Commission Regulation (EC) No 709/98 of 30 March 1998 amending Regulation (EEC) No 1686/72 on certain detailed rules for aid for seed as regards checking procedures and laying down rules for application of the stabiliser mechanism for rice seed production
Date: 1998-03-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, marketing, production aid, regulation of agricultural production, rice, seed

L 98/30

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Official Journal of the European Communities

31. 3. 98

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 709/98

of 30 March 1998

amending Regulation (EEC) No 1686/72 on certain detailed rules for aid for seed
as regards checking procedures and laying down rules for application of the
stabiliser mechanism for rice seed production

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Regulation (EC) No 3072/95, 86 624,600 tonnes of seed
were needed;

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71
of 26 October 1971 on the common organisation of the
market in seeds (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 192/98 (2), and in particular Articles 3(5) and 11
thereof,

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1674/72 (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3795/85 (4), lays down
general rules for granting and financing aid for seed;

Whereas Article 3(4a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2358/71
establishes a stabiliser mechanism for rice seed produc-
tion; whereas this involves setting a maximum quantity
on which the Community seed aid may be granted that is
consistent with potential seed sales given the existence of
the base area set in Article 6 of Council Regulation (EC)
No 3072/95 of 22 December 1995 on the common orga-
nisation of the market in rice (5), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 192/98;

Whereas for determining agronomic yields for rice seed
production in the various Member States it is appropriate
to use the same period as that considered representative
for the purposes of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95; whereas,
accordingly, the three-year average that is obtained when
for the period 1990/91 to 1994/95 the year with the
highest and the year with the lowest yield are eliminated
has been used;

Whereas the seed harvested in one marketing year is
normally used to sow paddy rice and rice seed production
areas in the next marketing year; whereas in the period
considered as representative the quantity of seed used in
the Community to sow one hectare was 0,2 tonnes, i.e. to
sow the base area of 433 123 hectares set in Article 6 of

(1) OJ L 246, 5. 11. 1971, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 20, 27. 1. 1998, p. 16.
(3) OJ L 177, 4. 8. 1972, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 367, 31. 12. 1985, p. 21.
(5) OJ L 329, 30. 12. 1995, p. 18.

Whereas the maximum quantity on which rice seed aid
can be granted in the Community must be split up by
producer Member State on the basis of production in the
Member States in the same representative period; whereas,
in order to allow for annual variation in yield, provision
should be made for adjustment of the maximum aidable
quantity in individual Member States provided that the
overall quantity for the Community is not exceeded;

Whereas operation of
the stabiliser mechanism will
require that a time limit be set for lodging of aid applica-
tions for rice seed and for notification by the Member
States to the Commission of the quantities covered by
these so that any percentage reduction applicable in the
Member State can be calculated;

Whereas payment of the aid for rice seed must be subse-
quent
to determination by the Commission of any
percentage reduction applicable;

Whereas compliance with the provisions governing
Community aids must be adequately checked; whereas to
this end detailed criteria and technical rules covering
required;
administrative
whereas as regards the latter previous experience indicates
that it is desirable, in addition to specifying minimum
volumes of checks to be carried out, to require the use of
risk analysis and to specify the criteria to be used in it;

and on-the-spot

checks

are

Whereas experience also indicates the need to adopt
suitably graded provisions, that also allow for cases of
force majeure,
to prevent and punish irregularity and
fraud; whereas graded penalties in line with the gravity of
the irregularity should be set that extend to total exclu-
sion from aid for the year in question and the following
year;

Whereas arrangements are required to guarantee that only
legitimate aid payments are made and to reduce the aid
when applications are lodged late; whereas these should
be modelled on the integrated administration and control
system specified in Council Regulation (EEC) No
3508/92 of 27 November 1992 establishing an integrated

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L 98/31

administration and control system for certain Community
aid schemes (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
820/97 (2), and in Commission Regulation (EEC) No
3887/92 of 23 December 1992 laying down detailed rules
for applying the integrated administration and control
system for certain Community aid schemes (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2015/95 (4);

Whereas the Management Committee for Seeds has not
delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its
chairman,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1686/72 (5) is hereby
amended as follows:

1. the following Article 1a is added:

‘Article 1a

For the purposes of this Regulation “marketing” shall
mean holding available or in stock, displaying for sale,
offering for sale, sale or delivery to another person.’;

2. the following Article 2a is added:

‘Article 2a

1.
Aid shall be granted only on condition that the
seed has in fact been marketed by the recipient for
sowing by the date the request is submitted. He must
prove this to the satisfaction of the Member State.

2. Member States shall make unannounced checks
to verify the first destination of seed on which aid has
been given and on compliance with the aid conditions
and shall notify to the Commission action taken follo-
wing such checks.’;

3. Article 3 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 3

Except for rice seed, the aid shall be granted to
1.
the seed grower on application to be lodged after the
harvest and before a date set by the Member State for
each species or variety group.

(1) OJ L 355, 5. 12. 1992, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 117, 7. 5. 1997, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 391, 31. 12. 1992, p. 36.
(4) OJ L 197, 22. 8. 1995, p. 2.
(5) OJ L 177, 4. 8. 1972, p. 26.

2.
Except for rice seed, the Member State shall pay
the aid to the seed grower within two months of
lodging of the application and at the latest by 31 July
of the year following that of harvest.’;

4. the following Articles 3a, 3b and 3c are added:

‘Article 3a

1.
For rice seed a maximum quantity of 86 624,600
tonnes per year is set on which aid may be granted in
the Community. It is allocated to producer Member
States as follows:

— Spain:

— France:

— Greece:

— Italy:

— Portugal:

29 625,613 tonnes,

3 031,861 tonnes,

1 472,618 tonnes,

50 242,268 tonnes,

2 252,240 tonnes.

The quantity per Member State may be adjusted within
the maximum quantity set for the Community, on the
terms set in paragraph 3.

2.
Subject to Article 2a, aid on rice seed shall be
granted to producers, within the maximum limit set
for the Community, on application to be lodged after
the harvest but before 20 June of the following year.
By 15 July of the year following the harvest producer
Member States shall notify to the Commission the
quantities for which aid applications were made.

If the sum total of the quantities for which aid is
3.
applied for in producer Member States exceeds the
maximum quantity set for the Community the aid
shall be reduced in each Member State in proportion
to the overrun of its national quantity. The Commis-
sion shall set the reduction percentages applicable.

4.
The Member State shall pay the aid to the
producer between 31 July and 30 September of the
year following that of harvest.

Article 3b

The checks referred to in Article 2a(2) shall

1.
comprise:

(a) administrative

cross-checks

checks, notably

to
prevent aid being paid twice for the same calendar
year. These cross-checks shall cover plots subjected
to official examination that have been found to
comply with the requirements set by the directives
indicated in the first indent of Article 1(1) of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 1674/72;

(b) checks on documents to verify at least the first des-
tination of seed on which aid has been granted;

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31. 3. 98

(c) any other checks that

the Member State deems
necessary in order to guarantee that aid is not paid
on uncertified seed or seed from third countries.

Checks shall cover a significant sample of applications
and at least 5 % of applications for each species. The
applications to be checked shall be determined by the
competent authority on the basis of risk analysis plus
an element of representativeness of the applications
made. Risk analysis shall take account of:

— the aid amount,
— the quantity of certified seed in relation to the area

checked,

— change from the previous year,
— other parameters to be defined by the Member

State.

2. Where appropriate, Member States shall make
the premises of breeders, other seed es-
checks at
tablishments and end users.

The following Articles of Commission Regulation

3.
(EEC) No 3887/92 (*) shall apply:

— Article 6(1) (verification of compliance with terms

on which aid is granted),

— Article 11 (additional national penalties;

force

majeure),

— Article 12 (inspection visit report),
— Article 13 (check on the spot),
— Article 14 (undue payment).

Article 3c

1. Except in cases of force majeure late lodging of an
application shall give rise to a 1 % reduction per day

of the aid to which the seed producer would otherwise
have been entitled. Applications shall be invalid if
lodged, in the case of rice seed, after 30th June of the
year following that of harvest and, in the case of other
species or variety groups, after the 10th day following
the time limit set by the Member State.

2.
If it is found that seed covered by an application
was not in fact marketed by the applicant for sowing,
the aid to the producer for the species concerned shall
be reduced by 50 % if the quantity not marketed for
sowing amounts to more than 2 % but not more than
5 % of the quantity covered by the application. If the
quantity not marketed exceeds 5 % no seed produc-
tion aid shall be granted to the producer for the
marketing year in question.

3.
If an aid application is made for seed not offici-
ally certified or not harvested within the Member State
in question during the calendar year in which the mar-
keting year for which the aid has been set begins, no
seed production aid shall be granted to the producer
for that or the following marketing year.

(*) OJ L 391, 31. 12. 1992, p. 36.’

Article 2

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

It shall apply from the 1998/99 marketing year.

Requests for aid relating to contracts or seed production
declarations registered prior to the 1998/99 campaign are
not subject
to the checks listed in paragraph 1(a) of
Article 3b of Regulation (EEC) No 1686/72.

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

Done at Brussels, 30 March 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission