Commission Regulation (EC) No 2844/98 of 22 December 1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1587/98 introducing a scheme to compensate for the additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain fishery products from the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the French departments of Guiana and Réunion as a result of those regions' remoteness
Date: 1998-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: fishery product, island region, peripheral region, sales aid

30. 12. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 354/53

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2844/98

of 22 December 1998

laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No
1587/98 introducing a scheme to compensate for the additional costs incurred in
the marketing of certain fishery products from the Azores, Madeira, the Canary
Islands and the French departments of Guiana and R(cid:130)union as a result of those
regions’ remoteness

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1587/98 of
17 July 1998 introducing a scheme to compensate for the
additional costs incurred in the marketing of certain
fishery products from the Azores, Madeira, the Canary
Islands and the French departments of Guiana and
R(cid:130)union as a result of those regions’ remoteness (1), and in
particular Article 4 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3813/92
of 28 December 1992 on the unit of account and the
conversion rates to be applied for the purposes of the
common agricultural policy (2), as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 150/95 (3), and in particular Article 6(2)
thereof,

Whereas it is necessary to lay down detailed rules for
implementing the scheme introduced by Regulation (EC)
No 1587/98 so that detailed arrangements can be estab-
lished for granting Community aid for the measures
provided for in that Regulation, in particular the arrange-
ments for payments and for checking and monitoring the
measures;

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The compensation scheme introduced by Regulation (EC)
No 1587/98 shall be implemented for 1998, 1999, 2000
and 2001 in accordance with the provisions of this Regu-
lation.

Article 2

1.
In the case of the Azores and Madeira, should the
overall annual quota of 15 000 tonnes not be exhausted
by the catches of vessels registered at the ports of the
Azores and/or Madeira the operators concerned may
resort to the use of tuna originating in other Member
States.

(1) OJ L 208, 24. 7. 1998, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 387, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 22, 31. 1. 1995, p. 1.

2.
For all the regions, the maximum annual quantities
for the various species shall be those laid down in Article
2 of Regulation (EC) No 1587/98.

3.
In the case of Guiana, the compensation shall be
paid for the quantities produced, as the producers are the
recipients of the scheme.

The eligible quantities shall be expressed in head-on
shrimp equivalent; a coefficient of 1,6 shall be applied
when they are presented head-off.

4.
In the case of R(cid:130)union, the compensation shall be
paid for the quantities exported, as the exporters are the
recipients of the scheme.

shall be expressed in whole
The eligible quantities
equivalent (gutted with head). A processing coefficient of
1,15 shall be applied for fish presented gutted and with
head removed (VDK), and a processing coefficient of 1,65
shall be applied when they are exported in the form of
loins.

5. No compensation shall be granted for tuna imported
from third countries.

Article 3

The agricultural conversion rate applicable to the aid
1.
amounts shall be that in force on the first day of the
month in which the products are physically taken over
by:

(a)

the first purchaser for the purposes of marketing fresh
or the industrial undertaking concerned in the case of
the Azores and Madeira;

(b) the first purchaser for the purposes of marketing fresh,
the
the freezing undertaking or, where applicable,
processing undertaking concerned in the case of the
Canary Islands.

2.
In the case of Guiana, the agricultural conversion
rate applicable to the aid amounts shall be that in force
on the first day of the month in which the eligible
products are landed.

In the case of R(cid:130)union, the agricultural conversion
3.
rate applicable to the aid amounts shall be that in force
on the first day of the month in which the eligible
products are exported.

L 354/54

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

30. 12. 98

Article 4

1.
The competent national authorities shall ensure that
recipients’ applications, to be submitted before a date to
be set by those authorities, are accompanied by the docu-
compliance with
mentation needed to check for
Community rules.

2. As regards allocation of compensation among recipi-
ents, Member States shall send the Commission the
national provisions for implementing this Regulation.
These provisions must ensure that compensation is al-
located in a balanced way between recipients when the
applications submitted to the national authorities exceed
the quantities laid down in Article 2 of Regulation (EC)
No 1587/98.

Article 5

The competent authorities of the Member States shall pay
the aid in the three months following the month in
which the time limit for lodging applications expires.

Article 6

1. Member States shall adopt appropriate provisions to
ensure compliance with the requirements for imple-
menting the system, particularly as regards the regularity
of operations. They shall undertake to take measures to

prevent and pursue any irregularities and recover amounts
wrongly paid out.

2. National authorities shall make available to the
Commission all information required for the purposes of
applying this Regulation and shall make every endeavour
to facilitate such checks as the Commission may consider
it useful to undertake, including on-the-spot checks.

3. Without prejudice to checks carried out by the
Member States’ authorities in line with national legisla-
tive,
regulatory or administrative provisions, persons
charged by the Commission with on-the-spot checks
shall have access to all documents relating to expenditure
financed by the Community under this Regulation.

4.
Five months after the end of the period in respect of
which the aid is granted at the latest, the national author-
ities shall send the Commission an annual report on the
quantities produced and marketed, and the value thereof,
for which aid has actually been received.

Article 7

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the day
following 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, 22 December 1998.

For the Commission

Emma BONINO

Member of the Commission