1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No3508/92
of27November1992
establishinganintegrated administrationandcontrolsystemforcertain Communityaidschemes
(OJ L 355, 5.12.1992, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EC) No 165/94 of 24 January 1994 L 24 6 29.1.1994
▼B
COUNCILREGULATION(EEC)No3508/92
of27November1992
establishing an integrated administration and control system for
certain Communityaidschemes
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (
1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),
Whereas, pursuant to Article 8 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70
of 21 April 1970 on the financing of the common agricultural
policy (4), Member States must take the measures necessary to satisfy
themselves that transactions financed by the European AgriculturalGuidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) are actually carried out andare executed correctly, and prevent and deal with irregularities;whereas Article 23 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4253/88 of 19December 1988 laying down provisions for implementing Regulation
(EEC) No 2052/88 as regards coordination of the activities of the
different structural Funds between themselves and with the operationsof the European Investment Bank and the other existing financialinstruments (
5) provides for the same obligationwith regard to the agri-
cultural structures policy;
Whereas up to now the various aid schemes have been administered
and controlled by the Member States under separate rules for eachscheme, as a result of their heterogeneous structure; whereas, however,
in realigning the existing market measures a part of the reform of the
common agricultural policy, the Community is opting, to a largeextent, in both the crop and livestock sectors, for direct aid to produ-cers;
Whereas, in order to adapt the administration and control mechanisms
to the new situation and improve their effectiveness and usefulness, itis necessary to set up a new integrated administration and controlsystem covering the aid schemes for arable crops, beef and veal, sheep-
meat and goatmeat, as well as specific measures for farming in
mountain, hill and certain less-favoured areas; whereas provisionshould be made for the possibility of including, at a later date, otheraid schemes linked to the cultivated area;
Whereas, the various components of the integrated system will poten-
tially result in more effective administration and control in the case ofCommunity schemes not covered by this Regulation; whereas theMember States should therefore be authorized to avail themselves of
the system on condition they do not in any way act in opposition to
the provisions concerned;
Whereas, given the complexity of such a system and the large number
of aid applications to be processed, it is essential to use the appropriatetechnical resources and administration and control methods; whereas asa result, the integrated system should comprise, in each Member State,a computerized data base, an alphanumeric identification system foragricultural parcels, aid applications from farmers, a harmonized1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No C 9, 15. 1. 1992, p. 4.
(2) Opinion delivered on 17 November 1992 (not yet published in the Official
Journal).
(3) OJ No C 98, 21. 4. 1992, p. 29.
(4) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13. (Last amended by Regulation (EEC)
No 2048/88).
(5) OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1988, p. 1.
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control system and, in the livestock sector, a system for the identifica-
tion and recording of animals;
Whereas the administration of the data collected and its use for the
verification of aid applications make it necessary to set up high-perfor-mance computerized data bases allowing cross-checks in particular tobe made;
Whereas the identification of agricultural parcels is a key element in
the correct applicationof schemes lin ked to surface area; whereasexperience has shown that the existing methods have certain deficien-
cies; whereas, therefore, provisionshould be made for analphan umeric
identification system set up initially, where necessary, with the aid ofremote sensing;
Whereas in order to guarantee the possibility of effective control, ‘area’
aid applications must be submitted not later than during the firstquarter of the year; whereas however the Member State may, incaseswhich it justifies, be authorized to apply a later date; whereas for 1993,having regard to the difficulties of implementing the integrated system,
a later date is permitted;
Whereas, in the livestock sector, effective control requires that animals
be identified and recorded; whereas, to this end, Council Directive 92/102/EEC of 27 November 1992, on the identification and registration
of animals (
1) lays downspecific provision s inthis respect; whereas
recourse should therefore be had to that Directive;
Whereas the detailed rules governing aid applications continue to be
subject to the provisions of each sector; whereas, however, for the
sake of simplification, Member States should be authorized to makeprovision for the submission of one single application for several aidschemes;
Whereas one of the main advantages of the new system is the introduc-
tion of an integrated control system in each Member State avoiding anyduplicationof sectoral checks of the same type; whereas, as a result,the stepping up of checks made necessary by the reform of the
common agricultural policy should be attainable without substantially
increasing the number of checks; whereas aid applications submittedmust be subjected to a thorough administrative check carried out withthe aid of computerized data bases; whereas, up to now, administrativechecks have beensupplemen ted systematically by checks onthe spot;whereas, to a large extent, on-the-spot checks on areas may be replaced
by remote sensing;
Whereas the expenditure involved in introducing the integrated system
may represent a high additional budgetary burden for Member States;
whereas, consequently, provision should be made for part-financing
for a certainperiod; whereas the diversity of existin g productionstruc-tures in the Member States must be taken into account; whereas, as aresult, provision should be made for sharing out the financial contribu-tion in a way which takes into account in particular the number ofagricultural holdings, livestock numbers and the agricultural area in
the Member States;
Whereas provisionshould be made for the gradual implemen tationof
all the elements of the integrated system,1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 3
(1) See page 32 of this Official Journal.
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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Each Member State shall set up an integrated administration and
control system, hereinafter referred to as the ‘integrated system’,applying:
(a) inthe crop sector:
— the support system for producers of certainarable crops estab-
lished by Regulation(EEC) No 1765/92 (
1);
(b) inthe livestock sector:
— to the premium arrangements for beef and veal producers estab-
lished by Articles 4 (a) to (h) of Regulation(EEC) No 805/
68 (2),
— to the premium arrangements for sheepmeat producers intro-
duced by Regulation(EEC) No 3013/89 (3),
— to the specific measures for farming in mountain, hill and
certainless-favoured areas in troduced by Regulation(EEC)No 2328/91 (
4) concerning compensatory allowances for cattle,
sheep, goats and equidae,
hereinafter referred to as ‘Community schemes’.2. The Council may, acting by a qualified majority on a Commis-
sion proposal, extend the scope of the integrated system to otherCommunity aid schemes.
3. For the purposes of applying Community aid schemes not
covered by this Regulation and notwithstanding the specific provisionslaid down under such schemes, in particular those concerning the termsunder which aid may be granted, the Member States may incorporate intheir administration and control mechanisms one or more of the admin-
istrative, technical or data-processing components of the integrated
system.
Member States may extend this possibility to national schemes. They
may use the information from the integrated system for statisticalpurposes.
Before availing themselves of these possibilities, Member States shall
inform the Commission of their intentions in good time.
The Commission shall ensure that recourse to this possibility does not
prejudice compliance with the provisions of the sectoral Regulations orof this Regulation.
4. Without prejudice to specific provisions provided for under the
arrangements referred to in paragraph 1, for the purposes of this Regu-lation:
—farmershall meananin dividual agricultural producer, whether a
natural or legal person or a group of natural or legal persons, what-ever legal status is granted the group and its members by nationallaw, whose holding is within Community territory,
—holdingshall mean all the production units managed by a farmer
situated withinthe same Member State's territory,
—agriculturalparcel shall mean a continuous area of land on which a
single crop is raised by a single farmer. In accordance with theprocedure laid downinArticle 12 the Commissionshall adopt1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ No L 181, 1. 7. 1992, p. 12. (Amended by Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 2467/92 (OJ No L 246, 27. 8. 1992, p. 11)).
(2) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968. (Last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2066/92
(OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 49)).
(3) OJ No L 289, 7. 10. 1989, p. 1. (Last amended by Regulation (EEC)
No 2069/92 (OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 59)).
(4) OJ No L 218, 6. 8. 1991, p. 1. (Last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2080/
92 (OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 96)).
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implementing arrangements for specific uses of agricultural parcels,
in particular those concerning mixed crops and jointly used areas.
Article 2
The integrated system shall comprise the following elements:
(a) a computerized data base;
(b) an alphanumeric identification system for agricultural parcels;
(c) an alphanumeric system for the identification and registration of
animals;
(d) aid applications;
(e) an integrated control system.
Article 3
1. The computerized data base shall record, for each agricultural
holding, the data obtained from the aid applications. This data base
shall in particular allow direct and immediate consultation, throughthe competent authority of the Member State, of the data relating atleast to the previous three consecutive calendar and/or marketing years.
2. The Member States may set up decentralized data bases on condi-
tion that these, and the administrative procedures for recording and
accessing data, are designed homogeneously throughout the territoryof the Member State and are compatible with one another.
Article 4
The alphanumeric identification system for agricultural parcels shall be
established on the basis of land registry maps and documents, othercartographic references or of aerial photographs or satellite pictures orother equivalent supporting references or on the basis of more than oneof these elements.
Article 5
The system for the identification and registration of animals to be taken
into account for the granting of aid governed by this Regulation shallbe set up in accordance with Articles 4, 5, 6 and 8 of Directive 92/102/
EEC.
Article 6
1. In order to be eligible under one or more Community schemes
governed by this Regulation, each farmer shall submit, for each year,
an ‘area’ aid application indicating:
— agricultural parcels, including areas under forage crops, and agricul-
tural parcels covered by a set-aside measure for arable land and
those laid fallow,
— where applicable, any other necessary information provided for
either by the Regulations relating to the Community schemes, orby the Member State concerned.
2. The area aid applicationmust be submitted by a date to be fixed
by the Member State which shall be during the frist quarter of the year.However:
— in1993, the Member State may fix a date n ot later thanthe dates
referred to inArticles 10, 11 an d 12 of Regulation(EEC) No 1765/92,
— in the following years, the Commission may, in accordance with the
procedure laid downinArticle 12, allow a Member State to fix a
date between1 April an d the dates referred to inArticles 10, 11and 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92, provided that the MemberState canjustify such a date, inparticular by providin g theCommission with a detailed working plan, which demonstrates thatthe requirements of the following subparagraph are fulfilled.1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 5
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In all cases, the date shall be fixed bearing in mind, interalia , the time
required for all relevant data to be available for proper administrativeand financial management of the aid and for the checks provided for in
Article 8 to be carried out.
3. A Member State may decide that an‘area’ aid applicationn eed
contain only changes with respect to the ‘area’ aid applicationsubmitted for the previous year.
4. Certain amendments may be made to the ‘area’ aid application
provided that they are received by the competent authorities, no laterthanthe dates referred to inArticles 10, 11 an d 12 of Regulation(EEC) No 1765/92.
5. The ‘area’ aid application, amended if necessary in accordance
with paragraph 4, shall be deemed to be the aid applicationprovidedfor inthe scheme referred to inArticle 1 (1) (a).
6. For each of the agricultural parcels declared, farmers shall indi-
cate the area and its location which information must enable the
parcel to be identified in the alphanumeric identification system for
agricultural parcels.
7. Farmers applying only for aid under a scheme not directly linked
to agricultural area may be exempted from the requirement to submitan‘area’ aid application .
8. In order to be eligible for one of the Community schemes or
arrangements referred to in Article 1 (1) (b), each farmer shall submitone or more ‘animal’ aid applications, at the latest by the dates set bythe schemes concerned.
9. Where an aid application or amendments to it have to be accom-
panied by supplementary documentation, such documentation shall beconsidered part of the application.
10. While abiding by the dates or periods laid down for submitting
applications under Community rules, the Member States may decide
that a single application can cover:
— several ‘animal’ aid applications,
— an ‘area’ aid application and one or more ‘animal’ aid applications.
Article 7
The integrated control system shall cover all aid applications
submitted, in particular as regards administrative checks, on-the-spotchecks and, if appropriate, verification by aerial or satellite remotesensing.
Article 8
1. Member States shall carry out administrative checks on aid appli-
cations.
2. Administrative checks shall be supplemented by on-the-spot
checks covering a sample of agricultural holdings. For all these checks,
Member States shall draw up a sampling plan.
3. Each Member State shall designate an authority responsible for
coordinating the checks provided for in this Regulation.
4. National authorities may, under conditions to be laid down, use
remote sensing to determine the area of agricultural parcels, identifycrops and verify their status.
5. Where the competent authorities of the Member State delegate
some aspects of the work to be carried out pursuant to this Regulation
to specialized agencies or firms, they must retain control over and
responsibility for that work.
Article 9
The Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure protec-
tionof the data collected.1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 6
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Article 10
1. The Community shall contribute to the expenditure incurred by
Member States pursuant to this Regulation for the introduction of thecomputerized and checking structures ►
M1 ◄.
Expenditure on the updating of land registry maps shall not be co-
financed by the Community.
2. The Community's financial contribution shall be granted for a
period of three years from 1992, withinthe limits of the appropriation sallocated for this purpose.
The total amount shall be shared among the Member States as follows:
Belgium 2,3 %,
Denmark 2,4 %,Germany 10,1 %,Greece 8,7 %,Spain18,1 %,France 14,6 %,Ireland 4,5 %,Italy 20,1 %,Luxembourg 0,6 %,Netherlands 3,0 %,Portugal 5,7 %,United Kingdom 9,9 %.
The Community's financial contribution may not be greater than 50 %
of the payments made by the Member State concerned in respect of the
budget year and relating to the eligible expenditure within the meaningof paragraph 1.
3. Amounts expressed in ecus and national currencies shall be
converted at the rates of exchange obtaining on the first working day
of the calendar year in question published in the ‘C’ series of the Offi-
cial JournaloftheEuropeanCommunities .
Article 11
1. The Commission shall be informed at regular intervals of the
progress of work on the implementation of the integrated system. Itshall organize exchanges of views on this subject with the MemberStates.
2. After informing the competent authorities concerned in good
time, Commissionofficials may carry out:
— any examination or control relating to the body of measures taken
in order to establish the integrated system and to the eligibility of
expenditure declared under the Community co-financing providedfor inArticle 10;
— checks at the specialized agencies and firms referred to in Article 8
(5).
Officials of the Member State concerned may take part in such checks.
The aforementioned powers to check shall not affect the application of
national criminal law provisions which reserve certain acts for officialsspecifically designated by national law. Commission officials shall in
particular not participate in home visits to or the formal interrogation
of suspects under the criminal law of the Member State. They shall,however, have access to the information obtained thereby.
3. Without prejudice to the responsibilities of the Member States for
the implementation and application of the integrated system, the1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 7
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Commission may seek the assistance of specialized bodies or persons
in order to facilitate the establishment, monitoring and utilization ofthe integrated system, in particular with a view to providing the compe-
tent authorities of the Member States with technical advice, should they
request it.
Article 12
The Commissionshall adopt detailed rules for the applicationof this
Regulationinaccordan ce with the procedure laid downinArticle 13of Regulation(EEC) No 729/70. These detailed rules shall cover inparticular:
(a) the basic features of the alphanumeric identification system for
agricultural parcels;
(b) any amendments which may be made to the ‘area’ aid applications
and exemption from the requirement to submit an ‘area’ aid appli-cation;
(c) the minimum amount of information to be included in the aid
applications;
(d) the administrative and on-the-spot checks and the checks by remote
sensing;
(e) the establishment of an advance payment scheme for Community
financial participation;
(f) transitional provisions for the start-up period of the system;
(g) communications between the Member States and the Commission;
(h) the measures required to resolve specific practical problems. Such
measures — if duly justified — may derogate from certainparts of
this Regulation.
Article 13
1. The integrated system shall apply
(a) from 1 February 1993 as regards aid applications, an alphanumeric
system of identification and registration of bovine animals and the
integrated control system referred to in Article 7;
(b) from 1 January 1996 at the latest as regards the other elements
referred to inArticle 2.
2. With a view to implementation of the integrated system, the
Member States shall:
— adopt the necessary laws, regulations and administrative provisions
concerning paragraph 1 (a) before 1 February 1993, and thoseconcerning paragraph 1 (b) before 1 June 1993;
— take the administrative, budgetary and technical measures necessary
for the integrated system to be operational from the dates laid downinparagraph 1.
If, however, any parts of the integrated system are operational before
the dates laid downinparagraph 1, the Member States shall use themfor their management and checking activities.
Article 14
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that
of its publicationinthe OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
inall Member States.1992R3508 — EN — 01.01.1994 — 001.001 — 8