EUROOPAN YHTEISÖJEN KOMISSIO 
Bryssel, 19.07.1995 
KOM(95) 405 lopull. 
Ehdotus 
NEUVOSTON ASETUKSEKSI (EY) 
riisin vakiolaadun vahvistamisesta 
(komission esittämä) 

Explanatory Memorandum 
1. Introduction 
The Community market in rice is structured around two main types of rice, japonica and 
indica, corresponding to two separate consumption traditions. 
The outlook for the development of rice-growing depended to a large extent on this dual 
structure. 
Present market equilibria are satisfactory on the whole. The moderate increase in area in 
certain Member. States has been offset by a decline in output due to increasingly frequent 
drought. 
The structural surplus in japonica rice either finds outlets in the traditional neighbouring 
markets around the Mediterranean, or is used to meet the Community's food aid 
commitments. Community production of indica rice has enabled the processing industry 
to take advantage of having different supply sources for raw materials. 
The obligations resulting from the GATT Agreement imply, first of all, changing from 
a system of floor prices based on the threshold price to a system of ceiling prices 
superimposed on the system of customs duties resulting from tarification of the former 
system of variable levies. Moreover, these duties will be gradually cut by 36% from 1995 
to 2000. 
The GATT Agreement raises a new challenge for European rice-growing, brought directly 
face to face with competition and the uncertainties of the world market, both at the level 
of agricultural production and at that of the industrial processing of paddy rice into milled 
rice. 
The Commission believes that, in view of the further need to avoid any distortion of 
competition as a result of the new system for cereals introduced in 1992, the response to 
this new situation should be sought mainly through a substantial drop in producer prices, 
which should be accompanied by measures to restore competitiveness, in terms of quality, 
in relation to the imported product. Moreover, the Community market will have to face 
wider cyclical variations in price; consequently, the intervention mechanism, in its present 
form, is no longer compatible with the probable new scenarios. It should be reformed to 
provide more flexible management tools and ensure increased market fluidity. 
2. Fall in producer prices 
The outlook for new market equilibria, in terms of prices, gives rise to a multitude of 
possible scenarios, which make it impossible to evaluate the extent of the price reduction 
needed to meet competition from the imported product as duties are cut pursuant to the 
GATT Agreement. The Commission estimates that prices will have to fall by between 
15% (ECU 53/t) and 34% (ECU 119/t). At this stage, it is pointless and unnecessary to 
determine a priori the level of the eventual price cut. Consequently, the best approach 
is to choose to keep to a minimum target of 15%, subject to market developments and 
trends, especially in terms of prices and sales into intervention if any. 
I 
3. Compensatory aid 
The reduction in producer prices will alter the profitability of the crop. Arrangements 
should therefore be introduced for compensatory production aid with a view to 
maintaining present income levels. The amount of aid is fixed on the basis of agricultural 
yields observed in the various Member States and the size of the price reduction. 
For the establishment of basic yields, it is proposed that reference should be made to the 
three-year period 1992-94, except in the cases of Spain and Portugal for which the more 
representative period of the last three years preceding the drought (1989-91 for Portugal 
and 1990-92 for Spain) should be used. 
Average yields in tonnes/ha: 
Italy 
5.82 Portugal 
4.74 Spain 
6.35 Greece 
7.48 France 
5.29 French 
Guiana 
7.41 
4. Maximum guaranteed area 
In view of the introduction of this area-linked compensatory aid scheme, a maximum 
guaranteed area should be fixed to maintain production targets compatible with the needs 
of the market and to comply with the commitments undertaken in the framework of the 
GATT Agreement regarding trade exports. 
It is proposed to set the maximum area on the basis of the three-year period 1992-94, 
except in the cases of Spain and Portugal for which the more representative period of the 
last three years preceding the drought (1989-91 for Portugal and 1990-92 for Spain) 
should be used. 
Average area in ha: 
EU 
396 607 Italy 
298 034 Portugal 
32 884 Spain 
89 711 Greece 
18 731 France 
23 500 French 
Guiana 
3 747 
Compliance with the maximum area should be ensured by reducing the aid sharply 
enough to obtain a disincentive effect upon producers. If the Community maximum 
guaranteed area (CMGA) is exceeded by up to 5% in a given crop year, the amount of 
compensatory aid for the current crop year will be cut by 6 points for each percentage 
point of overshooting. 
3 
If the area given over to rice exceeds 105% of the CMGA, aid will be cut further in 
the Member States responsible for exceeding their national maximum guaranteed area 
(NMGA) by more than 5%. 
5. Quality policy 
The market mechanisms devised when the common organization of the market in rice was 
set up have not been substantially modified since their adoption. 
Innovations in the arrangements for trade with third countries introduced pursuant to the 
GATT Agreement have led the Commission to give serious consideration to the 
compatibility of certain market management measures, in particular intervention, with 
trade arrangements that are no longer based on a system of levies, but on a fixed customs 
duty, which by its nature cannot absorb changes in world prices or fluctuations in 
currency exchange rates as the levy could. 
Account must also be taken of the need to reform the common organization of the 
market on the basis of stricter quality criteria. In other words, the Commission takes the 
view that Community rice growing must adopt a strategy for a gradual improvement in 
the quality of output. As demand is moving towards products with a very high level of 
quality and an advanced technology content, and as imported products compete primarily 
at the top of the range, the competitiveness of the Community product needs to be 
restored. The entire rice production sector, from the farmer to the processor, is concerned 
by this challenge. 
From this point of view, the Commission feels that it is necessary to make proposals that 
can result in production of paddy rice of a quality matching the supply needs of a 
processing industry which now has direct access to third country products. 
The parameters for defining the standard intervention quality should be reinforced to align 
them on the production standards of the third countries that export to the Community 
market. 
Premiums and penalties applied to the intervention price when the product is taken over 
should play a greater role in market regulation, reflecting and even accentuating the price 
differentials for different qualities and varieties of rice. 
Demand for rice on the Community market is structured by variety. However, mainly 
because there is no differentiated support for different varieties, Community production 
has concentrated on the most productive varieties rather than the varieties for which 
market demand is strongest. The Commission believes that certain varieties should be 
encouraged; to this end, it proposes correction factors based on the yield of the various 
varieties compared with the most productive variety. 
The Commission also feels that the compensatory aid scheme should be used as an 
incentive to the production of certain varieties, in a manner consistent with a quality 
strategy more closely tailored to market demand. 
H 
6. Precautionary intervention 
Since the common organization of the market was introduced, intervention has been used 
only in exceptional cases and for small quantities, in 1990, 1991 and 1992. Intervention 
should remain an exceptional event, what has been called a "safety net." In the rice 
sector, it is very expensive to take over intervention stocks and, as the product is liable 
to rapid deterioration, storage may be difficult. 
As already pointed out, the market will be exposed to the uncertainties of the world 
market; it is to be expected that massive intervention will be needed, in view of the 
volatility not only of the world market, but also, and especially, of the Community 
market. 
The Commission does not think that the intervention mechanism as at present designed 
is compatible with the new arrangements for trade with third countries', short-term 
developments on the world market could have repercussions on the internal market that 
would lead to the buying in of a considerable volume of rice. 
To avoid having to take large quantities into intervention in this type of situation, the 
Commission proposes the introduction of a precautionary intervention scheme, under 
which the producer stores the product for four months, at his own expense, subject to an 
advance payment equal to 60% of the price. During this period the producer may seek 
a more advantageous outlet on the market, and sell the product after informing the 
intervention agency. During the same period, the Commission may, for its part, offer the 
product in precautionary intervention for sale, according to the rules already laid down 
for sale under an intervention scheme. Actual removal to the warehouses of the 
intervention agency, taking over and, obviously, payment of the balance, would be 
possible only where the rice had already been in precautionary intervention. 
This scheme would make for compatibility between the intervention arrangements and the 
cyclical and short-term development of the world market. 
7. Changes to intervention arrangements 
The Commission reserves the right to propose other measures, pursuant to the so-called 
management committee procedure, with a view to restoring intervention as a safety net 
and an exceptional occurrence. These measures intended as disincentives to intervention 
would also aim at improving the fluidity of the market. 
It would be proposed: 
that where products were brought under precautionary intervention arrangements 
or removed to the warehouses of the intervention agency a period of four months 
should be allowed for payment; 
that the intervention period should be limited to four months (May to August). 
r 
When reforming the common organization of the market in rice, it is appropriate 
to adjust the Community rules and remove certain obsolete arrangements that in 
some cases have never been applied. 
£ 
Ehdotus 
NEUVOSTON ASETUKSEESI (PV) 
riisin vakiolaadun vahvistamisesta 
EUROOPAN YHTEISÖJEN NEUVOSTO, joka 
ottaa huomioon Euroopan yhteisön perustamissopimuksen, 
ottaa huomioon riisin yhteisestä markkinajärjestelystä ... annetun neuvoston asetuksen 
(ETY) N:o ... ja erityisesti sen 3 artiklan 1 kohdan, 
ottaa huomioon komission ehdotuksen, 
sekä katsoo, että 
paddy- eli raakariisin interventiohinnan on vastattava määrättyä vakiolaatua; tämä laatu 
on määritelty riisin ja rikkoutuneiden riisinjyvien vakiolaadun vahvistamisesta 21 päivänä 
kesäkuuta 1976 annetussa neuvoston asetuksessa (ETY) N:o 1423/761, ja 
yhteisön markkinoilla tapahtuneen riisin kysynnän kehityksen ja yhteistä 
markkinajärjestelyä uudistettaessa seurattujen suuntaviivojen perusteella on 
tarkoituksenmukaista määrittää vakiolaatu ottaen samalla huomioon yhteisön tuotannon 
laatuominaisuudet sekä edustavimmat tuontilaadut; nämä perusteet sekä muut yhteisen 
markkinajärjestelyn uudistamiseen liittyvät perusteet vahvistavat vaatimustenmukaisuutta 
ja niiden vuoksi on korvattava edellä mainitussa asetuksessa säädetty järjestelmä, 
ON ANTANUT TÄMÄN ASETUKSEN: 
1 artikla 
Paddy- eli raakariisin vakiolaatu, jolle interventiohinta vahvistetaan, määritellään 
seuraavasti: 
a) laadultaan virheetön, kunnollinen, myyntikelpoinen ja hajuton riisi 
b) kosteuspitoisuus : 13,00 prosenttia; 
c) hiotun riisin jalostustuotos vahvistetaan seuraavasti: 
72 painoprosenttia kokonaistuotoksesta 
EYVL N:o L 166, 25.6.1976, s. 20 
TL 
63 painoprosenttia kokonaisina jyvinä (leikattujen jyvien sallittu 
määrä 3 prosenttia), josta hiotun riisin jyvien, jotka eivät ole 
moitteetonta laatua, painoprosentti on: 
liitumaiset jyvät: 
punajuovaiset jyvät: 
täplikkäät jyvät: 
laikukkaat jyvät: 
keltaiset jyvät: 
kellanruskeat jyvät: 1,50 prosenttia, 
1,00 prosenttia, 
0,50 prosenttia, 
0,25 prosenttia, 
0,02 prosenttia, 
0,05 prosenttia. 
2 artikla 
Tämän asetuksen soveltamiseksi jyvät, jotka eivät ole moitteetonta laatua, määritellään 
liitteessä. 
3 artikla 
Kumotaan asetus (ETY) N:o 1423/76. Viittaukset asetukseen (ETY) N:o 1423/76 
katsotaan viittauksiksi tähän asetukseen. 
4 artikla 
Tämä asetus tulee voimaan 1 päivänä syyskuuta 1996. 
Tämä asetus on kaikilta osiltaan velvoittava, ja sitä sovelletaan sellaisenaan kaikissa 
jäsenvaltioissa. 
S 
LIITE 
Niiden jyvien ja rikkoutuneiden riisin jyvien määritelmä, 
jotka eivät ole moitteetonta laatua 
A. Kokonaiset jyvät: 
Jyvät, joiden kärjestä on poistettu ainoastaan osa, lukuun ottamatta kullekin 
jalostusasteelle tyypillisiä ominaisuuksia. 
B. Leikatut jyvät: 
Jyvät, joiden koko kärki on poistettu. 
C. Rikkoutuneet jyvät tai rikkoutuneet riisinjyvät: 
Jyvät, joista on poistettu kärkeä suurempi osa; rikkoutuneet riisinjyvät koostuvat: 
suurista rikkoutuneista riisinjyvistä (jyvien palaset, joiden pituus on 
vähintään puolet jyvän pituudesta mutta jotka eivät muodosta kokonaista 
jyvää), 
keskikokoisista rikkoutuneista riisinjyvistä (jyvien palaset, joiden pituus on 
vähintään neljännes jyvän pituudesta mutta jotka eivät saavuta "suurten 
rikkoutuneiden riisinjyvien" vähimmäiskokoa), 
hienoista rikkoutuneista riisinjyvistä (jyvien palaset, joiden pituus on alle 
neljänneksen jyvän pituudesta mutta jotka eivät läpäise seulaa, jonka 
silmäkoko on 1,4 millimetriä), 
palasista (jyvän pienet palaset tai hiukkaset, joiden on läpäistävä seula, 
jonka silmäkoko on 1,4 millimetriä); palasiin sisältyvät myös haljenneet 
jyvät (jyvien palaset, jotka ovat syntyneet jyvän haljettua pitkittäin). 
D. Vihreät jyvät: 
Jyvä4 jotka eivät ole täysin kypsyneitä. 
E. Jyvät, joissa on luonnollisia epämuodostumia: 
Luonnollisina epämuodostumina pidetään periytyviä tai periytymättömiä 
epämuodostumia, verrattuina lajikkeelle tyypillisiin morfologisiin ominaisuuksiin. 
F. Liitumaiset jyvät: 
? 
Jyvät, joiden pinnasta vähintään kolme neljäsosaa näyttää himmeältä ja jauhomai-
selta. 
G. Punaj uovaiset j yvät : 
Jyvät, joissa on voimakkuudeltaan ja sävyltään erilaisia punaisia pitkittäisiä juovia, 
jotka aiheutuvat siemenkalvon jäänteistä. 
H. Täplikkäät jyvät: 
Jyvät, joissa on tumma, tarkkarajainen, melko säännöllisen muotoinen pieni 
ympyrä; täplikkäinä jyvinä pidetään lisäksi jyviä, joiden pinnassa on ohuita mustia 
juovia; juovilla ja täplillä ei saa olla keltaista tai tummaa kehää. 
I. Laikukkaat jyvät: 
Jyvät, joiden pinnan luonnollinen väri on selvästi muuttunut pienellä alueella; 
laikut voivat olla eri värisiä (mustahkoja, punertavia, ruskeita jne.); laikkuina 
pidetään myös syviä mustia juovia. Jos laikkujen väri (musta, vaaleanpunainen, 
punaruskea) on voimakkuudeltaan sellainen, että se näkyy heti, ja jos laikku 
peittää vähintään puolet jyvästä, jyviä on pidettävä keltaisina jyvinä. 
J. Keltaiset jyvät: 
Jyvät, joiden luonnollinen väri on muuttunut kokonaan tai osittain sitruunankeltai­
sen tai oranssinkeltaisen eri sävyiksi muulla tavalla kuin kuivaamalla. 
K. Kellanruskeat jyvät: 
Jyvät, joiden koko pinnan väri on tasaisesti hieman muuttunut muulla tavalla kuin 
kuivaamalla; jyvien väri on muuttunut vaaleaksi kellanruskeaksi. 
45 
ISSN 1024-4492 
KOM(95) 405 lopullinen 
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