Commission Regulation (EC) No 533/98 of 6 March 1998 opening an individual sale by invitation to tender for the export of vinous alcohol held by the Portuguese intervention agency
Date: 1998-03-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Portugal, alcohol, award of contract, distillation, export, intervention agency

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 533/98

of 6 March 1998

opening an individual sale by invitation to tender for the export of vinous
alcohol held by the Portuguese intervention agency

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of
16 March 1987 on the common organisation of
the
market in wine (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
2087/97 (2),

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3877/88
of 12 December 1988 laying down general rules for the
disposal of alcohol obtained from the distillation opera-
tions referred to in Articles 35, 36 and 39 of Regulation
(EEC) No 822/87 and held by intervention agencies (3),

Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 377/93 (4), as
last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1448/97 (5),
lays
down detailed rules for the disposal of alcohol obtained
from distillation as provided for in Articles 35, 36 and 39
of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 and held by intervention
agencies;

Whereas, in view of the cost of storing alcohol, a sale
should be organised by individual invitation to tender for
alcohol of vinous origin obtained from distillation as
provided for in Article 35 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87
and held by the Portuguese intervention agencies;

Whereas the sale by invitation to tender should cover
alcohol of vinous origin from Community distillation
measures in Portugal for the 1995/96 and 1996/97 wine
years held by the Portuguese intervention agency, to be
sent
to certain countries in Central America and the
Caribbean under the Caribbean Basin Initiative for use as
motor fuel, in view of the possible outlets for such alcohol
and in order not to disturb the market for alcohol and
spirituous beverages;

Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2192/93 (6),
concerning the operative events
the agricultural
conversion rates used in the wine sector and amending

for

(1) OJ L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 292, 25. 10. 1997, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 346, 15. 12. 1988, p. 7.
(4) OJ L 43, 20. 2. 1993, p. 6.
(5) OJ L 198, 24. 7. 1997, p. 4.
(6) OJ L 196, 5. 8. 1993, p. 19.

Regulation (EEC) No 377/93, specifies the agricultural
conversion rates to be used to convert the payments and
securities provided for in connection with individual in-
vitations to tender into national currency;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are
the Management
in accordance with the opinion of
Committee for Wine,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
A total of 61 500 hl of alcohol obtained from distil-
lation as provided for in Article 35 of Regulation (EEC)
No 822/87 and held by the Portuguese intervention
agency shall be sold by individual invitation to tender No
240/98 EC.

2.

The alcohol offered for sale:

— shall be for export outside the European Community,

— must be imported into and dehydrated in one of the

following third countries:

— Nicaragua,

— St Christopher and Nevis,

— Bahamas,

— Dominican Republic,

— Antigua and Barbuda,

— Dominica,

— British Virgin Islands and Montserrat,

— Jamaica,

— St Lucia,

— St Vincent,

including the Northern Grenadines,

— Barbados,

— Trinidad and Tobago,

— Belize,

— Costa Rica,

— Guatemala,

— Honduras, including the Swan Islands,

— El Salvador,

— Grenada including the Southern Grenadines,

— Aruba,

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— Netherlands Antilles: Curaç˜ao, Bonaire, St Eustace,

Saba and the southern part of St Martin,

— Guyana,

— Virgin Islands of the United States,

— must be used only as motor fuel.

Article 2

location and reference numbers of

The
vats
concerned, the quantity of alcohol contained in each vat,
the alcoholic strength and the characteristics of
the
alcohol as well as certain specific conditions are given in
Annex I hereto.

the

Article 3

The sales shall take place in accordance with Articles 13
to 18 and 30 to 38 of Regulation (EEC) No 377/93.

However, notwithstanding Article 15 of Regulation (EEC)
No 377/93, the final date for the submission of tenders
for the invitation to tender referred to in this Regulation,
shall fall between the eighth and the 25th day following
the date of publication of the individual
invitation to
tender.

Article 4

The tendering security referred to in Article 15 of
1.
Regulation (EEC) No 377/93 shall be ECU 3,622 per
hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % volume and shall be lodged
for the total quantity of alcohol offered for sale in the
invitation to tender referred to in Article 1.

Maintenance of the tender after the time limit for submit-
ting tenders and the lodging of a guarantee to ensure
export and of a performance guarantee shall constitute the
primary requirements within the meaning of Article 20 of
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 (1) as regards
the tendering security.

The tendering security lodged for the invitation to tender
referred to in Article 1 shall be released immediately if
the tender is not accepted or if the successful tenderer
had lodged the entire guarantee to ensure export and the
entire performance guarantee.

2.
to
The guarantee to ensure export shall amount
ECU 5 per hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % volume and
shall be lodged for each quantity of alcohol for which
there is a removal order under the invitation to tender
referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation.

(1) OJ L 205, 3. 8. 1985, p. 5.

This guarantee shall be released only by the intervention
agency holding the alcohol for each quantity of alcohol
for which proof has been furnished that
it has been
exported within the time limit laid down in Article 5 of
this Regulation. Notwithstanding Article 23 of Regulation
(EEC) No 2220/85, and except in cases of force majeure,
where the time limit referred to in Article 5 has not been
complied with, the guarantee to ensure export of ECU 5
per hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % volume shall be forfeit
as follows:

(a) 15 % in all cases;

(b) 0,33 % of the amount remaining after deduction of
the 15 %, for each day the time limit in question is
exceeded.

The performance guarantee shall be ECU 25 per

3.
hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % volume.

This guarantee shall be released in accordance with
Article 34(3)(b) of Regulation (EEC) No 377/93.

4. Notwithstanding Article 17 of Regulation (EEC) No
377/93, the guarantees on export and performance shall
be lodged simultaneously with the intervention agency
for the invitation to tender referred to in
concerned,
Article 1 of this Regulation not later than the day of issue
of a removal order for the quantity of alcohol concerned.

In the case of the guarantee to ensure export, as
5.
expressed in ecus per hl at 100 % volume, the agricultural
conversion rate to be applied for the conversion into
national currency shall be that in force on the final day
for the submission of tenders.

Article 5

1.
The alcohol awarded under the invitation to tender
referred to in Article 1 shall be exported by 31 August
1998 at the latest.

The alcohol awarded shall be used within two years

2.
from the date of first removal.

Article 6

To be valid, tenders must indicate the place where end
use of the alcohol awarded is to take place and must
include an undertaking by the tenderer to the effect that
the alcohol will be sent to that destination and used for
that purpose. The tender shall also include proof that the
tenderer has binding commitments with an operator in
the motor fuel sector in one of the third countries listed
in Article 1 who has undertaken to dehydrate the alcohol
awarded in one of those countries and to export it for use
solely as motor fuel.

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Article 7

Before the awarded alcohol is removed, the interven-
1.
tion agency and the successful
take a
reference sample and shall analyse that sample to verify
the alcoholic strength expressed in % volume of the
alcohol in question.

tenderer shall

Where the final results of the analysis of the sample show
a difference between the alcoholic strength by volume of
the alcohol to be removed and the minimum alcoholic
strength by volume stated in Annex I the following provi-
sions shall apply:

(i) the intervention agency shall, the same day, inform
the Commission thereof in accordance with Annex II,
as well as the storer and the successful tenderer;

(ii) the successful tenderer may:

— either agree to take over the lot with its character-
istics as established, subject to the Commission’s
agreement,

— or refuse to take over the lot in question.

In either case, the successful tenderer shall, the same
day, inform the intervention agency and the Commis-
sion thereof in accordance with Annex III.

Once these formalities have been completed, if he has
refused to take over the lot concerned, he shall be imme-
diately released from all his obligations relating to that
lot.

2. Where the successful tenderer refuses the merchan-
dise, as provided for in paragraph 1, the intervention
agency shall supply him with another quantity of alcohol
of
the requisite quality, at no extra charge, within a
maximum of eight days.

If physical removal of the alcohol

3.
is delayed by
more than five working days in relation to the date of
acceptance of the lot to be removed by the successful
reasons attributable to the intervention
tenderer
agency, the Member State shall be responsible for the
payment of compensation.

for

Article 8

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph of Article 36(2) of
Regulation (EEC) No 377/93, the alcohol contained in
the vats
indicated in the communication from the
Member States referred to in Article 36 of Regulation
(EEC) No 377/93 and covered by the invitation to tender
referred to in Article 1 of this Regulation may be substi-
tuted by alcohol of the same type by the intervention
agency holding the alcohol
in agreement with the
Commission, or mixed with other alcohol delivered to the
intervention agency until a removal order is issued for
that alcohol, in particular for logistical reasons.

Article 9

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of 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, 6 March 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

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ANNEX I

INDIVIDUAL INVITATION TO TENDER No 240/98 EC

I. Place of storage, volume and characteristics of the alcohol offered for sale

Member State

Location

PORTUGAL

Mealhada

Reference
number
of vat

Volume in
hectolitres of
pure alcohol

Reference to
Regulation
(EEC)
No 822/87

Type of alcohol

M1
127
326
M2
M3
258
259
260
289
290
301
317
322
327
328
329
332
333
341
344
345
347

5 747,23
292,47
2 203,87
5 780,99
9 579,15
2 186,13
2 236,08
2 251,93
2 238,94
2 245,31
2 202,83
2 245,63
2 678,63
2 206,27
2 164,53
2 274,15
2 238,28
1 844,62
2 235,35
2 210,44
2 227,14
2 210,03

35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
35

raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw
raw

Total

61 500

Any interested party may, on application to the intervention agency concerned and on payment of ECU
2,415 per litre or the equivalent thereof in Portuguese escudos, obtain samples of the alcohol offered for sale.
Such samples shall be taken by a representative of the intervention agency concerned.

II. Destination and use of the alcohol

The alcohol offered for sale must be exported from the Community. It must be imported into and de-
hydrated in one of the non-member countries listed in Article 1(2) of this Regulation as for use exclusively as
motor fuel.

Evidence relating to the destination and use of the alcohol is to be obtained by an international security
company and transmitted to the intervention agency concerned.

The costs thus incurred are to be borne by the successful tenderer.

1. Tenders should be submitted for a quantity of 61 500 hectolitres of alcohol, expressed in hectolitres of

alcohol at 100 % vol.

III. Submission of tenders

Any tender relating to a smaller quantity will not be considered.

2. Tenders must:

— be sent by registered mail to the Commission of the European Communities, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat

200, B-1049 Brussels, or

— be submitted at the reception of the Loi 120 building of the Commission of the European Commun-
ities, rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 130, B-1049 Brussels, between 11 a.m. and 12 noon on the date
mentioned in point 4.

3. Tenders must be enclosed in a sealed envelope marked ‘Tender for individual sale No 240/98 EC
(alcohol), DG VI-E-2 — to be opened only at the meeting of the group’, which itself must be enclosed in
an envelope addressed to the Commission.

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4. Tenders must reach the Commission not later than 12 noon (Brussels time) on 23 March 1998.

5. Tenders must state the name and address of the tenderer and must:

(a) include a reference to individual sale by tender No 240/98 EC;

(b) specify the price tendered, expressed in ecus per hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % vol;

(c) include all the undertakings and statements referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EEC) No 377/93,
as well as the final destination of the alcohol awarded, and the proof referring to the engagement of an
operator for dehydration and use solely in the motor fuel sector as provided for in Article 6 of this
Regulation.

6. Each tender must be accompanied by attestations of the lodging of a tendering security, issued by the

following intervention agency:

— IVV, R. Mouzinho da Silveira, 5, P-1200 Lisboa (tel.: 356 33 21; telex: 18508 IVV P; fax: 352 08 76).

This security must correspond to a sum of ECU 3,622 per hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % vol.

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ANNEX II

The only telex and fax numbers in Brussels to be used are:

DG VI (E-2)

(for the attention of Mr Chiappone/Mr Van der Stappen)

— telex:

22037 AGREC B,
22070 AGREC B (Greek characters),

— fax:

(32 2) 295 92 52.

ANNEX III

Communication of refusal or acceptance of lots under the individual invitation to tender for the
export of vinous alcohol opened by Regulation (EC) No 533/98

— Name of the successful tenderer:

— Date of award of contract:

— Date of refusal or acceptance of the lot by the successful tenderer:

Lot
No

Quantity
in hectolitres

Location
of alcohol

Reason for refusal or acceptance to
take over