Commission Regulation (EC) No 2367/98 of 30 October 1998 introducing transitional measures in the olive oil sector with a view to the application of the scheme for the marketing years 1998/99 to 2000/01
Date: 1998-10-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU aid, aid system, consumption, olive oil

L 293/64

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

31. 10. 98

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2367/98

of 30 October 1998

introducing transitional measures in the olive oil sector with a view to the
application of the scheme for the marketing years 1998/99 to 2000/01

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

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),

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1638/98 of
20 July 1998 amending Regulation No 136/66/EEC on
the establishment of a common organisation of
the
market in oils and fats, and in particular Article 3(1)
thereof,

Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1638/98 introduces major
changes in the common organisation of the market in oils
and fats from 1 November 1998; whereas public buying
in and consumption aid have been abolished, the private
storage aid scheme has been overhauled and the control
mechanisms and priorities have had a change of focus;
whereas it is accordingly necessary to introduce trans-
itional measures to ensure smooth passage between the
schemes in force before and after 1 November 1998;

Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 3089/78 of 19
December 1978 laying down general rules in respect of
aid for the consumption of olive oil (3), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 1582/96 (4),
repealed from 1
November 1998; whereas the rules need to be laid down
as regards applying for, checking and granting consump-
tion aid in respect of quantities entitled to such aid before
that date;

is

Whereas
the checks on the quantities eligible for
consumption aid before 1 November 1998, laid down by
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2677/85 of 24
September 1985 laying down implementing rules in
respect of the system of consumption aid for olive oil (5),
as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 887/96 (6), may
continue for a certain period after the abolition of this aid
and relate to increasingly smaller quantities and sums;
whereas, to redirect olive oil controls towards oil mills, the
extent of each check on consumption aid applications
should be reduced; whereas the checks on consumption

the approved plants; whereas

aid can be done to a great extent using the stock records
for
of
imported olive oil can be released from 1 November 1998
once it is demonstrated that the quantity in question did
not also benefit from consumption aid;

the securities

Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 94/98 of 14
January 1998 on the storage contracts for olive oil for the
1997/98 marketing year (7), as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 597/98 (8), includes a definition of oil placed on
the market which must be adjusted in the light of the
abolition of the consumption aid scheme;

Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1638/98 deletes Article 12
of Regulation No 136/66/EEC, with effect
from 1
November 1998, relating in particular to the conditions
under which olive oil is bought in and the period in
which a tender can be submitted; whereas, with a view to
clarity,
laid down in
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3472/85 of 10
December 1985 on the buying in and storage of olive oil
by intervention agencies (9), as last amended by Regula-
tion (EC) No 2187/98 (10), should apply to olive oils
offered for intervention in the period in question;

the buying-in arrangements

Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 2366/98 of 30
October 1998 laying down detailed rules for the applica-
tion of the system of production aid for olive oil for the
1998/99, 1999/2000 and 2000/01 marketing years (11)
provides for several mechanisms to improve the level of
information on and checking of olive oil production and
its component parts; whereas it is necessary to specify
clearly the situation as regards stocks of olive oil from
preceding marketing years still held by producers and
mills;

Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 2677/85 and Commission
should be repealed
Regulation (EEC) No 683/85 (12)
because they are no longer applicable;

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

(1) OJ 172, 30. 9. 1966, p. 3025/66.
(2) OJ L 210, 28. 7. 1998, p. 32.
(3) OJ L 369, 29. 12. 1978, p. 12.
(4) OJ L 206, 16. 8. 1996, p. 13.
(5) OJ L 254, 25. 9. 1985, p. 5.
(6) OJ L 119, 16. 5. 1996, p. 16.

(7) OJ L 9, 15. 1. 1998, p. 25.
(8) OJ L 79, 17. 3. 1998, p. 13.
(9) OJ L 333, 11. 12. 1985, p. 5.
(10) OJ L 275, 10. 10. 1998, p. 29.
(11) See page 50 of this Official Journal.
(12) OJ L 75, 16. 3. 1985, p. 7.

31. 10. 98

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 293/65

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The measures laid down in Articles 9(3), 10 and 11 of
Regulation (EEC) No 2677/85 shall apply to consumption
aid applications submitted before 1 November 1998.

The deadlines for recognising entitlement to the aid in
the case of the applications referred to in the preceding
paragraph and laid down in Articles 9(3) and 11(2) of
Regulation (EEC) No 2677/85 are hereby extended by
one month if they expire in November or December
1998.

Article 2

In the case of quantities of olive oil
for which no
consumption aid application was submitted before 1
November 1998 aid applications shall be submitted no
later than 31 December 1998 and the measures laid down
in Article 9(2) and (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2677/85
shall apply, except for the on-the-spot checks provided
for in Article 9(3).

Article 3

The olive oil packaging plants approved in accord-
1.
ance with Regulation (EEC) No 3089/78 that have made
consumption aid applications before 1 November 1998
but have not been checked on the spot before that date
shall send the competent body in their Member State, or
the inspection agency as appropriate, before 1 December
1998:

(a) a copy of

their stock records for September and

October 1998;

(b) a monthly stock-records statement

for the period
running from the month to which the aid application
relates to August 1998.

2.
The plants referred to in paragraph 1 shall continue
to keep the stock records laid down in Article 3 of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 2677/85 until 30 November 1998.

Article 4

Aid applications that have not been checked on the spot
by 1 November 1998 in accordance with Article 12 of
Regulation (EEC) No 2677/85 shall be checked for
consistency with the information sent by the plants
pursuant to Article 3.

Where, following the check referred to in the first para-
graph,
the competent body in the Member State has
doubts as to the veracity of the information contained in

the aid application, and in the case of plants approved
during the 1997/98 marketing year that have not been
checked on the spot,
it shall apply the provisions of
Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 2677/85 using the
information that can be requested up to 30 November
1998.

Article 5

The security referred to in Article 9 of Regulation (EEC)
No 3089/78 shall be released on or after 1 November
the
1998 if
Member State that the oil in question did not qualify for
consumption aid or
the production refund for
preserves applying until 31 October 1998.

is demonstrated to the satisfaction of

for

it

Article 6

The words ‘packaging plant approved' in Article 5(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 94/98 are replaced by ‘packaging
plants approved on 31 October 1998'.

Article 7

The detailed rules on the buying in of olive oil by inter-
vention agencies laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 3472/
85 shall apply to virgin olive oils for which the date of the
offer referred to in Article 4(1) of that Regulation lies
between 1 July and 31 October 1998.

Article 8

Before 1 February 1999,
the approved mills and oil
producers who submitted a production aid application not
lower than 100 kg for the 1997/98 marketing year shall
send the competent body in the Member State or, as
appropriate, the producer organisation of which they are a
member, a written declaration of the stocks of olive oil
from previous years that they held on 1 November 1998.
This requirement shall be waived for those oil producers
or mills with less than 50 litres in stock on that date.

Before 1 March 1999, producer organisations shall notify
the competent body in the Member State, or the inspec-
tion agency as appropriate, of the stocks declared by their
members. The Member States shall inform the Commis-
sion of the stocks as declared in the preceding paragraph
before 15 March 1999.

The declarations referred to in the first paragraph shall be
checked by the Member States as part of the controls
pursuant to Articles 28 and 30 of Regulation (EC) No
2366/98. Notwithstanding the results of
the other
controls laid down in that Regulation, where a declaraton
is not made:

L 293/66

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Official Journal of the European Communities

31. 10. 98

— the quantity eligible for aid for the 1998/99 marketing
year in the case of the oil producer concerned shall be
reduced by 5 %,

— notwithstanding any applicable national penalities,
Article 13(4) of Regulation (EEC) No 2261/84 shall
apply to compliance with the conditions laid down in
this Article, due regard being had to the risks relating
to the quantities eligible for aid.

Article 9

Regulations (EEC) No 2677/85 and (EEC) No 683/85 are
hereby repealed.

Article 10

The Regulation shall enter into force on 1 November
1998.

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

Done at Brussels, 30 October 1998.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission