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"BCOMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1663/95
of 7 July 1995
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 regarding the
procedure for the clearance of the accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section
(OJ L 158, 8.7.1995, p. 6)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/97 of 20 May 1997 L 128 8 21.5.1997
"M2 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2245/1999 of 22 October 1999 L 273 5 23.10.19991995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1663/95
of 7 July 1995
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70 regarding the procedure for the clearance of the
accounts of the EAGGF Guarantee Section
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 of 21 April 1970
on the financing of the common agricultural policy (1), as last amended
by Regulation (EC) No 1287/95 (2), and in particular Articles 4 (6) and 5
(3) thereof,
Whereas the reform of the procedure for the clearance of the accounts,
put into effect by Council Regulation (EC) No 1287/95, provides for the
establishment of detailed rules regarding the certification and clearance
of the annual accounts of accredited paying agencies;
Whereas changes in the number and nature of measures financed by the
EAGGF Guarantee Section, together with changes in techniques for
recording and transmitting information, are such as to require a revision
of the nature and content of the information to be provided to the
Commission for the purpose of the clearance of accounts;
Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1723/72 (3), as last amended
by Regulation (EEC) No 295/88 (4), should therefore be repealed;
Whereas the EAGGF Committee has not delivered an opinion within the
time limit set by the chairman,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The limit to the number of paying agencies accredited by each
Member State, pursuant to Article 4 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70,
shall be set by the Member State after consulting the Commission. The
Commission may in particular make known any obstacle which this
number presents to compliance with the time limit laid down in Article 5
(2) (b) of that Regulation, and to the transparency of checks on the
operation of the Fund. The Commission shall inform the Fund
Committee of the paying agencies accredited in all Member States.
2. For each paying agency, the Member State shall inform the
Commission of the authorities (‘the competent authority’) which issue
and withdraw accreditation, and which set the period allowed for any
necessary adjustments within the meaning of Article 4 (4) of Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70.
3. Before accrediting any paying agency, the competent authority shall
be satisfied that the administrative and accounting arrangements of the
body concerned offer the guarantees referred to in Article 4 (1) (a) of
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70. The criteria shall be established by the
Member State and applied by the competent authority for the purpose of
accreditation, taking account of the Commission’ s guidelines for those
criteria as set out in the Annex. Failure to meet any criteria of significant
relevance to the paying agency’ s operations shall lead to the application
of Article 4 (4) of the abovementioned Regulation.!B
(1) OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 13.
(2) OJ No L 125, 8. 6. 1995, p. 1.
(3) OJ No L 186, 16. 8. 1972, p. 1.
(4) OJ No L 30, 2. 2. 1988, p. 7.1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 2
The decision on accreditation shall be taken on the basis of an
examination covering the administrative and accounting conditions,
including those adopted to protect the Community’s interests regarding
advances paid, guarantees obtained, intervention stocks and amounts to
be collected. The examination shall include, in particular, the
arrangements regarding the execution of payments, the safeguarding of
the treasury, the security of computer systems, the maintenance of
accounting records, the division of duties and the adequacy of internal
and external controls, in respect of transactions financed by the
Guarantee Section of the EAGGF .
4. If the competent authority is satisfied that the paying agency
examined complies with all relevant requirements, it shall proceed with
its accreditation. Otherwise, it shall address to the paying agency
instructions relating to the administrative and accounting arrangements,
and in particular to any conditions the paying agency is required to fulfil
before accreditation may be granted. Accreditation may be provisionally
granted for a period to be fixed in relation to the seriousness of the
problem pending the implementation of any requisite changes to the
administrative and accounting arrangements.
5. If accreditation is withdrawn, the Member State shall designate
another paying agency in accordance with the conditions in Article 4 of
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 and in paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Article
and ensures that payments to beneficiaries are not interrupted.
6. The act of accreditation shall consist of a written confirmation that
the body meets the criteria for accreditation, and when relevant shall set
out the instructions as to changes and the period set. It shall be
communicated to the Commission.
7. The communication provided for under Article 4 (3) of Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70 shall be provided when the paying agency is first
accredited, and shall be accompanied by the following information in
respect of each paying agency:
— the responsibilities vested in it,
— the allocation of responsibilities between its departments,
— its relationship with other bodies, public or private, which also hold
some of the responsibilities for executing the measures under which
it charges expenditure to the Fund,
— the procedures by which claims by beneficiaries are received,
verified, and validated, and by which expenditure is authorized and
paid and accounted for,
— the provisions for internal audits.
The information to be provided where Article 4 (4) of Regulation (EEC)
No 729/70 applies shall include all instructions relating to the
administrative and accounting arrangements, and to the adaptations the
paying agency is required to carry out in order to avoid withdrawal of
accreditation, and the period allowed for implementation.
Article 2
1. The ‘coordinating body’ referred to in Article 4 (1) (b) of Regulation
(EEC) No 729/70 shall act as the sole representative of the Member State
before the Commission for all questions relating to the EAGGF
Guarantee Section concerning:
— distributing Community texts and guidelines relating thereto to the
various paying agencies and to those bodies responsible for their
implementation,
— promoting their harmonized application,
— communicating to the Commission the information stipulated in this
Regulation and in Regulation (EEC) No 729/70,
— holding at the disposal of the Commission a full record of all
accounting information required for statistical and control purposes.!B1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 3
It shall not be necessary to send to the Commission the information held
in documentary form by paying agencies or authorizing bodies: this
information shall, however, be kept available by paying agencies or
authorizing bodies. A paying agency may fulfil the role of coordinating
body provided that the two responsibilities are kept apart. In performing
its tasks, the coordinating body may, in accordance with national
procedures, call on other administrative bodies or departments, in
particular those with accounting or technical expertise.
2. The Member State shall communicate to the Commission infor-
mation concerning the name and the written constitution of the
coordinating body, and the administrative, accounting and internal
control conditions relating to its operation.
3."M2The form and content of the accounting information referred
to in paragraph 1 shall be established in accordance with the procedure
provided for in Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70. 3
Article 3
1. The certificate referred to in Article 5 (1) (b) of Regulation (EEC)
No 729/70 shall be established by a department or body which is
operationally independent of the paying and coordinating agencies and
which has the technical vocation (certifying body).
The certificate shall be based on examination of procedures and of a
sample of transactions. It shall cover compliance of payments with
Community rules only as regards the capability of the paying agencies’
administrative structures to ensure that such compliance has been
checked before a payment is made.
The certifying body shall conduct its examination according to
internationally accepted auditing standards. The checks shall be under-
taken both during and after the end of each financial year. Before 31
January of the following year, the certifying body shall draw up the
certificate and also a report of its findings which shall in particular state
whether it has gained reasonable assurance that the accounts to be
transmitted to the Commission are true, complete and accurate, and that
the internal control procedures have operated satisfactorily.
2. Where more than one paying agency is accredited, the Member State
may rely on the attestations issued by the departments or bodies which
certified the accounts of the respective paying agencies, provided that it
receives assurances that the scope and the standards of the audits
performed were equivalent to the requirements laid down in paragraph 1.
3. The report referred to in paragraph 1 shall state:
— whether the paying agencies’ procedures, with particular regard to
the accreditation criteria, are such as to give reasonable assurance
that the operations charged to the Fund comply with Community
rules, and what recommendations have been made for the
improvement of systems,
— whether the annual accounts referred to in Article 4 (1) (a) of this
Regulation are in accordance with the books and records of the
paying agencies,
— whether the statements of expenditure and of intervention operations
provided for in Article 5 are a materially true, complete and accurate
record of the operations charged to the Fund,
— whether the financial interests of the Community are properly
protected as regards advances paid, guarantees obtained, intervention
stocks and amounts to be collected,
— whether recommendations on the improvement of systems addressed
to the paying agency have been followed up.
The report shall be accompanied by the information on the number and
qualifications of staff undertaking the audit, on the work done, on the
number of transactions examined, on the level of materiality and
confidence obtained, on the weakness found and recommendations made!B1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 4
for improvement, and on the operations of both the certifying body and
other audit bodies, internal and external to the paying agencies, from
which all or part of the certifying body’ s assurance on the matters
reported was gained.
Article 4
1. For the purpose of the clearance of the accounts pursuant to Article 5
(2) (b) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70, the Member States shall send to
the Commission:
(a) the annual accounts of the expenditure charged to the Guarantee
Section of the Fund and reports established pursuant to Article 5 (1)
of that Regulation by each department or body;
(b) the certificates and reports established by the certifying body or
bodies.
2. The documents referred to in paragraph 1 shall be sent in four copies
to the Commission by 10 February of the year following the end of the
financial year which it concerns.
3. At the request of the Commission, or on the initiative of the Member
State, further information relating to the clearance of the accounts
concerned may be sent to the Commission up to a deadline which the
Commission shall set, taking account of the amount of work required to
provide that information. In the absence of this information, the
Commission may clear accounts on the basis of such information as is
in its possession at that deadline.
4. The Commission may accept a request for a delay in sending
information in justified cases, if it is addressed to it before the deadline.
Article 5
1. The accounts referred to in Article 4 (1) (a) shall include:
(a) the expenditure summarized by item and subitem of the Community
budget;
(b) a summary of intervention operations and a statement of the quantity
and location of stocks at the end of the financial year;
(c) information regarding expenditure, or confirmation that the detail of
each transaction is held on computer file at the disposal of the
Commission;
(d) confirmation that the details of each movement of intervention
storage is held on the paying agency’ s files;
(e) explanations of differences between the expenditure declared in the
annual accounts and that declared for the same period in the
documents referred to in Article 3 (5) of Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 2776/88 (1), as corrected pursuant to Article 9 (7) of that
Regulation;
(f) a summary of amounts in the process of being recovered, broken
down by financial year in which the recovery order was issued and a
summary of the amounts recognised during the year as unrecover-
able.
2. The reports referred to in Article 4 (1) (a) of this Regulation shall
contain the following information concerning the coordinating body and
each paying agency:
— any exceptional transactions or technical difficulties experienced
regarding the financial year concerned,
— any significant modification since the previous report of the
information in Article 1 (7).!B
(1) OJ No L 249, 8. 9. 1988, p. 9.!M2
!B1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 5
Article 6
The supporting documents regarding the expenditure financed and the
amounts to be recovered by the EAGGF Guarantee Section, shall be kept
at the disposal of the Commission for at least three years following that
in which the Commission clears the accounts of the financial year
concerned and, in the case where the clearance of accounts decision is
the subject of proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities, up to one year after the conclusion of those proceedings.
Article 7
1. Accounts clearance decisions as provided for in Article 5 (2) (b) of
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall, without prejudice to decisions taken
subsequently in accordance with paragraph 2 (c) of that Article,
determine the amount of expenditure effected in each Member State
during the financial year in question which shall be recognized as being
chargeable to the EAGGF on the basis of the accounts referred to in
Article 5 (1) (b) of that Regulation and the reductions in and suspensions
of advances in respect of the financial year concerned, including
reductions as referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 4 (3) of
Commission Regulation (EC) No 296/96 (1).
Amounts that, in accordance with accounts clearance decisions as
referred to in the first subparagraph, are recoverable from, or payable to,
each Member State shall be determined by deducting advances paid
during the financial year in question from expenditure recognized for
that year in accordance with the first subparagraph. Such amounts shall
be deducted from, or added to, advances against expenditure from the
second month following that in which the accounts clearance decision is
taken.
2. The Commission shall communicate to the Member State concerned
the results of its verifications of the information supplied, together with
any amendments it proposes, before 31 March following the end of the
financial year.
3. If, for reasons attributable to the Member State concerned, the
Commission is unable to clear the accounts of a Member State before 30
April of the following year, the Commission shall notify the Member
State of those further enquiries it proposes to undertake pursuant to
Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
Article 8
1. If, as a result of an enquiry, the Commission considers that
expenditure has not been effected according to Community rules, it shall
notify the Member State concerned of the results of its checks and
indicate the corrective measures to be taken to ensure future compliance.
The communication shall refer to this Regulation. The Member State
shall reply within two months and the Commission may modify its
position in consequence. In justified cases, the Commission may extend
the period allowed for reply.
After expiry of the period allowed for reply, the Commission shall invite
the Member State to a bilateral discussion and the parties shall endeavour
to reach agreement on the measures to be taken and on an evaluation of
the gravity of the infringement and the financial loss to the Community.
Following that discussion and any deadline after the discussion fixed by
the Commission, after consultation of the Member States, for the
provision of further information or, where the Member State does not
accept the invitation to a meeting before the deadline set by the
Commission, after that deadline has passed, the Commission shall
formally communicate its conclusions to the Member State, referring to!B
(1) OJ No L 39, 17. 2. 1996, p. 5.!M1
!B
!M21995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 6
Commission Decision 94/442/EC (1). Without prejudice to the fourth
subparagraph of this paragraph, that communication shall include an
evaluation of any expenditure the Commission intends to exclude under
Article 5(2)(c) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70.
The Member State shall inform the Commission as soon as possible of
the corrective measures adopted to ensure compliance with Community
rules and the date of their entry into force. The Commission shall, as
appropriate, adopt one or more Decisions under Article 5(2)(c) of
Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 to exclude expenditure affected by
non-compliance with Community rules up to the date of entry into
force of the corrective measures.
2. The decisions referred to in Article 5 (2) (c) of Regulation (EEC) No
729/70 shall be taken after an examination of any report drawn up by the
Conciliation body according to the provisions laid down in Directive
94/442/EC.
3. The deductions from the Community financing as referred to in
Article 5 (2) (c) of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70 shall be made from the
advances relating to the expenditure of the second month following the
decision pursuant to that Article. However, at the Member State’s request
and where warranted by the materiality of the deductions, and after
consulting the Fund Committee, the Commission may appoint some
other date.
Article 9
Regulation (EEC) No 1723/72 is hereby repealed with effect from 16
October 1995.
However, it shall remain applicable to the clearance of the accounts of
the Guarantee Fund up to those of its financial year 1995.
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 financial year beginning 16 October 1995.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.!M2
(1) OJ L 182, 16.7.1994, p. 45.!B1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 7
ANNEX
Guidelines for criteria for accreditation as a paying agency
The criteria for accreditation are such that the paying agency provides sufficient
assurance concerning the proper functioning of its administrative organization andof the system of internal control, and the maintenance of documents pursuant toArticle 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70. Only the small scale of operations of a
paying agency can justify the application of simplified criteria. The non-respect of
any criteria of significant relevance to the paying agency’ s operations shall lead tothe application of Article 4 (4) of that Regulation.
1. The establishment of a paying agency (‘agency’) shall take the form of a
formal act which lays down the agency’ s powers, obligations andresponsibilities, particularly in relation to EAGGF-Guarantee expenditure,as defined in Article 2 and 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 729/70, and which
sets out the agency’ s administrative structure.
2. The agency shall execute three principal functions in respect of
EAGGF-Guarantee expenditure:
(i) Authorization of payments: the objective of this function is the
establishment of the amount that shall be paid to a claimant inconformity with Community rules.
(ii) Execution of payments: the objective of this function is the issuing of
an instruction to the agency’ s bankers, or, in appropriate cases, a
governmental payments office, to pay the authorized amount to theclaimant (or his assignee).
(iii) Accounting for payment: the objective of this function is the
recording of the payment in the agency’ s separate books of account
of EAGGF expenditure, which will normally be in the form of an
electronic data processing system, and the preparation of periodicsummaries of expenditure, including the monthly and annualdeclarations to the European Commission. The books of account
also record the assets financed by the Fund, in particular concerning
intervention stocks, uncleared advances and debtors.
3. Without prejudice to the delegations provided for in point 4, the agency
shall normally dispose of two services:
(i) The internal audit service: the objective of this service or equivalent
procedure is to ensure that the agency’ s system of internal controloperates effectively; the internal audit service shall be independent of
the agency’ s other departments and shall report directly to the
agency’ s top management.
(ii) The technical service: the objective of this service is to verify the facts
on which payments to claimants are based; for example the facts on
such matters as the quality and characteristics of products, livestock,
land etc., the date of delivery, the transformation into another productand other checks of a technical nature.
The verification of these facts is assured through the operation of a control
and inspection system. A major role of the technical service is the
monitoring of this control system.
4. Part or all of the authorization function and/or the technical service may be
delegated to other bodies provided that the following conditions are
fulfilled;
(i) The responsibilities and obligations of these other bodies, notably
concerning the control and verification of the compliance withCommunity rules, are clearly defined.
(ii) The bodies dispose of effective systems for ensuring that they fulfil
their responsibilities in a satisfactory manner.
(iii) The bodies explicitly confirm to the agency that they in fact fulfil
their responsibilities and describe the means employed.
(iv) The agency is informed on a regular and timely basis of the results of
controls effected, so that the sufficiency of these controls may always
be taken into account before a claim is settled. The work performedshall be described in detail in a report accompanying each claim,batch of claims or, when appropriate, in a report covering one
marketing year. The report, shall be accompanied by an attestation of
the eligibility of the approved claims and of the nature, scope andlimits of the work done. If any physical or administrative checks are!
B1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 8
not exhaustive, but performed on a sample of claims, the claims
selected shall be identified, the sampling method described, the results
of all inspections and the measures taken in respect of discrepancies
and irregularities reported upon. The supporting documents submittedto the agency shall be sufficient to provide assurance that all therequired checks on the eligibility of the authorized claims have been
performed.
(v) Where documents relating to the claims authorized and controls
effected are retained by the other bodies, both these bodies and the
agency shall set up procedures to ensure that the location of all such
documents that are relevant to specific payments made by the agencyis recorded, and that these documents may be made available forinspection at the agency’ s offices at the request of the persons and
bodies who would normally have the right to inspect such documents,
which include:
— the agency’ s staff who deal with the claim,
— the agency’ s internal audit service,
— the body that attests the agency’ s annual declaration,
— mandated officials of the European Union.
4a. With the prior agreement of the Commission and in the case of
co-financed measures only, where a large number of small payments
must be made, payments to applicants for aid may be delegated to otherbodies. A written agreement must be concluded between the paying agencyand that body specifying the nature of the information and the supporting
documents to be submitted to the paying agency and the time limit within
which they must be submitted; they must as a minimum permit the payingagency to comply with the accreditation criteria and to meet the deadlineslaid down for the submission of monthly and annual accounts. The paying
agency shall remain responsible for the efficient management of the funds
concerned and for updating accounting records. The authorised agents ofthe paying agency, the certifying body and the European Union shall havethe right to examine any evidence held by the abovementioned body and to
carry out checks on applicants for aid.
5. The agency’ s administrative structure shall provide for separation of the
three functions of authorization, execution and accounting for payments,each of which shall be the responsibility of a separate administrativesubunit, the responsibilities of which are defined in an organization chart.
The administrative structure may provide for the function of the technical
service to be performed by the authorization department in appropriatecases.
The administrative subunit responsible for the execution of the payments,
or else a unit responsible for supervising it, shall have available
documentary evidence of the authorisation of claims, and of theadministrative and physical checks prescribed. The information and theevidence may be in a summary form equivalent to that described in point
4(iv) of this Annex, and it may be provided through a computerised
system.
6. The agency shall adopt the following procedures or those offering
equivalent guarantees:
(i) The agency shall lay down detailed written procedures for the receipt,
recording and processing of claims inclusive of a description of alldocuments to be used.
(ii) The division of duties shall be such that no official has responsibility
for more than one of the responsibilities for authorizing, paying oraccounting for sums charged to EAGGF , and that no official performsone of those tasks without his work coming under the supervision of a
second official.
The responsibilities of each official shall be defined in writing,
including the setting of financial limits to his authority. Staff training
shall be appropriate, and there shall be a policy for rotating staff insensitive positions, or alternatively for increased supervision.!
B
!M2
!B
!M2
!B1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 9
"M2Appropriate measures must be taken to avoid a conflict of
interests where a person occupying a position of responsibility or a
sensitive position with regard to the verification, authorisation and
payment of claims on the Fund also fulfils other functions outside thepaying agency. 3
(iii) Each official responsible for authorization shall have at his disposal a
detailed check-list of the verifications he is required to undertake, and
shall include in the supporting documents of the claim his attestationthat these checks have been performed. This attestation may be madeby electronic means subject to the conditions referred to in
subparagraph (vi). There shall be evidence of review of the work by
more senior member of staff.
(iv) A claim shall be authorized for payment only after sufficient checks
have been made to verify that it complies with Community
regulations. These checks shall include those required by the
regulation governing the specific measure under which aid is claimed,and those required pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No729/70 to prevent and detect fraud and irregularity with particular
regard to the risks presented. The checks to be undertaken shall be
specified in a check-list, and their performance shall be attested foreach claim, or for each batch of claims.
(v) Procedures should ensure that payment is made only to the claimant,
to his bank account or to his assignee. The payment shall be executedby the agency’ s banker, or, as appropriate, a governmental paymentsoffice, or the cheque mailed, within five working days of the date of
charge to the EAGGF . Procedures shall be adopted to ensure that all
payments for which transfers are not executed, or cheques not cashed,are recredited to the Fund. No payments shall be made in cash. Theapproval of the authorizing official and/or his supervisor may be made
by electronic means, provided an appropriate level of security over
these means is ensured, and the identity of the signatory is entered inthe electronic records.
(vi) Where claims are processed using a computer system, access to the
computer system shall be protected and controlled in such a way that:
— all information entered into the system is properly validated to
ensure that input errors are detected and corrected,
— no data may be entered, modified, or validated, except by
authorized officials to whom individual passwords are attributed,
— the identity of each official entering, or modifying, data or
programmes is recorded in an operations log.
Passwords shall be changed regularly to avoid misuse. Computer
systems shall be protected from unauthorized access by physicalcontrols, and the data shall be backed up by copies stored in aseparate, safeguarded location. Data entry shall be checked by logical
checks aimed at detecting inconsistent or extraordinary data.
(vii) The agency’ s procedures shall ensure that every change in the
Community’ s regulations, and in particular the rates of aid applicable,are recorded and the instructions, databases and checklists updated in
good time.
7. Payments of advances shall be identified in the accounting records, and
procedures adopted to ensure that:
(i) Guarantees are obtained only from financial institutions, which fulfill
the conditions of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 (
1) and which are
approved by appropriate authorities, and deliver guarantees which
remain valid until cleared or called upon, and are met on the simplerequest of the agency.
(ii) The advances are cleared within the stipulated time limits, and that
those overdue for clearing are promptly identified and the guaranteespromptly called upon.
(iii) The clearing of advances is subject to the same controls by
authorizing officers as are payments.
8. The accounting for intervention storage shall ensure that the quantities,
and associated costs, are correctly and promptly processed and recordedper identifiable lot and in the correct account at each stage from the!
B
(1) OJ No L 205, 3. 8. 1985, p. 5.1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 10
acceptance of an offer to the physical disposal of the product, in
compliance with the scheme regulations, and ensure that the quantity and
nature of stocks at every location may be determined at any time. Stocks
shall be physically verified on a regular basis by persons, bodies ordepartments independent of the stockkeepers.
9. Accounting procedures shall ensure that monthly and annual declarations
are complete, accurate and timely, and that any errors or omissions aredetected and corrected, in particular through checks and reconciliations
performed at intervals not exceeding three months.
10. The internal audit service shall verify that procedures adopted by the
agency are adequate to ensure that compliance with Community
regulations is verified, and that accounts are accurate, complete andtimely. Verifications may be limited to selected measures and to samples oftransactions provided that an audit plan ensures that all significant areas,
including the departments responsible for authorization, are covered over a
period not exceeding five years. The service’ s work shall be performedaccording to internationally accepted standards, shall be recorded inworking papers and shall result in reports and recommendations addressed
to the agency’ s top management. The audit plans and reports shall be made
available to the certifying body and to officials of the European Unionmandated to undertake financial audits and for the sole purpose ofappraising the effectiveness of the internal audit function.
11. All the above paragraphs apply, mutatis mutandis, to ‘negative expendi-
ture’ (levies, forfeited guarantees, reimbursed payments, etc.) that the
agency is required to collect on behalf of the Guarantee Section of the
EAGGF . In particular, the agency shall set up a system for the recognitionof all amounts due to the EAGGF and for the recording in a debtors ledgerof all such debts prior to their receipt. The debtors ledger shall be
inspected at regular intervals with the aim of taking action to collect debts
that are overdue.
The agency may delegate the responsibility for collecting certain
categories of negative expenditure to other bodies, subject to the
conditions set out in point 4, adapted as appropriate, and to the additional
condition that the other body reports to the agency on a regular and timelybasis, not less than monthly, on all revenues recognized and moniesreceived.
12. The agency shall ensure that all claims received are dealt with
expeditiously.!
B1995R1663 — EN — 30.10.1999 — 002.001 — 11