates to beapplied for the purposes of the common agricultural policy (
2), and in
particular Article 1 thereof,
Whereas the application of the arrangements regarding the additional
levy on milk and milk products were extended in accordance withRegulation (EEC) No 3950/92 for a further seven consecutive 12 monthperiods from 1 April 1993; whereas that Regulation repeals the previousprovisions concerned and replaces them; whereas new detailed rules forthe application of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 should accordingly belaid down and the detailed rules which the Commission adopted underthe previous arrangements should be repealed;
Whereas this Regulation concerns firstly the additional factors neces-
sary for the final calculation of the levy payable by producers, secondlythe measures to ensure payment of the levy in good time and lastly therules on checks permitting verification of proper collection of the levy;
Whereas the characteristics of milk which are considered to be repres-
entative and in particular the way its fat content is to be taken intoaccount when the final quantities is based on a reference fat content,which must, like the individual reference quantity to which it is related,be that available on 31 March 1993; whereas special provisions mustcover cases where the reference quantity for deliveries is increased orestablished by converting a reference quantity for direct sales; whereasthe experience gained demonstrates the need for very specific rulesapplicable to milk producers beginning production;
Whereas it is necessary to make it quite clear that under no circum-
stances can individual downward corrections relating to the fat contentof delivered milk result in a deduction from the levy payment of anyquantity in excess of the guaranteed total quantity in a Member State;
Whereas experience gained has shown that major delays in both the
transmission of figures on collections or direct sales and payment of thelevy, have prevented the arrangements from being fully effective;whereas, therefore, lessons should be learned from the past and thenecessary conclusions drawn by laying down strict requirements asregards notification and payment deadlines and providing for penaltieswhere deadlines are not met;
Whereas pursuant to Article 2 (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 the
Commission is responsible for laying down criteria for determiningwhich priority categories of producer are to benefit from reimbursementof the levy where the Member State has decided not to fully reallocateunused quantities in its territory; whereas a Member State may only beauthorized to use other criteria, in agreement with the Commission, inthe event that the criteria laid down by the Commission cannot be fullyapplied in that Member State;
(1) OJ No L 405, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 387, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1.
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Whereas under Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 purchasers bear chief
responsibility for the correct implementation of the arrangements;whereas it is therefore essential that Member States approve thepurchasers operating in their territory;
Whereas, lastly, the Member States must have suitable means of
conducting ex-post checks to verify whether and to what extent the levyhas been collected in accordance with the provisions in force; whereassuch checks must involve at least a certain number of measures whichshould be specified;
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
For the purposes of calculating the additional levy introduced by Regu-
lation (EEC) No 3950/92:
1. within the meaning of Article 2 (1) of that Regulation ‘quantities of
milk or milk equivalent marketed' in a Member State means allquantities of milk or milk equivalent which leave any holding in theterritory of that Member State.
Quantities presented by producers for treatment or processing under
contract shall be deemed deliveries;
2. the equivalence formulae to be used shall be:
— 1 kg cream =26,3 kg mil k x % fat content of cream
100
— 1 kg butter = 22,5 kg milk.
In the case of cheese and all other milk products, Member States
may determine equivalences using the dry-extract content and the fatcontent of the types of cheese or products concerned or fix thequantities of milk equivalent on a flat-rate basis by reference to thenumber of dairy cows held by the producer and an average milkyield per cow representative of the herd.
If the producer can provide proof to the satisfaction of the competent
authority of the quantities actually used for the manufacture of theproducts in question, the Member State shall use such proof in placeof the abovementioned equivalences;
3. where wholly or partly skimmed milk is delivered, the producer must
prove to the satisfaction of the competent authority that the fatcontent of the milk has been used to calculate the levy. In theabsence of such proof, deliveries of such milk shall be treated aswhole milk when the levy is calculated;
4. the target price and the agricultural conversion rate applicable shall
be those applying on the last day of the 12 month period concerned.
Article 2
1. The characteristics of milk, including fat content, considered
representative within the meaning of Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No3950/92 shall be those associated with the individual reference quantityavailable on 31 March 1993.
Where the individual reference quantity B amended the following provi-
sions apply:
(a) the representative fat content of milk shall not change where addi-
tional reference quantities are allocated from the national reserve orwhere the reference quantity is increased pursuant to Article 4(2)of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92;
(b) where, pursuant to Article 4(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92,
the reference quantity for deliveries is established by converting the
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reference quantity for direct sales, the representative fat content forthe reference quantity for deliveries shall be 3,8 %;
(c) where Articles 6 and 7 and the third, fourth and fifth indents of
Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 are applied, the repres-entative fat content shall be transferred with the reference quantitywith which it is associated.
In such cases, the resulting representative fat content shall be equal
to the average of the initial and transferred representative contents,weighted by the initial and transferred reference quantities;
(d) in the case of producers whose entire reference quantity comes from
the national reserve and who commenced production after 1 April1992, the representative fat content of milk shall be the average fatcontent of milk delivered during the first 12 months of production.However, the representative content may not exceed the averagenational fat content of milk collected in the Member State duringthe 12-month reference period except where the producer providesproof each year that his herd includes dairy breeds which call for ahigher content to be taken into account. In the absence of suchproof, the representative fat content shall be fixed at the level of theaverage national fat content of the milk collected in the MemberState during the 12-month reference period.
2. In order to draw up the definitive statement for purposes of the
levy as referred to in Article 3 for each producer, the average fat contentof the milk and/or milk equivalent he has delivered shall be comparedwith the representative fat content of his production:
— if the difference is positive, the quantity of milk or milk equivalent
delivered shall be increased by 0,18 % per 0,1 gram of additional fatper kilogram of milk,
— if the difference is negative, the quantity of milk or milk equivalent
delivered shall be reduced by 0,18 % per 0,1 gram of fat lacking perkilogram of milk.
Where the quantity of milk delivered is expressed in litres, the 0,18 %
adjustment per 0,1 gram of fat content shall be multiplied by thecoefficient 0,971.
3. If the quantity of milk collected in a Member State is greater than
the quantity as corrected in accordance with paragraph 2, the levy shallbe payable on the difference between the quantity collected and theguaranteed total quantity of deliveries available in the Member State.
Article 3
1. At the end of each of the periods referred to in Article 1 of
Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92, the purchaser shall establish a statementfor each producer showing, opposite the producer’s reference quantityand the representative fat content of his production, the quantity and fatcontent of the milk and/or milk equivalent which he has deliveredduring the period.
In the case of leap years, the quantity of milk or milk equivalent shall
be reduced by one sixtieth of the quantities delivered in February andMarch.
2. Before 15 May each year, the purchasers shall forward to the
competent authority of the Member State a summary of the statementsdrawn up for each producer or, where appropriate, by decision of theMember State, the total quantity, the quantity corrected in accordancewith Article 2 (2) and average fat content of the milk and/or milkequivalent delivered to it by producers and the sum of the individualreference quantities and the average representative fat content of suchproducers’ production.
Where that time limit is not observed, the purchaser shall be liable to a
penalty equal to the amount of the levy due for a 0,1 % overrun on thequantities of milk and milk equivalent delivered to them by producers.Such penalty may not exceed ECU 20 000.
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3. Member States may provide that the competent authority shall
notify the purchaser of the levies payable by him after reallocating, ornot, by decision of the Member State, all or part of the unused referencequantities either directly to the producers concerned or to purchaserswith a view to their subsequent allocation among the producersconcerned.
4. Before 1 September each year, the purchaser liable for levies shall
pay the competent body the amount due in accordance with rules laiddown by the Member State.
Where the time limit for payment is not met, the sums due shall bear
interest at a rate per annum fixed by the Member State and which shallnot be lower than the rate of interest which the latter applies for therecovery of wrongly paid amounts.
Article 4
1. In the case of direct sales, at the end of each of the periods
referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92, the producershall make a declaration summarizing by product the quantities of milkand/or other milk products sold directly for consumption and/or towholesalers, cheese maturers and the retail trade.
In the case of leap years, the quantity of milk or milk equivalent shall
be reduced by 1/
60of the quantities sold directly in February and March
or by►C11/366◄of the quantities sold directly in the 12-month
period in question.
2. Before 15 May each year, the producer shall forward declarations
to the competent authority of the Member State.
Where that time limit is not observed, the producer shall be liable to the
levy on all the quantities of milk and milk equivalent sold directly inexcess of his reference quantity or, where there is no overrun, to apenalty equal to the amount of levy due for a 0,1 % overrun of hisreference quantity. Such penalty may not exceed ECU 1 000.
Where a declaration is not submitted before 1 July, the second para-
graph of Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 shall apply 30 daysafter the Member State has served notice.
3. The Member State may provide that the competent authority shall
notify the producer of the levies payable by him after reallocating, ornot, by decision of the Member State, all or part of the unused referencequantities to the producers concerned.
4. Before 1 September each year, the producer shall pay the amount
due to the competent body in accordance with rules laid down by theMember State.
Where the time limit for payment is not met, the sums due shall bear
interest at a rate por annum fixed by the Member State and which shallnot be lower than the rate of interest which the latter applies for therecovery of amounts wrongly paid.
Article 5
1. Where appropriate, Member States shall determine the priority
categories of producers as referred to in Article 2 (4) of Regulation(EEC) No 3950/92 on the basis of one or more of the followingobjective criteria, in order of priority:
(a) formal acknowledgement by the competent authority of the Member
State that all or part of the levy has been wrongly charged;
(b) the geographical location of the holding, and primarily mountain
areas as defined in Article 3 (3) of Council Directive 75/268/EEC (
1);
(1) OJ No L 128, 19. 5. 1975, p. 1.
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(c) the maximum stocking density on the holding for the purposes of
extensive livestock production;
(d) the amount by which the individual reference quantity is exceeded;
(e) the volume of the producer’s reference quantity.
Where the financial resources available for a given period are not used
up after the abovementioned criteria have been applied, the MemberState may adopt other objective criteria with the agreement of theCommission.
2. Member States shall take any additional measures necessary to
ensure payment of levies due to the Community within the time limitlaid down.
Where the set of documents referred to in Article 3 (5) of Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2776/88 (
1), which the Member States must
transmit to the Commission each month, shows that this time limit hasnot been met, the Commission shall reduce advances on entry in theaccounts of agricultural expenditure in proportion to the amount due oran estimate thereof.
Interest paid pursuant to Article 3 (4) and Article 4 (4) shall be
deducted by the Member States from expenditure on milk and milkproducts.
Article 6
Reference quantities not or no longer allocated to individuals shall be
included in the national reserve referred to in Article 5 of Regulation(EEC) No 3950/92. Reference quantities for deliveries and those fordirect sales shall be recorded separately.
Article 7
1. Member States shall take all the verification measures necessary to
ensure payment of the levy on quantities of milk and milk equivalentmarketed in excess of any of the quantities referred to in Article 3 ofRegulation (EEC) No 3950/92. To that end:
(a) all purchasers operating in the territory of a Member State must be
approved by that Member State.
Purchasers shall be approved only where they:— provide proof of their status as dealers from the viewpoint of
national laws,
— have premises in the Member State concerned where the stock
accounts, registers and other documents referred to in (c) maybe consulted by the competent authority,
— undertake to keep up to date the stock accounts, registers and
other documents referred to in (c),
— undertake to forward the declarations provided for in Article 3
(2) to the competent authority of the Member State concerned.
Approval shall be withdrawn where the abovementioned provisions are
not observed; it may be withdrawn where it is ascertained that thepurchaser has repetedly failed to comply with any other obligationunder Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 or this Regulation;
(b) producers shall be required to ensure that purchasers to whom they
deliver are approved;
(c) purchasers shall keep available to the competent authority of the
Member State for at least three years stock accounts per 12-monthperiod with details of the name and address of each producer, thereference quantity available at the beginning and at the end of eachperiod, the quantities of milk or milk equivalent which he hasdelivered per month or four-week period, the representative andaverage fat contents of his deliveries, together with the commercialdocuments, correspondance and other information referred to in
(1) OJ No L 249, 8. 9. 1988, p. 9.
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Council Regulation (EEC) No 4045/89 (1) permitting such stock
accounts to be verified;
(d) purchasers shall be responsible for recording under the additional
levy arrangements all quantities of milk and/or other milk productsdelivered to them; to that end they shall keep available to thecompetent authority for at least three years the list of purchasersand undertakings treating or processing milk and/or other milkproducts supplying them with milk or other milk products and, permonth, the quantities delivered by each supplier;
(e) on collection at holdings, milk and/or other milk products shall be
accompanied by a document identifying the delivery. In addition,purchasers shall keep recors of each individual delivery for at leastthree years;
(f) producers with reference quantities for direct sales shall keep avail-
able to the competent authority of the Member State for at leastthree years stock accounts by 12-month period with details of thequantities, per month and per product, of milk and/or milk productssold directly for consumption and/or to wholesalers, cheesematurers and the retail trade, together with registers of livestockheld on holdings and used for milk production, in accordance withArticle 4(1) of Council Directive 92/102/EEC (
2), and supporting
documents enabling such stock accounts to be verified.
2. The Member States shall take any further measures necessary to:
— verify cases of total or partial abandonment of milk production
and/or reference quantities in accordance with Article 8 of Regula-tion (EEC) No 3950/92 where relevant provisions thereof areapplied,
— ensure that the parties concerned are aware of the penal or adminis-
trative sanctions to which they are liable where they fail to complywith the provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 and this Regu-lation.
3. Member States shall physically verify the accuracy of the
accounting with regard to the quantities of milk and milk equivalentmarketed and, to that end, shall check milk transport during collectionat farms and shall, in particular, check:
(a) at the permises of the purchasers, the statements referred to in
Article 3 (1), the credibility of stock accounts and supplies asreferred to in paragraph 1 (c) and (d) with regard to the commercialdocuments and other documents proving now the collected milk andmilk equivalent have been used;
(b) at the permises of the producers with a reference quantity for direct
sales, the credibility of the declaration referred to in Article 4(1)and the stock accounts referred to in paragraph 1 (f).
The checks shall be determined by the Member States on the basis of a
risk analysis. The number of checks per year may not be less than:
— 40 % of the number of purchasers, in the case of (a),
— 5 % of the number of producers concerned, in the case of (b).
Article 8
Member States shall notify the Commission of:
— the measures adopted for the application of Regulation (EEC) No
3950/92 and this Regulation, and any amendments thereto, withinone month following their adoption,
— their duly reasoned decisions where recourse 13 had to Article 6 (2)
of Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92,
(1) OJ No L 388, 30. 12. 1989, p. 18.
(2) OJ No L 355, 5. 12. 1992, p. 32.
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— before 1 March each year, the quantities transferred in accordance
with the second subparagraph of Article 4(2) of Regulation (EEC)No 3950/92,
— before 1 September each year, the duly completed questionnaire as
set out in the Annex. Where that time limit is not observed, theCommission shall make a flat-rate reduction to advances on theentry of agricultural expenditure in the accounts,
— the results and information necessary to evaluate measures imple-
mented pursuant to the first and second indents of Article 8 ofRegulation (EEC) No 3950/92.
Article 9
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1546/88 (
1) is hereby repealed.
However, it shall continue to apply to ensure the fulfilment of obliga-
tions regarding the implementation of the additional levy scheme for theninth period and, if necessary, previous periods.
To ensure the continuity of the national measures enforcing compliance
with the additional levy scheme, references to Article 5c of CouncilRegulation (EEC) No 804/68 (
2), to Regulation (EEC) No 857/84(3)o r
to Regulation (EEC) No 1546/88 may, during a transitional period, betreated as reference to Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 and this Regula-tion.
Article 10
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
It shall apply from the 12-month period commencing on 1 April 1993.However, in the event of administrative difficulties, the Member States
concerned may postpone application of Article 7 (1) (a), (b) and (e)until 31 December 1993.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.
(1) OJ No L 139, 4. 6. 1988, p. 12.
(2) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 13.
(3) OJ No L 90, 1. 4. 1984, p. 13.
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ANNEX
Annual questionnaire on the application of the arrangements on additional
levies on milk and milk products introduced by Regulation (EEC) No
3950/92