1.

The following Article 3a is inserted: ‘Article 3a 1. Without prejudice to Article 4 of this Regulation, the quantities of maize eligible for intervention in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003, shall be awarded, for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 marketing years, in two periods, “period 1” and “period 2”, in accordance with the terms and procedures laid down in paragraphs 2 to 5 of this Article. Period 1 shall start on 1 August in Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, 1 December in Sweden and 1 November in the other Member States and shall run until 31 December, the final day for the submission of offers for all Member States for this period. Period 2 shall start on the day following the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the quantity which remains available for intervention in that period, as referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2. That day shall be the first day for the submission of offers in all the Member States and that period shall end not later than 30 April in Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, 30 June in Sweden and 31 May in the other Member States. 2. At the end of period 1, the Commission shall enter in the accounts the admissible offers for maize submitted by operators to the intervention agencies of the Member States by 12.00 (Brussels time) on 31 December, on the basis of the notifications made each week by the Member States in accordance with Article 11a(1)(a)(i). If the total quantity offered exceeds the maximum quantities laid down in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003, the Commission shall fix and publish, not later than 25 January, an award coefficient to six decimal places to be applied to the quantities. If there is no overrun, this award coefficient shall be 1 and the Commission shall publish the quantity which remains available for intervention in period 2. Not later than 31 January, the intervention agency of the Member State shall notify the offerer that the offer has been accepted for a quantity equal to the quantity offered multiplied by the award coefficient. 3. From the first Wednesday in February, the Commission shall enter in the accounts each week the admissible offers for maize submitted by operators to the intervention agencies of the Member States by the Friday of the previous week at 12.00 (Brussels time), on the basis of the notifications made by the Member States in accordance with Article 11a(1)(a)(i). Where there is an overrun of the quantity which remains available for intervention, the Commission shall fix and publish not later than the fourth working day following the deadline for the submission of offers, an award coefficient to six decimal places to be applied to the quantities. If there is no overrun, this award coefficient shall be 1, the quantities offered shall be deemed to have been accepted and each week, by Wednesday at the latest, the Commission shall post on its Internet site http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets/crops/index_fr.htm information for operators as to the remaining quantity available for intervention in the week in question. Not later than the ninth working day following the deadline for the submission of offers, the intervention agency of the Member State shall notify the offerer that the offer has been accepted for a quantity equal to the quantity offered multiplied by the award coefficient. 4. The offers referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be entered in the accounts by the competent intervention agency on the date of their receipt. Once submitted, offers may not be altered or withdrawn. 5. To be admissible, the offers shall be accompanied by proof that the offerer has lodged a security of EUR 15 per tonne. This security shall be lodged on submission of the offer, but may be payable, if lodged during period 1 in the form of a bank guarantee, only from the day following the deadline for the submission of offers referred to in paragraph 2. 6. The security shall cover the quantities offered by the offerer in accordance with paragraphs 2 or 3. Except in cases of force majeure or in exceptional circumstances, the security shall be fully forfeit to the Community budget where: (a) the quantities present in the place of storage, between the submission of the offer and the take-over of the maize, are below the quantities declared by the offerer in accordance with Article 4(1), without prejudice to a 5 % margin of tolerance; (b) the quantities awarded are not in fact supplied by the offerer for take-over by the intervention agency in accordance with Articles 2 and 5. For the purposes of applying point (a) of the second subparagraph of this paragraph, the intervention agencies shall carry out checks on the quantities present in the places of storage by applying mutatis mutandis the rules and conditions laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 884/2006 (4), as regards checks on the physical presence of products stored under public storage operations, and more specifically those provided for under point B.III of Annex I to that Regulation. These controls shall be carried out on at least 5 % of the offers and 5 % of the quantities offered, on the basis of a risk analysis. These minimal control rates shall apply only during period 1. The security shall be released in its entirety: (a) for quantities offered but not awarded; and (b) for quantities offered and awarded, from the moment that 95 % of the quantity awarded has actually been taken over by the intervention agency.