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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 180/98
of23January 1998
on aspecial intervention measure for maize inGreece
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard tothe Treaty establishing the European
Community,
Having regard toCouncil Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92
of30 June 1992 on the common organisation ofthe
market in cereals (1),aslast amended by Commission
Regulation (EC) No 923/96 (2),and inparticular Article 6
thereof,
Whereas maize production in the Orestiada region
exceeds local consumption requirements; whereas maize
prices inthis region are atthe intervention price level;
whereas the geographical situation and local logistics
restrict the possibilities for the other Greek regions and
indeed the other Community markets to absorb this
surplus ofhigh production in the 1997/98 marketing
year;
Whereas the Greek market can berelieved bythe export
ofpart ofthis surplus quantity ofmaize tonon-member
countries; whereas, inview ofworld market prices for
maize, export ispossible only with the aid ofarefund;
Whereas, however, the refund arrangements laid down in
Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 apply to
export from any Member State; whereas such arrange-
ments, therefore, are not only unsuitable for solving the
problem inquestion but may also favour the export of
maize from Member States where the market situation is
different from that inthe Orestiada region;
Whereas, inthe absence ofadequate measures, massive
quantities ofmaize may beexpected toenter intervention
storage inGreece during the marketing year inaccord-
ance with Article 4ofRegulation (EEC) No 1766/92, the
only possibility ofdisposal being inany case export to
non-member countries; whereas, toavoid the abovemen-
tioned intervention, aspecial intervention measure
intended torelieve the Greek regional market should be
taken pursuant to Article 6of the said Regulation;
whereas, furthermore, such ameasure should take the
form ofadirect export incentive, which would avoid the
high cost tothe Community budget ofbuying inand
storing products which would inany case then have tobe
exported; whereas the granting ofarefund, the amount of
which would be determined by tendering and whichwould apply only toproducts exported from the Greek
region ofOrestiada, would beanappropriate measure for
this purpose;
Whereas the purpose ofthe measure issuch that refunds
should begranted only on maize ofthe quality required
for acceptance for intervention, asdefined inCommission
Regulation (EEC) No 689/92 (3),aslast amended byRegu-
lation (EC) No 23/98 (4);whereas the competent agency
must make certain maize exported isofthis standard;
Whereas the nature and objectives ofthe said measures
make itappropriate toapply inrespect ofit,mutatis
mutandis ,Article 13 ofRegulation (EEC) No 1766/92
and the regulations adopted for the application thereof, in
particular Commission Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 of29
June 1995 laying down certain detailed rules for the
application ofCouncil Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on
the granting of export refunds on cereals and the
measures tobetaken inthe event ofdisturbance on the
market for cereals (5),aslast amended byRegulation (EC)
No 2052/97 (6);
Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 requires tenderers
toapply for anexport licence among their other under-
takings; whereas compliance with this obligation may be
ensured byrequiring tenderers tolodge asecurity ofECU
12 per tonne when they submit their tenders;
Whereas the cereals in question should be actually
exported from the Member State for which aparticular
intervention measure was implemented; whereas itis
therefore necessary tolimit the use ofexport licences to
exports from the Member State inwhich the licence was
applied for and to maize produced in the Orestiada
region; whereas the exit points from Greece should be
stipulated;
Whereas, in order to ensure equal treatment of all
concerned, itisnecessary to make provision for the
licences issued tohave an identical period ofvalidity;
Whereas, inorder toensure the smooth operation ofthe
export tendering procedure, itisappropriate toprescribe a
minimum quantity tobe tendered for and atime limit
and form for the communication oftenders submitted to
the competent authorities;
(1)OJ L181, 1.7.1992, p.21.
(2)OJ L126, 24. 5.1996, p.37.(3)OJ L74, 20. 3.1992, p.18.
(4)OJ L4,8.1.1998, p.48.
(5)OJ L147, 30. 6.1995, p.7.
(6)OJ L287, 21. 10. 1997, p.14.
/SS07 /SS07 EN Official Journal ofthe European Communities L19/48 24. 1.98
Whereas the measures provided for inthis Regulation are
in accordance with the opinion of the Management
Committee for Cereals,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Aspecial intervention measure inthe form ofan
export refund shall beapplied inrespect of75000 tonnes
ofmaize produced inGreece, inthe region ofOrestiada.
Article 13ofRegulation (EEC) No 1766/92 and the provi-
sions adopted for the application ofthat Article shall
apply, mutatis mutandis ,tothe said refund.
2. The Greek intervention agency shall beresponsible
for implementing the measure referred toinparagraph 1.
Article 2
1. Tenders shall beinvited inorder todetermine the
amount ofthe refund referred toinArticle 1.
2. The invitation totender shall relate tothe quantity
ofmaize referred toinArticle 1(1) for export toallthird
countries
3. The invitation shall remain open until 2April 1998.
During the period ofitsvalidity weekly awards shall be
made, for which the time limits for the submission of
tenders shall beasprescribed inthe notice ofinvitation to
tender. Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1501/95
notwithstanding, the time limit for submitting bids for
the first partial invitation totender shall be 29 January
1998.
4. Tenders must be submitted tothe Greek interven-
tion agency named inthe notice ofinvitation.
5. The tendering procedure shall take place inaccord-
ance with this Regulation and Regulation (EC) No
1501/95.
Article 3
Atender shall be valid only if:
— itrelates tonot less than 1000 tonnes,
— itisaccompanied byawritten undertaking stipulating
that itrelates solely tomaize produced inthe Ores-
tiada region,
Article 4
Under the tendering procedure referred toinArticle 2,
box 20ofapplications and the export licences shall indi-
cate the following:
‘Κανονισµ /aiguο/sigmaaltr (ΕΚ) αριθ. 180/98 — Πιστοποιητικ /aiguο
που ισχ /aiguυει µ/aiguονο για το καλαµπ /aiguοκι που /aiguεχει
παραχθε /aiguιστην περιοχ /aiguη τη/sigmaaltr Ορεστι /aiguαδα/sigmaaltr στην
Ελλ /aiguαδα.»Article 5
The refund shall be valid:
— inthe case ofexports over land, only for the following
exit points: Ormenion, Kipi and Kastanies,
— inthe case ofexports bysea, only for the port ofAlex-
androupolis.
Article 6
The security referred toinArticle 5ofRegulation (EC)
No 1501/95 shall be ECU 12 per tonne.
Article 7
1. By way ofderogation from Article 21(1) ofCommis-
sion Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 (1),export licences
issued inaccordance with Article 8(1) ofRegulation (EC)
No 1501/95 shall, for the purpose ofdetermining their
period ofvalidity, bedeemed tohave been issued on the
day on which the tender was submitted.
2. Export licences issued inconnection with the invita-
tion totender pursuant tothis Regulation shall bevalid
from their date ofissue, asdefined inparagraph 1,until
the end ofthe fourth month following that ofthe issue.
3. Notwithstanding Article 11ofRegulation (EEC) No
3719/88, export licence under this tendering procedure
shall be valid inGreece only.
Article 8
1. The Commission shall decide, under the procedure
laid down inArticle 23ofRegulation (EEC) No 1766/92
either:
— tofix amaximum export refund, taking account in
particular ofthe criteria laid down inArticle 1of
Regulation (EC) No 1501/95, or
— tomake no award.
2. Where amaxium export refund isfixed, acontract
shall beawarded toany tenderer whose tender indicates a
rate ofrefund equal toorless than such maximum export
refund.
3. Arefund awarded shall not bepaid unless the maize
exported isofatleast intervention quality defined in
Article 2(2) ofRegulation (EEC) No 689/92.
The competent agency shall have ananalysis made, byan
approved body orcompany ofthe landed goods and shall
hold atthe Commission’s disposal an additional sample
from each consignment taken and sealed inthe presence
ofthe tenderer orhis representative.
Sampling and analysis costs shall bemet bythe tenderer.
(1)OJ L331, 2.12. 1988, p.1.
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4. Where the quality does not correspond to that
defined inparagraph 3,the refund shall be reduced by
ECU 15 per tonne.
Article 9
Tenders submitted must reach the Commission through
the intervention ofthe Greek intervention agency atthe
latest one-and-a-half hours after expiry ofthe period for
the weekly submission of tenders asspecified in the
notice ofinvitation totender. They must be commun-icated inthe form indicated inAnnex I,tothe telex or
telefax numbers inAnnex II.
Ifno tenders are received, the Greek intervention agency
shall inform the Commission ofthis within the period
indicated inthe first paragraph.
The times fixed for the submission of tenders shall
correspond toBelgian time.
Article 10
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day ofits
publication in the Official Journal ofthe European
Communities .
This Regulation shall be binding inits entirety and directly applicable inall Member
States.
Done atBrussels, 23 January 1998.
For the Commission
Franz FISCHLER
Member ofthe Commission
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ANNEX I
Weekly tender for the refund for the export ofGreek maize toall third countries
(Regulation (EC) No 180/98)
(Closing date for the submission oftenders (date/time))
1 2 3
Number
oftendererQuantity
intonnesAmount ofexport refund
inecu per tonne
1
2
3
etc.
ANNEX II
The only numbers touse tocall Brussels (DG VI-C-1 (Attention: Messrs Thibault and Brus)) are:
— telex: — 22037 AGREC B,
— 22070 AGREC B(Greek characters);
— fax: — 295 2515,
— 296 4956.