98/620/EC: Commission Decision of 30 October 1998 on the granting of aid for the production of table olives in Portugal (notified under document number C(1998) 3340) (Only the Portuguese text is authentic)
Date: 1998-10-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Portugal, olive, production aid

L 295/54

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Official Journal of the European Communities

4. 11. 98

COMMISSION DECISION

of 30 October 1998

on the granting of aid for the production of table olives in Portugal

(notified under document number C(1998) 3340)

(Only the Portuguese text is authentic)

(98/620/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Whereas undertakings processing table olives must be
approved in accordance with conditions to be determined;

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation No 136/66/EEC of
22 September 1966 on the establishment of a common
organisation of the market in oils and fats (1), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1638/98 (2), and in
particular Article 5(4) thereof,

their national guaranteed quantities and of

Whereas Article 5(4) of Regulation No 136/66/EEC
grants the Member States the possibility of allocating part
their
of
olive-oil production aid to support for table olives under
conditions to be approved by the Commission in accord-
ance with the procedure laid down in Article 38 of that
Regulation;

Whereas Portugal has presented a request in respect of
the 1998/99 marketing year; whereas detailed rules should
be laid down on the granting of the aid;

Whereas provision should be made for the aid to be
granted to growers of processed table olives from olive
groves in Portugal and the conditions governing the
granting of the aid should be specified;

Whereas the processing period should be defined as
running from 1 November 1998 to 31 August 1999;
whereas fresh olives entering the processing undertaking
before 1 September 1998 are not considered to be
processed during that period; whereas olives which have
undergone initial treatment in brine lasting at least 15
days and have been removed from the brine definitively
or failing that have undergone treatment making them fit
for human consumption should be deemed to be
processed olives;

Whereas provision should be made for checks on aid for
table olives; whereas those provisions must in particular
cover crop declarations by table-olive growers, notifica-
tions by processors of the quantities of olives delivered by
growers and leaving the processing chain, and the obliga-
tions on paying agencies regarding controls; whereas
provision should be made for penalties on table-olive
growers where their declarations conflict with the results
of checks conducted;

Whereas the information needed for calculating the aid to
be granted to growers of processed table olives should be
determined; whereas an advance on the aid may be
granted under certain conditions;

Whereas Portugal must notify the Commission of the
national measures adopted for the purposes of applying
this Decision and of the information used for calculating
the advance on the aid and the definitive aid;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Oils and Fats,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

For the 1998/99 olive-oil marketing year, Portugal
is
hereby authorised to grant aid for the production of table
olives in accordance with this Decision.

Article 2

Whereas the weight of processed table olives on which
aid is payable and the equivalence between processed
table olives and olive oil should be determined for the
purposes of calculating the unit aid on table olives and of
administering the national guaranteed quantities;

the production of

1. Aid for
table olives shall be
granted to growers of olives which come from olive groves
in Portugal and are sent to approved processing undertak-
ings for processing into table olives.

(1) OJ 172, 30. 9. 1966, p. 3025/66.
(2) OJ L 210, 28. 7. 1998, p. 32.

The aid shall be granted on table olives processed

2.
from 1 November 1998 to 31 August 1999.

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However, olives which entered approved processing
undertakings before 1 September 1998 shall not be taken
into consideration.

(a)

the quantities of olives entering the establishment,
showing each consignment separately and identi-
fying the grower of each,

this Decision,

‘processed
3. Within the meaning of
table olives' means olives that have undergone for at least
15 days’ initial treatment in brine and have been removed
from the brine definitively or failing that have undergone
treatment making them fit for human consumption.

Article 3

1.
For the purposes of calculating the unit aid on table
olives and of administering the national guaranteed
quantities of olive oil, 100 kg of processed table olives
shall be deemed to be equivalent to 10 kg of olive oil
eligible for production aid as provided for in Article 5 of
Regulation No 136/66/EEC.

2.
The weight of processed table olives to be taken into
consideration shall be the drained net weight of whole
olives after processing, possibly bruised but not stoned.

Article 4

1. Approval numbers shall be allocated to undertakings
which:

— submit an application for approval accompanied by
the information referred to in paragraph 2 and the
commitments referred to in paragraph 3,

— market processed table olives, with or without addi-

tional preparation,

— have received or are receiving approval to undertake

industrial activities under national legislation.

2. Applications for approval shall include at least:

— a description of

the processing plant and storage

facilities, with details of their capacity,

— a description of the types of table-olive preparations
marketed, indicating the average weight of processed
table olives required for one kilogram of each type of
prepared product,

— details of stocks of table olives at various stages of
preparation, by type of preparation, at 1 September
and 1 November 1998.

For the purposes of approval, processors shall under-

3.
take to:

— keep table olives on which aid is payable separate
from table olives originating in third countries and
those on which aid is not payable when taking
delivery of, processing and storing them;

— keep stock accounts covering table olives, linked to
the financial accounts and indicating, for each day:

(b) the quantities of olives sent for processing within
the meaning of Article 2(3) and the quantities of
table olives processed,

(c) the quantities of table olives for which the process

of preparation has been completed,

(d) the quantities of table olives leaving the under-
taking, broken down by type of preparation and
indicating the consignees,

— provide the grower and the competent body with the
documents and the information referred to in Article
6 in accordance with the conditions
laid down
therein;

— submit to all checks provided for under this Decision.

4. Approval shall be refused or immediately withdrawn
where undertakings:

— fail to comply with the conditions for approval, or

— are prosecuted by the competent authorities for ir-
regularities in respect of the arrangements provided
for in Regulation No 136/66/EEC, or

— have been penalised for an infringement of that Regu-

lation within the past 24 months.

Article 5

For the purposes of granting the aid for the production of
table olives, in addition to the crop declaration required
for olive-oil production aid, olive growers shall, by 31
December 1998, lodge a supplementary declaration or, as
appropriate, a new declaration containing the same in-
formation as the crop declaration for olive oil but refer-
ring to table olives.

Where the information concerned has already been fur-
nished by a crop declaration for olive oil, the supple-
mentary declaration shall simply indicate the references
to the crop declaration and the parcels concerned.

The declarations concerning table olives shall be included
in the alphanumeric database provided for in connection
with the aid scheme for olive oil production.

Article 6

1. On delivery of
the olives, approved undertakings
shall issue growers of table olives with a certificate of
delivery showing the net weight of olives entering the
undertaking. Such certificates must be issued before 1
December 1998 in respect of olives entering the under-
taking from 1 September 1998 to 31 October 1998 for
processing from 1 November 1998.

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2. Approved undertakings shall notify the competent
body and the control agency:

(a) by the tenth day of each month, of:

— the quantities of table olives processed, broken down

by grower.

Controls shall involve:

for
the

— a number of physical inspections of goods in stock
and a check of the accounts of approved undertakings,

— the quantities

sent
processing and processed in the course of
previous month,

received,

olives

of

— the quantities of olives prepared and sent out,
broken down by type of preparation, in the course
of the previous month,

— the aggregate quantities referred to in the first two
indents and the stock situation at the end of the
previous month;

(b) before 1 July 1999, of the names of growers delivering
table olives
the 1998/99 olive-oil
marketing year and of the quantities covered by certi-
ficates issued in accordance with paragraph 1;

in respect of

(c) before 1 June 2000, of the total quantities delivered in
respect of the 1998/99 olive-oil marketing year and of
the total corresponding quantities processed.

Article 7

1.
Before 1 July 1999, table-olive growers shall lodge
aid applications, directly or indirectly, with the competent
body, containing at least the following details:

— the name and address of the grower,

— the location of the holdings and the parcels where
olives were harvested, with a reference to the relevant
crop declaration,

— the approved undertaking to which the olives were

delivered.

Such applications shall be accompanied by certificates of
delivery as referred to in Article 6(1).

Where applicable, applications may be accompanied by
an application for an advance on the aid.

2. Applications lodged after the deadline shall incur a
penalty consisting in a reduction of 1 % of the amount to
which the grower would have been entitled had the
application been lodged by the due date, for each working
day of delay. Applications lodged more than 25 working
days late shall be refused.

Article 8

Before the definitive payment of

1.
the
competent body shall carry out the controls required to
check:

the aid,

— stricter checks of aid applications from olive growers
applying for aid on both table olives and olive oil.

Portugal shall see that all the necessary controls are

2.
in place to ensure that:

— entitlement to table-olive production aid is respected,

— olives entering an undertaking approved under this
Decision are excluded from eligibility for olive-oil
production aid,

— no more than one aid application is lodged for the

same olives.

3. Without prejudice to the penalties laid down by
Portugal, no aid shall be granted to table-olive growers
whose declarations as provided for in Article 5 or whose
aid applications in accordance with Article 7 prove to
conflict with the results of checks conducted.

Article 9

1.
The advance on the aid shall be equal to the unit
amount referred to in Article 17a(1) of Council Regula-
tion (EEC) No 2261/84 (1), multiplied by the quantity of
olive oil equivalent, in accordance with Article 3(1) of this
Decision,
table olives
processed.

relevant quantity of

to the

For the purposes of granting advances to growers, the
quantity of table olives processed shall be determined by
applying a provisional processing coefficient
to the
quantity appearing in the certificate of delivery, as
confirmed by the other
information notified to the
competent body. That coefficient shall be established by
the competent body depending on the data available on
the approved undertaking concerned. However,
the
quantity of table olives taken into consideration may not
exceed 90 % of the quantity of table olives delivered.

2. Advances on the aid shall be paid from 16 October
1999 to growers applying therefore in accordance with
Article 7(1).

Article 10

1.
The aid shall be equal to the unit amount referred to
in Article 17a(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2261/84, multi-
plied by the quantity of olive oil equivalent, in accordance
with Article 3(1) of this Decision, to the relevant quantity
of table olives processed.

— the quantities of table olives covered by certificates of

delivery issued,

(1) OJ L 208, 3. 8. 1984, p. 3.

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For the purposes of granting the aid to growers, the
quantity of table olives processed shall be determined by
applying a processing coefficient
for the undertaking
concerned to the quantity appearing in the certificate of
delivery, as confirmed by the other information notified
to the competent body. That coefficient shall be equal to
the ratio between the total quantity of
table olives
processed on the one hand, and the total quantity of table
olives covered by certificates of delivery issued on the
other hand, in respect of the 1998/99 olive-oil marketing
year.

Where the quantity of processed olives corresponding to
the aid as set out in the certificate of delivery cannot be
established, the quantities of table olives processed for the
growers concerned shall be calculated on the basis of the
average coefficient for the other undertakings. However,
without prejudice to any claims which the olive growers
concerned might make against
that
quantity of processed olives may not exceed 75 % of the
quantity shown in the certificate of delivery.

the undertaking,

2.
The rate applicable for converting the aid into Portu-
guese escudos shall be the agricultural conversion rate in
force on the first day of the month of the first delivery of
olives by the grower concerned.

3. Once the controls referred to in Article 8 have been
carried out, the aid or, where applicable, the balance of
the aid shall be paid to the grower in full within 90 days
of fixing by the Commission of the unit amount thereof.

Article 11

Portugal shall notify the Commission:

— without delay, of

the national measures

taken

pursuant to this Decision,

— before 1 August 1999, of the quantities of olive oil
equivalent
table olives
to the estimated output of
processed and of the provisional processing coeffi-
cients for that estimate,

— before 16 June 2000, of the quantities of olive oil
equivalent
table olives
to the actual output of
processed and of the processing coefficients adopted.

Article 12

This Decision is addressed to the Portuguese Republic.

It shall apply from 1 November 1998.

Done at Brussels, 30 October 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission