COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 386/96 of 1 March 1996 amending Regulation (EEC) No 220/91 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 on producer groups and associations thereof

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 on producer groups and associations thereof (1), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular the second and third indents of Article 6 (3) thereof,

Whereas Annex I (V) (C) (2) (a) of the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden extends the scope of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 to cover the entire territory of Finland;

Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 220/91 (2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1755/95 (3), lays down detailed rules concerning the economic activity of producer groups and associations thereof; whereas these rules must be supplemented to take account of the extension of the scope of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78 to include Finland;

Whereas minimum thresholds for conventional and organic production should be fixed, as should the number of members producer groups must have to achieve a sufficient concentration of supply; whereas, to ensure that associations of producer groups have adequate economic strength, it seems appropriate to fix the minimum number of members and territorial coverage of such associations;

Whereas a temporary reduction in the production of a group or association of groups as a result of natural disasters should not entail automatic withdrawal of the recognition of that group or association because it no longer meets the minimum production thresholds;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Agricultural Structures and Rural Development,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 220/91 is hereby amended as follows:

1. The following paragraph 4 is added to Article 2:

'4. A reduction in the volume of production of a group or association for a given year as a result of a natural disaster shall not automatically be taken to mean that the conditions for recognition set out in paragraph 1 are no longer met.

A standard calculation of production volume, based on average production over the three previous normal years, may be applied and notified in advance to the Commission to take account of natural disasters which have taken place during a year and which have substantially affected the volume of production of the group, in order to maintain the recognition of producer groups in areas specified by the Member States as having been affected by the natural disaster in question.

With regard to the value of the products supplied by members used to calculate the amount of the start-up aid provided for in Article 10 (2) (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 1360/78, only production actually marketed may be taken into account.`

2. The following subparagraph (i) is added to Article 3 (2):

'(i) In the case of Finland, associations must be made up of at least five recognized producer groups and must operate in at least two provinces. For the purposes of this paragraph, Åland shall be considered as a province. With regard to organic production, associations must meet the minimum requirements set out in point IXa of the Annex concerning production area, turnover, share in the national volume of organic production and number of recognized producer groups.`

3. In the Annex, Table IX for conventional production and Table IXa for organic production in the Annex to this Regulation are inserted before the footnotes, following on from Table VIII.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 1 March 1996.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ No L 166, 23. 6. 1978, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 26, 31. 1. 1991, p. 15.

(3) OJ No L 170, 20. 7. 1995, p. 7.

ANNEX

'IX. Producer groups in Finland (conventional production)

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IXa. Producer groups in Finland (organic production)

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