1971R1696 — EN — 01.01.1973 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B REGULATION (EEC)No 1696/71 OF THE COUNCIL
of 26 July 1971
on the common organisation of the market in hops
(OJ L 175, 4.8.1971, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►A1Act of Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland L 73 14 27.3.1972
(adapted by Council Decision of 1 January 1973) L 2 1 1.1.1973
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REGULATION (EEC)No 1696/71 OF THE COUNCIL
of 26 July 1971
on the common organisation of the market in hops
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Articles 42, 43, 113 and 235 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament(
1);
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee;
Whereas the operation and development of the common market in
agricultural products must be accompanied by the establishment of acommon agricultural policy and whereas the latter must include in
particular a common organisation of agricultural markets, which may
take various forms depending on the product concerned;
Whereas Community production of hops is of especial interest for the
economy of certain regions of the Community; whereas, for certainfarmers in these regions, hop production represents a major part oftheir income;
Whereas, since vegetable saps and extracts of hops are not listed in
Annex II to the Treaty, they are excluded from application of the pro-visions therein concerning agriculture, whilst hops are subject thereto;whereas, however, since the products in question are broadly speaking
interchangeable, this situation is liable to prejudice the effect of the
common agricultural policy in hops; whereas measures adopted forhops in respect of trade with third countries pursuant to Article 113and the marketing rules adopted for hops pursuant to Article 235should be extended to vegetable saps and extracts of hops;
Whereas international trade has traditionally held great importance for
producers and users of hops within the Community; whereas in the
main the best return on Community production has up to now been
obtained through its competitiveness on the world market and throughflexible adjustment of quality and quantity of production to marketingoutlets; whereas the common organisation of the markets should notmake any basic changes in this situation but should contribute byappropriate measures to the improvement of the quality of the pro-
ducts and protect the producers from any lowering of their present
standards of living;
Whereas a quality policy should be followed throughout the Commu-
nity by implementing provisions concerning certification of the desig-nation of origin together with rules prohibiting, as a general rule, themarketing of products for which the certificate has not been issued or,in the case of imported products, those which do not comply withequivalent minimum quality characteristics; whereas provision should
be made for the definition of a standard quality constituting a basis
for reference in commercial transactions and ensuring satisfactoryalignment of the market;
Whereas adequate information is needed about the present state of the
market within the Community and the prospects for its development;whereas, in this respect, the fact that a large part of the output is mar-keted under contracts concluded before the harvest and even for sev-
eral years may facilitate forward planning for the development of the
market; whereas provision should therefore be made for the registra-tion of all contracts to supply hops produced within the Community;whereas, however, this information should be kept secret in order toassure the persons concerned that it will be used entirely for statisticalpurposes and in order thus to obtain entirely objective information;
(1) OJ No C 66, 1.7.1971, p. 28.
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Whereas, in order to stabilise markets and to ensure a fair standard of
living for the agricultural community and reasonable prices for sup-plies to consumers, centralisation of the supply and the joint adapta-
tion by growers of their produce to the requirements of the market
should be encouraged;
Whereas to this end the grouping of growers in bodies which require
their members to comply with common rules is likely to further the
achievement of the objectives of Article 39 of the Treaty; whereas
these objectives may be pursued, in particular, not only by the group-ing of growers within producer groups but also by the formation ofunions of these groups;
Whereas in order to avoid any discrimination between producers and
to ensure the unity and effectiveness of any action undertaken, condi-tions should be fixed, for the whole of the Community, with whichproducers' groups and unions of groups must comply in order to berecognised by the Member States; whereas in order to obtain effectivecentralisation of supply it is necessary in particular that the groups
and unions should be of an economically viable size and that the
entire output of member producers of groups should be marketedeither directly by the group or by the union or by the producers,according to common rules;
Whereas provision should be made for measures calculated to facili-
tate the setting up and functioning of these groups; whereas, to thisend, Member States should be allowed to grant them aid to befinanced in part by the Community; whereas, however, the amount ofsuch aid should be limited and should be designated as temporary anddegressive so that the financial responsibility of the producers will
progressively increase;
Whereas some Community hop gardens need to be adapted in respect
both of the varieties produced and of the possibility of rationalisingcultivation and harvesting operations; whereas, for a certain number of
years, conversion of the hop gardens to different varieties and their
reorganisation should be facilitated by granting specific aid to produ-cers' groups undertaking such activities;
Whereas, in order to ensure a fair standard of living for producers, a
system of aid should be provided; whereas the Commission must pre-
sent a report to the Council annually after marketing the harvest sothat it may be decided whether such aid should be fixed; whereas theaid may be granted if examination of this report reveals that the aver-age return per hectare has been insufficient taking into account thepresent state and foreseeable trend of the market;
Whereas the proposed measures must enable a system of importation
to be provided for which includes no measures other than the imple-mentation of the Common Customs Tariff; whereas that tariff appliesautomatically under the Treaty from 1 January 1970;
Whereas these measures make it possible to waive all quantitative
restriction at the external frontiers of the Community; whereas thisprocedure may, however, in exceptional cases, be found to be ineffec-tive; whereas, in such cases, in order not to leave the Communitymarket defenceless against disturbances liable to arise therefrom once
previously existing obstacles to imports have been abolished, the
Community must be empowered to take all necessary measuresquickly;
Whereas, in internal Community trade, the levying of any customs
duty or charges having an equivalent effect and the application of any
quantitative restriction or any measure having an equivalent effect areautomatically prohibited from 1 January 1970 under the provisions ofthe Treaty; whereas, finally, in the absence of minimum prices on 31December 1969, recourse to Article 44 of the Treaty is automatically
excluded from 1 January 1970;
Whereas the effectiveness of all the measures governing the common
organisation of the market in hops would be prejudiced by the grant-ing of certain aids on the part of the Member States; whereas the pro-visions of the Treaty enabling aids granted by the Member States to
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be evaluated and aids which are incompatible with the common mar-
ket to be prohibited should be applied to the market in hops; whereas,however, provision should be made for a temporary system for
national aid granted for contracts lasting several years made before
the entry into force of the common organisation of the market;
Whereas the Community should be made financially responsible for
expenditure incurred by the Member States as a result of obligationsarising from the implementation of this Regulation, in accordancewith the provisions of the regulations on the financing of the common
agricultural policy;
Whereas the transition from the system in force in the Member States
to that set up by this Regulation must be carried out under the bestpossible conditions; whereas, for this reason, temporary measures mayprove to be necessary;
Whereas the common organisation of the market in hops must take
account, at the same time and in an appropriate manner, of the objec-tives laid down in Articles 39 and 110 of the Treaty;
Whereas in order to facilitate the implementation of the proposed pro-
visions, a procedure should be laid down establishing close co-opera-
tion between the Member States and the Commission within a Man-agement Committee;
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. A common organisation of the market in hops shall be estab-
lished, covering the following products:
CCT heading
NoDescription of goods
12.06 Hop cones and lupulin
2. The rules concerning marketing and trade with third countries
shall also apply to the following products:
CCT heading
NoDescription of goods
13.03 A VI Vegetable saps and extracts of hops
3. For the purpose of this Regulation,
(a) ‘hops’ means the dried inflorescenses, also known as cones, of the
(female) climbing hop plant (humulus lupulus) ; these inflores-
censes, which are greenish yellow and of an ovoid shape, have a
flower stalk and their longest dimension generally varies from 2to 5 cm;
(b) ‘hop powder’ means the product obtained by milling the hops,
containing all the natural elements thereof;
(c) ‘hop powder with higher lupulin content’ means the product
obtained by milling the hops after mechanical removal of theleaves, stalks, bracts and rachides;
(d) ‘extract of hops’ means the concentrated products obtained by the
action of a solvent on the hops;
(e) ‘mixed hop products’ means a mixture of two or more of the pro-
ducts referred to above.
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TITLE I
Marketing
Article 2
1. The products referred to in Article 1, harvested within the Com-
munity or prepared from hops harvested within the Community, shallbe subject to a certification procedure in respect of the designation of
origin.
2. The certificate may be issued only for products:
— harvested in recognised production areas or prepared from such
products;
— belonging to varieties on the Community list of varieties, or pre-
pared from such products; and
— of quality standards satisfying the minimum marketing limits valid
for a specific stage of marketing.
3. The Council, acting in accordance with the voting procedure laid
down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty on a proposal from the Commis-
sion, shall adopt, for each product, general rules for the certification
procedure in respect of the designation of origin and the date of itsimplementation.
Article 3
1. Where products referred to in Article 1 are subject to a certifica-
tion procedure in respect of the designation of origin, they may onlybe marketed or exported if the certificate has been issued.
2. Measures derogating from the provision laid down in paragraph
1 may be decided upon according to the procedure provided for inArticle 20:
(a) in order to satisfy the trade requirements of certain third countries;
or
(b) for products intended for special uses.
The measures provided for in the preceding subparagraph must:
— not prejudice the normal marketing of products for which the des-
ignation of origin certificate has been issued,
— and be accompanied by guarantees intended to avoid any confu-
sion with those products.
Article 4
1. A standard quality for hops harvested within the Community
shall be defined on the basis of external characteristics and objectivecriteria.
2. Rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 20.
Article 5
1. The products referred to in Article 1 coming from third countries
may be imported only if their quality standards are at least equivalentto the minimum limits for marketing adopted for like products, har-vested within the Community, or their derivatives.
2. The products referred to in Article 1 shall be considered as being
of the standard referred to in paragraph 1 if they are accompanied by
an attestation issued by the authorities of the country of origin andrecognised as equivalent to the designation of origin certificate.
The equivalence of these attestations shall be verified according to the
procedure provided for in Article 20.
3. Rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 20.
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TITLE II
Supply contracts
Article 6
1. Any contract to supply hops produced within the Community
concluded between a producer or an association of producers and a
buyer shall be registered by the bodies designated for that purpose by
each producer Member State.
2. Contracts relating to the supply of specific quantities at agreed
prices for a period covering one or more harvests and concludedbefore 1 August of the year of the first harvest concerned shall beknown as ‘contracts concluded in advance’. They shall be registeredseparately.
3. Member States shall periodically provide the Commission with
statistical information on the registration of contracts.
4. The data on which registration is based may be used only for
the purposes of this Regulation.
5. Rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted in
accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 20.
TITLE III
Producer groups
Article 7
1. For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘recognised producer group’
means a group of hop producers, recognised by a Member State underthe provisions of paragraph 3 and formed on the initiative of the pro-
ducers for the purpose of, in particular:
(a) joint adaptation of their production to the requirements of the mar-
ket,
(b) improvement of production by changing to different varieties and
by the reorganisation of hop gardens,
(c) promotion of rationalisation and mechanisation of cultivation and
harvesting operations in order to render production more profit-able.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘recognised union’ means a
union of recognised producer groups pursuing the same objectives asthese groups and recognised by a Member State under the provisions
of paragraph 3.
3. Member States shall recognise the producer groups and unions
thereof which request recognition and fulfil the following general con-
ditions; they should:
(a) apply common rules for production and marketing (first stage of
marketing);
(b) include in their statutes the obligation for producers who are mem-
bers of groups and for recognised producer groups which aremembers of unions:
— either to market all the produce by reason of which they are
members of the group or union in accordance with the rules
for delivery and marketing established and controlled by the
group or union respectively,
— or to have all their produce in respect of which recognition has
been accorded marketed by the group or union respectively,
either in the name and on behalf of the members, or on behalfof the members, or in the name and on behalf of the group orunion.
As far as producer groups are concerned, this obligation shall not
apply to products:
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— for which the producers had concluded sales contracts or
granted options before joining the group, provided that thegroup was informed before those producers joined of the
extent and duration of the obligations thus contracted and has
approved them;
— which the producers may exclude from marketing by the group
after joining and with the express approval of the group;
(c) provide proof of economically viable activity;
(d) exclude throughout their field of activity any discrimination
between Community producers or groups in respect of, in particu-lar, their nationality or place of establishment;
(e) include in their statutes provisions aimed at ensuring that the
members of a group or union who wish to give up their member-ship may only do so:
— after a three year period of membership of the group or union;
— and provided they inform the group or union of their intention
at least twelve months before they leave;
(f) have the necessary legal capacity according to the provisions of
national legislation to carry out the legal business within their
competence;
(g) include in their statutes the obligation to keep separate accounts
for the activities in respect of which they have been recognised.
4. The authority competent to recognise producer groups and
unions thereof shall be the Member State within whose territory the
producer group or union has its registered office.
5. Rules for the application of this Article and in particular those
concerning the conditions stipulated in paragraph 3 (a) and (c) shallbe adopted according to the procedure provided for in Article 20.
Article 8
Member States may grant aid to recognised producer groups for three
years following the date of their recognition to encourage their forma-
tion and to facilitate their operation. For the first, second and thirdyears respectively, the amounts of such aid may not exceed 3%, 2%and 1% of the value of the products marketed to which the recogni-tion refers. The aid must not, however, exceed during the first year60%, during the second year 40% and during the third year 20% of
the administrative costs of the producer groups.
The value of products marketed shall be calculated at a standard rate,
for each year, on the basis of:
— the average output marketed by member producers during the three
calendar years preceding their joining,
— the average producer prices obtained by those producers during the
same period.
Article 9
Member States may grant aid to producer groups, for operations car-
ried out at the latest on 31 December 1975, of a maximum of 1500
units of account per hectare, to be used for changing to different vari-eties and for reorganising hop gardens as referred to in Article 7 (1)(b).
Article 10
1. The Council, acting in accordance with the voting procedure laid
down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty, on a proposal from the Commis-sion, shall adopt general rules for the application of Articles 8 and 9.
2. Detailed rules for the application of Articles 8 and 9 shall be
laid down in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article20.
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TITLE IV
Aid to producers
Article 11
Each year before 30 April the Commission shall submit a report to
the Council on the situation regarding the production and marketingof hops.
The report shall take account, in particular, of price trends and the
developments in hop gardens, production and requirements.
Article 12
1. A system of aid shall be established for hops produced in the
Community.
2. Aid may be granted to producers to enable them to achieve a
fair income.
3. The amount of this aid, per hectare which will differ according
to variety, shall be fixed taking into account:
(a) the average return in comparison with the average returns for pre-
vious harvests;
(b) the current position and foreseeable trend of the market in the
Community;
(c) external market trends and world market prices.
4. Where the report referred to in Article 11 shows that there is a
risk of creating structural surpluses or a disturbance in the supplystructure of the Community hop market, the granting of aid may belimited to an amount corresponding to a given area on the basis of theaverage of the areas cultivated during the three years preceding thatunder review.
5. The amount of aid which is valid for the areas relating to the
harvest of the preceding calendar year shall be fixed, before 30 June,
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 43 (2) of theTreaty
Article 13
1. Aid shall be granted to producers for registered areas on which
the crop has been harvested.
Member States shall designate the bodies which are competent to reg-
ister, for each producer, the areas given over to growing hops, and
which are responsible for control and keeping the registration up to
date.
2. For the purposes of this Article, Member States may consider a
recognised producer group as a single producer.
3. The Council, acting in accordance with the voting procedure laid
down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty on a proposal from the Commis-sion, shall adopt general rules for the application of this Article.
4. Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be laid
down in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 20.
TITLE V
System of trade with third countries
Article 14
Save as otherwise provided in this Regulation or where derogation
therefrom is decided upon by the Council, acting in accordance withthe voting procedure provided for in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty on aproposal from the Commission, the following shall be prohibited intrade with third countries:
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(a) the levying of any charge having an effect equivalent to a customs
duty;
(b) the application of any quantitative restriction or any measures hav-
ing an equivalent effect.
Article 15
1. If, by reason of imports or exports, the Community market in
the products listed in Article 1 experiences or is threatened with ser-
ious disturbances which may endanger the objectives of Article 39 ofthe Treaty, appropriate measures may be applied in trade with thirdcountries until such disturbance or threat of disturbance has ceased.
The Council, acting in accordance with the voting procedure laid
down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty on a proposal from the Commis-sion, shall adopt detailed rules for the application of this paragraph
and define the cases in which and the limits within which Member
States may take protective measures.
2. If the situation mentioned in paragraph 1 arises, the Commission
shall, at the request of a Member State or on its own initiative, decideupon the necessary measures; the measures shall be communicated tothe Member States and shall be immediately applicable. If the Com-mission receives a request from a Member State, it shall take a deci-
sion within twenty-four hours following receipt of the request.
3. The measures decided upon by the Commission may be referred
to the Council by any Member State within three working days fol-lowing the day on which they were communicated. The Council shallmeet without delay. It may amend or repeat the measures in questionin accordance with the voting procedure laid down in Article 43 (2)of the Treaty.
TITLE VI
General provision
Article 16
Save as otherwise provided in this Regulation, Articles 92, 93 and 94
of the Treaty shall apply to the production of and trade in the pro-ducts listed in Article 1 (1).
However, aid granted by a Member State to hop producers may be
maintained during the period of validity of contracts entered into
before the date of entry into force of this Regulation, in so far as thisaid exceeds the amount of Community aid provided for in Article 12.The time for this aid may not be extended.
Article 17
1. The provisions laid down by the regulations on the financing of
the common agricultural policy shall apply to the market in the pro-ducts listed in Article 1 (1) from the date of implementation of thesystem provided for by this Regulation.
2. The measures provided for in Articles 8 and 9 shall constitute
common measures within the meaning of Article 6 (1) of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70(
1) of 21 April 1970 on the financing of
the common agricultural policy.
3. The Guidance Section of the EAGGF shall reimburse Member
States with 25% of the eligible expenditure which they incur inrespect of the action provided for in Article 8 and with 50% of theeligible expenditure incurred in respect of the action provided for inArticle 9.
(1) OJ No L 94, 28.4.1970, p. 13.
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4. Requests for reimbursement shall relate to expenditure incurred
during the course of one calendar year and shall be submitted to theCommission before 30 June of the following year.
5. The estimated total cost of the common measures to the EAGGF
is►
A12,4◄million units of account.
6. The time for carrying out the action referred to in Article 8 shall
be limited to a period of ten years from the date of entry into force ofthis Regulation.
7. Detailed rules for the application of paragraph 3 shall be adopted
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of Regula-tion (EEC) No 729/70.
Article 18
Member States and the Commission shall communicate to each other
the information necessary for implementing this Regulation. Rules forthe communication and distribution of such information shall be
adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 20.
Article 19
1. A Management Committee for Hops (hereinafter called the
‘Committee’) shall be established, consisting of representatives ofMember States under the chairmanship of a representative of theCommission.
2. Within the Committee, the votes of Member States shall be
weighted in accordance with Article 148 (2) of the Treaty. The Chair-
man shall not vote.
Article 20
1. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to be followed,
the Chairman shall refer the matter to the Committee either on hisown initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member
State.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit a draft of the
measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its Opinion onsuch measures within a time limit to be set by the Chairman accord-ing to the urgency of the questions under consideration. An Opinionshall be adopted by a majority of ►
A1forty-one ◄votes.
3. The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply imme-
diately. However, if these measures are not in accordance with theOpinion of the Committee, they shall forthwith be communicated bythe Commission to the Council. In that event the Commission maydefer application of the measures for not more than one month fromthe date of such communication.
The Council, acting in accordance with the voting procedure laid
down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty may take a different decisionwithin one month.
Article 21
The Committee may consider any other question referred to it by its
Chairman, acting either on his own initiative or at the request of the
representative of a Member State.
Article 22
This Regulation shall be so applied that appropriate account is taken,
at the same time, of the objectives set out in Articles 39 and 110 ofthe Treaty.
Article 23
Should transitional measures be necessary to facilitate the transition
from the system in force in Member States to that provided for in this
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Regulation, in particular if the introduction of the new system on the
date provided would give rise to substantial difficulties, such measuresshall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Arti-
cle 20. They shall remain applicable until 31 July 1972 at the latest.
Article 24
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
The provisions of Articles 11, 12 and 13 shall apply, for the first
time, to the 1971 harvest.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.