EN OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 4.10.2000 L249/15
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2097/2000
of 3 October 2000
on a special intervention measure for cereals in Finland and Sweden
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,
HavingregardtoCouncilRegulation(EEC)No1766/92of30
June 1992 on the common organisation of the market incereals(
1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1666/
2000(2), and in particular Article 6 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)Oats are one of the products covered by the common
organisationofthemarketincereals.Itisnot,however,includedamongthebasiccerealsreferredtoinArticle4ofRegulation(EEC)No1766/92forwhichprovisionismade for intervention buying in.
(2)OatsisamajortraditionalcropinFinlandandSwedenwhichiswellsuitedtotheweatherconditionsobtaininginthosecountries.Productionfarexceedsrequirementsinthosecountrieswiththeresultthattheyarerequiredtodisposeofsurplusesbyexportingthemtothirdcoun-tries.MembershipoftheCommunityhasnotalteredthepreviously existing situation.
(3)AnyreductioninthequantityofoatsgrowninFinlandand Sweden would be beneficial to other cereals quali-fying for the intervention arrangements, especiallybarley.ProductionofbarleyisinsurplusbothinthetwoNordic countries and across the whole of theCommunity. A switch from oats to barley would onlyworsen the situation and create further surpluses. It isnecessary therefore to ensure that exports of oats tothird countries can continue.
(4)Refunds may be granted in respect of oats pursuant toArticle 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92. Thegeographical situation of Finland and Sweden placesthem in a less favourable position from the point ofviewofexportingthanotherMemberStates.Thefixingof refunds on the basis of Article 13 favours primarilythose other Member States. It is anticipated thereforethattheproductionofoatsinthetwoNordiccountrieswill give way increasingly to that of barley. Conse-quently,incomingyears,substantialquantitiesofbarleymust be expected to enter intervention storage inFinlandandSwedenpursuanttoArticle4ofRegulation(EEC)No1766/92,theonlypossibilityofdisposalbeingexport to third countries. Exports from interventionstoragearemorecostlytotheCommunitybudgetthan
direct exports.
(5)These additional costs can be avoided under a specialinterventionmeasurewithinthemeaningofArticle6ofthatRegulation.ThisinterventionmeasuremaybetakenintheformofameasureintendedtorelievethemarketinoatsinFinlandandSweden.Thegrantofarefundbya tendering procedure which would apply only to oatsproducedandexportedfromthosetwocountrieswouldbe the most appropriate measure in the circumstances.This approach was followed in the 1999/2000marketingyearpursuanttoCommissionRegulation(EC)No 1897/1999(
3), as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 2482/1999(4).
(6)The nature and objectives of the said measure make itappropriatetoapplytoit, mutatis mutandis ,Article13of
Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 and the Regulationsadopted for its implementation, in particular Commis-sion Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 of 29 June 1995layingdowncertaindetailedrulesfortheapplicationofCouncil Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on the grantingof export refunds on cereals and the measures to betaken in the event of disturbance on the market forcereals(
5),aslastamendedbyRegulation(EC)No2513/
98(6).
(7)Regulation(EC)No1501/95requirestendererstoapplyfor an export licence among their other undertakings.Compliance with this obligation may be ensured byrequiring tenderers to lodge a security of EUR 12 pertonne when they submit their tenders.
(8)Thecerealsinquestionshouldactuallybeexportedfromthe Member States for which a special interventionmeasure was implemented. It is necessary therefore tolimit the use of export licences to exports from theMember State in which application for the licence wasmade and to oats produced in Finland and Sweden.
(9)Inordertoensureequaltreatmentforallconcerned,itisnecessary to make provision that the licences issuedhave an identical period of validity.
(10)In order to ensure the smooth operation of the exporttendering procedure, it is necessary to prescribe aminimum quantity and a time limit and form for thesubmission of tenders to the competent agencies.
(11)The measures provided for in this Regulation are inaccordance with the opinion of the ManagementCommittee for Cereals,
(3) OJ L 233, 3.9.1999, p. 10.
(4) OJ L 303, 26.9.1999, p. 3.
(1) OJ L 181, 1.7.1992, p. 21. (5) OJ L 147, 30.6.1995, p. 7.
(2) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 1. (6) OJ L 313, 21.11.1998, p. 16.
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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Aspecialinterventionmeasureintheformofanexport
refund shall be implemented in respect of 500000 tonnes ofoatsproducedinFinlandandSwedenandintendedforexportfrom Finland and Sweden to all third countries.
Article13ofRegulation(EEC)No1766/92andtheprovisions
adoptedfortheapplicationofthatArticleshallapply, mutatis
mutandis, to the said refund.
2. The Finnish and Swedish intervention agencies shall be
responsibleforimplementingthemeasurereferredtoinpara-graph 1.
Article 2
1. Tendersshallbeinvitedinordertodeterminetheamount
of the refund referred to in Article 1.
2. Theinvitationtotendershallrelatetothequantityofoats
referred to in Article 1(1) for export to all third countries.
3. The invitation shall remain open until 28 June 2001.
Duringitsperiodofvalidityweeklyawardsshallbemade,forwhich the time limits for the submission of tenders shall bespecified in the notice of invitation to tender.
Notwithstanding Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1501/95,
thetimelimitforthesubmissionoftendersforthefirstpartialinvitation to tender shall be 5 October 2000.
4. Tenders must be submitted to the Finnish and Swedish
intervention agencies named in the notice of invitation.
5. The tendering procedure shall take place in accordance
with this Regulation and Regulation (EC) No 1501/95.
Article 3
A tender shall be valid only if:
(a) it relates to not less than 1000 tonnes;
(b) it is accompanied by a written undertaking from the
tenderer specifying that it relates solely to oats grown inFinlandandSwedenwhicharetobeexportedfromthosecountries.
Where the undertaking referred to in paragraph (b) is not
fulfilled,thesecurityprovidedforinArticle10ofCommissionRegulation (EC) No 1162/95(
1) shall be forfeited, except in
cases offorce majeure.
Article 4
UnderthetenderingprocedurereferredtoinArticle2,oneof
the following entries shall be made in box 20 of applicationsand export licences:
— ”Asetus (EY) N:o 2097/2000 — Todistus on voimassa
ainoastaan Suomessa ja Ruotsissa”,
— ”Förordning(EG)nr2097/2000—Licensengiltigendasti
Finland och Sverige”.Article 5
The refund shall be valid only for exports from Finland and
Sweden.
Article 6
The security referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No
1501/95 shall be EUR 12 per tonne.
Article 7
1. NotwithstandingArticle23(1)ofCommissionRegulation
(EEC) No 1291/2000(
2), export licences issued in accordance
withArticle8(1)ofRegulation(EC)No1501/95shall,forthepurposeofdeterminingtheirperiodofvalidity,bedeemedtohave been issued on the day on which the tender wassubmitted.
2. Export licences issued under this tendering procedure
shallbevalidfromtheirdateofissue,asdefinedinparagraph1, until the end of the fourth month following that of issue.
3. NotwithstandingArticle11ofRegulation(EC)No1291/
2000, export licences issued under this tendering procedureshall be valid in Finland and Sweden only.
Article 8
1. On the basis of tenders notified, the Commission shall
decide,inaccordancewiththeprocedurelaiddowninArticle23 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92, either:
— to fix a maximum export refund, taking into account in
particularthecriterialaiddowninArticle1ofRegulation(EC) No 1501/95, or
— to make no award.
2. Whereamaximumexportrefundisfixed,acontractshall
be awarded to any tenderer whose tender specifies a rate ofrefund not exceeding such maximum export refund.
Article 9
TenderssubmittedmustreachtheCommissionviatheFinnish
andSwedishinterventionagenciesnotlaterthanoneandahalfhoursfollowingexpiryofthedeadlinefortheweeklysubmis-sionoftendersasspecifiedinthenoticeofinvitationtotender.TheymustbecommunicatedintheformshowninAnnexItothe telex or fax numbers given in Annex II.
Ifnotendersarereceived,theFinnishandSwedishintervention
agencies shall inform the Commission thereof within theperiod specified in the first paragraph.
Thetimesfixedforthesubmissionoftendersshallcorrespond
to Belgian time.
Article 10
ThisRegulationshallenterintoforceonthedayfollowingits
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
(1) OJ L 117, 24.5.1995, p. 2. (2) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1.
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ThisRegulationshallbebindinginitsentiretyanddirectlyapplicableinallMemberStates.Done at Brussels, 3 October 2000.
For the Commission
Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission
ANNEX I
Weekly tender for the refund for the export of oats from Finland and Sweden to all third countries
(Regulation (EC) No 2097/2000)
(Closing date for the submission of tenders (date/time))
1 2 3
Number
of tendererQuantity
in tonnesAmount of export refund
(in EUR per tonne)
123
etc.
ANNEX II
The only numbers to use to call Brussels are:—fax: (32-2)2962515,
(32-2)2964956.
—telex: 22037AGRECB,
22070AGRECB(Greekcharacters).