EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/739

(2004/C 78 E/0788)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2447/03

by Marie-Arlette Carlotti (PSE) to the Commission

(23 July 2003)

Subject: Detailed rules for the implementation of technical and financial assistance measures for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas

The per country annual funding of technical and financial assistance measures for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas is determined by the Commission using a calculation method that takes into account the competitivity gap observed between the beneficiary ACP countries and third-country banana suppliers and the importance of banana production for the economy of the country concerned (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1609/1999 (1)).

The Commission bases its calculation of the competitivity gap on the average reference price per tonne of bananas produced in each beneficiary ACP country. This is a CIF (cost, insurance and freight) price. It seems that the CIF price for ACP bananas is reconstructed on the basis of the statistical customs value of the bananas as recorded by Eurostat. However, the absence of any Community harmonisation of the customs registration of ACP bananas results in widely-acknowledged differences in the price from one Member State to another. The same statistical data were also used by the Commission in application of the first directive on a system of assistance to suppliers (Regulation (EC) No 2686/94 (2)), but in the opposing sense.

These detailed implementing rules for the policy desired by the Council and the European Parliament result in distortions between beneficiaries.

In the interests of transparency could the Commission divulge the variables and calculations that formed the basis for the allocation of funding in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003?

Could it divulge all the data used to calculate the average CIF reference price for bananas in each ACP country in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, as well as the average CIF reference prices for each ACP country for those years?

Does the Commission plan to rectify the method used for its calculation, so that this is performed on fair and transparent bases for the years to come?

Answer given by Mr Nielson on behalf of the Commission

(5 September 2003)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1609/1999 of 22 July 1999 lays down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 establishing the special framework of assistance (SFA) to traditional African, Caribbean and pacific (ACP) suppliers of bananas, including the methodology to be applied for calculating the yearly individual amounts. In accordance with Article 3 of the implementing regulation, the prices used in the calculations are the cost, insurance and freight (c.i.f.) values as published by Eurostat. Hence, the data used are official statistics, which are available by consulting the database Comext (3).

The alleged lack of harmonisation among Member States in the collection of data is being looked into, further to a letter of the Ivory Coast producers' organisation and a meeting held between its representatives and the Commission.

As to the different criteria applied when comparing the current SFA and the banana scheme established in 1994, important changes in the banana Union trade regime have occurred, forced upon the Community by world trade organisation (WTO) rules, which European development policy has to take into account.

The Commission does not see any distortions having occurred among beneficiaries. The fact that the weakest ACP competitors have so far received higher support is in line with the SFA policy choice, namely to help more the less competitive ACP suppliers. As of 2004, in accordance with the provisions in force, a reduction coefficient will have to be applied to all beneficiaries, but the reduction will be lower for those ACPs having improved their competitiveness, and will be proportional to those improvements.

None of the beneficiaries has ever disputed the correctness of the calculations leading to the individual yearly amounts. Even the representatives of the Ivorian producers stated at the above mentioned meeting that in their view the Commission has always applied the method prescribed by the Commission Regulation in a correct and fair manner.

(1) OJ L 190, 23.7.1999, p. 14.

(2) OJ L 286, 5.11.1994, p. 1.

(3) The Comext database, accessible to Parliament, contains this data.