EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 9. 1999 L 233/10
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1897/1999
of 2 September 1999
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,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30
June 1992 on the common organisation of the market incereals (
1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No
1253/1999 (2), and in particular Article 6 thereof,
(1) Whereas oats are one of the products covered by thecommon organisation of the market in cereals; whereasit is not, however, included among the basic cerealsreferred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92for which provision is made for intervention buying in;
(2) Whereas oats is a major traditional crop in Finland andSweden which is well suited to the weather conditionsobtaining in those countries; whereas production farexceeds requirements in those countries with the resultthat they are required to dispose of surpluses byexporting them to third countries; whereas membershipof the Community has not altered the previouslyexisting situation;
(3) Whereas any reduction in the quantity of oats grown inFinland and Sweden would be beneficial to other cerealsqualifying for the intervention arrangements, especiallybarley; whereas production of barley is in surplus bothin the two Nordic countries and across the whole of theCommunity; whereas a switch from oats to barley wouldonly worsen the situation and create further surpluses;whereas it is necessary therefore to ensure that exportsof oats to third countries can continue;
(4) Whereas refunds may be granted in respect of oatspursuant to Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92;whereas the geographical situation of Finland andSweden places them in a less favourable position fromthe point of view of exporting than other MemberStates; whereas the fixing of refunds on the basis ofArticle 13 favours primarily those other Member States;whereas it is anticipated therefore that the production ofoats in the two Nordic countries will give way increas-ingly to that of barley; whereas, consequently, in comingyears, substantial quantities of barley must be expectedto enter intervention storage in Finland and Swedenpursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92,the only possibility of disposal being export to thirdcountries; whereas exports from intervention storage aremore costly to the Community budget than direct
exports;
(5) Whereas these additional costs can be avoided under aspecial intervention measure within the meaning ofArticle 6 of that Regulation; whereas this interventionmeasure may be taken in the form of a measureintended to relieve the market in oats in Finland andSweden; whereas the grant of a refund by a tenderingprocedure which would apply only to oats produced andexported from those two countries would be the mostappropriate measure in the circumstances; whereas thisapproach was followed in the 1998/99 marketing yearpursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2007/98 (
3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 567/
1999 (4);
(6) Whereas the nature and objectives of the said measuremake it appropriate to apply to it, mutatis mutandis ,
Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 and theRegulations adopted for its implementation, in particularCommission Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 of 29 June1995 laying down certain detailed rules for the applica-tion of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on thegranting of export refunds on cereals and the measuresto be taken in the event of disturbance on the marketfor cereals (
5), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
2513/98 (6);
(7) Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 requires tenderersto apply for an export licence among their other under-takings; whereas compliance with this obligation may beensured by requiring tenderers to lodge a security ofEUR 12 per tonne when they submit their tenders;
(8) Whereas the cereals in question should actually beexported from the Member States for which a specialintervention measure was implemented; whereas it isnecessary therefore to limit the use of export licences toexports from the Member State in which application forthe licence was made and to oats produced in Finlandand Sweden;
(9) Whereas, in order to ensure equal treatment for allconcerned, it is necessary to make provision that thelicences issued have an identical period of validity;
(10) Whereas, in order to ensure the smooth operation of theexport tendering procedure, it is necessary to prescribe aminimum quantity and a time limit and form for thesubmission of tenders to the competent agencies;
(11) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulationare in accordance with the opinion of the ManagementCommittee for Cereals,
(3) OJ L 258, 22.9.1998, p. 13.
(4) OJ L 70, 17.3.1999, p. 10.
(1) OJ L 181, 1.7.1992, p. 21. (5) OJ L 147, 30.6.1995, p. 7.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 18. (6) OJ L 313, 21.11.1998, p. 16.
EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 9. 1999 L 233/11
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. A special intervention measure in the form of an export
refund shall be implemented in respect of 300 000 tonnes ofoats produced in Finland and Sweden and intended for exportfrom Finland and Sweden to all third countries.
Article 13 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 and the provisions
adopted for the application of that Article shall apply, mutatis
mutandis , to the said refund.
2. The Finnish and Swedish intervention agencies shall be
responsible for implementing the measure referred to in para-graph 1.
Article 2
1. Tenders shall be invited in order to determine the amount
of the refund referred to in Article 1.
2. The invitation to tender shall relate to the quantity of oats
referred to in Article 1(1) for export to all third countries.
3. The invitation shall remain open until 29 June 2000.
During its period of validity weekly awards shall be made, 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,
the time limit for the submission of tenders for the first partialinvitation to tender shall be 9 September 1999.
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 1 000 tonnes;
(b) it is accompanied by a written undertaking from the
tenderer specifying that it relates solely to oats grown inFinland and Sweden which are to be exported from thosecountries.
Where the undertaking referred to in paragraph (b) is not
fulfilled, the security provided for in Article 10 of CommissionRegulation (EC) No 1162/95 (
1) shall be forfeited, except in
cases offorce majeure .
Article 4
Under the tendering procedure referred to in Article 2, one of
the following entries shall be made in box 20 of applicationsand export licences:
— ‘Asetus (EY) N:o 1897/1999 — Todistus on voimassa
ainoastaan Suomessa ja Ruotsissa’,
— ‘Förordning (EG) nr 1897/1999 — Licensen giltig endast i
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. Notwithstanding Article 21(1) of Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 3719/88 (
2), export licences issued in accordance with
Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 shall, for thepurpose of determining their period of validity, be deemed tohave been issued on the day on which the tender wassubmitted.
2. Export licences issued under this tendering procedure
shall be valid from their date of issue, as defined in paragraph1, until the end of the fourth month following that of issue.
3. Notwithstanding Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No
3719/88, 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, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article23 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92, either:
— to fix a maximum export refund, taking into account in
particular the criteria laid down in Article 1 of Regulation(EC) No 1501/95, or
— to make no award.
2. Where a maximum export refund is fixed, a contract shall
be awarded to any tenderer whose tender specifies a rate ofrefund not exceeding such maximum export refund.
Article 9
Tenders submitted must reach the Commission via the Finnish
and Swedish intervention agencies not later than one and a halfhours following expiry of the deadline for the weekly submis-sion of tenders as specified in the notice of invitation to tender.They must be communicated in the form shown in Annex Itothe telex or fax numbers given in Annex II.
If no tenders are received, the Finnish and Swedish intervention
agencies shall inform the Commission thereof within theperiod specified in the first paragraph.
The times fixed for the submission of tenders shall correspond
to Belgian time.
Article 10
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
(1) OJ L 117, 24.5.1995, p. 2. (2) OJ L 331, 2.12.1988, p. 1.
EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 9. 1999 L 233/12
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 2 September 1999.
For the Commission
Neil KINNOCK
Member of the Commission
EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 9. 1999 L 233/13
ANNEX I
Weekly tender for the refund for the export of oatsfrom Finland and Sweden to all third countries
(Regulation (EC) No 1897/1999)
(Closing date for the submission of tenders (date/time))
1 2 3
Number
of tendererQuantity
in tonnesAmount of export refund
(in EUR per tonne)
1
2
3
etc.
ANNEX II
The only numbers to use to call Brussels (DG VI-C-1, (Attention: Messrs Thibault and Brus)) are:
— fax: 295 25 15,
296 49 56.
— telex: 22037 AGREC B,
22070 AGREC B (Greek characters).