Commission Regulation (EC) No 452/1999 of 1 March 1999 fixing the minimum yields for the granting of aid for the production of fibre flax and hemp
Date: 1999-03-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: crop yield, flax, hemp, production aid

2. 3. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 54/11

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 452/1999

of 1 March 1999

fixing the minimum yields for the granting of aid for the production of fibre flax
and hemp

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1308/70
of 29 June 1970 on the common organisation of the
market in flax and hemp (1), as last amended by Regula-
tion (EC) No 3290/94 (2),

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 619/71 of
22 March 1971 laying down general rules for granting aid
for flax and hemp (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 1420/98 (4), and in particular Article 6 thereof,

Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1164/89 of
28 April 1989 laying down detailed rules concerning the
aid for fibre flax and hemp (5), as last amended by Regula-
tion (EC) No 2814/98 (6), lays down the conditions for
entitlement to the aid; whereas Regulation (EEC) No 619/
71 provides that the Commission can lay down criteria
covering normal cultivation work, in particular by setting
a minimum yield to be achieved; whereas a minimum
yield must be established in order to prevent fibre flax
and hemp from being sown not for the sake of produc-
tion but solely to qualify for a rate of aid higher than that
for other arable crops;

Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 2183/97 (7),
lays down the minimum yield to be achieved before aid
for fibre flax production can be granted as from the
1998/99 marketing year; whereas experience gained in the
course of that marketing year shows that the provisions of
that Regulation should be simplified and the minimum
yield set should be adjusted accordingly; whereas, for the
sake of consistency, a minimum yield to be achieved
before aid can be granted for hemp production should
also be laid down; whereas Regulation (EC) No 2183/97
should therefore be repealed and new minimum yields to
be achieved before aid is granted for fibre flax and hemp
production should be laid down on the basis of common
principles;

to take account of

Whereas,
the particular soil and
climatic conditions, minimum yields for fibre flax and
hemp adapted to the conditions in the main production
areas of the Community and corresponding to good cul-

(1) OJ L 146, 4. 7. 1970, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 349, 31. 12. 1994, p. 105.
(3) OJ L 72, 26. 3. 1971, p. 2.
(4) OJ L 190, 4. 7. 1998, p. 7.
(5) OJ L 121, 29. 4. 1989, p. 4.
(6) OJ L 349, 22. 12. 1998, p. 50.
(7) OJ L 299, 4. 11. 1997, p. 4.

tivation methods should be introduced gradually; whereas,
for the sake of simplification, there should be a limit on
the number of different minimum yields laid down;

Whereas, to take account of existing cultivation methods,
in the United Kingdom in particular, a transitional period
should be laid down for that Member State with a view to
the gradual
introduction of minimum yields corres-
ponding to good cultivation methods;

Whereas the areas and production on which basis the
yield is to be determined should be defined;

Whereas, for cases where the yield found is lower than the
minimum yield, Regulation (EC) No 2183/97 provides,
on the one hand, for a case-by-case consideration of any
exceptional weather conditions and, on the other hand,
for the possibility of a gradual reduction in the aid,
subject none the less to a threshold percentage of the
yield below which no aid is payable; whereas it may not
be possible to achieve the minimum yield for several
concomitant reasons the individual effects of which are
difficult to identify; whereas, despite certain reductions in
the minimum yield as a result of this Regulation, the
areas in question should not be totally disqualified from
the aid but should qualify for reduced aid; whereas provi-
sion should be made for a single level of reduced aid
which is easy to apply and which does not constitute an
incentive against the aid payable on other arable crops;

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Aid for the production of
fibre flax and aid for the
production of hemp shall be granted only in respect of
areas where the yield of non-deseeded flax straw or non-
deseeded hemp straw is at least equal to the following
minimums:

— for areas in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France,
Ireland, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands, Austria,
Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom: 2,5 per
hectare,

— for areas in the other Member States: 1,5 t per hectare.

L 54/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 3. 1999

However, the minimum yield of non-deseeded flax straw
shall be adjusted as follows for areas in the United
Kingdom:

the weight concerned by means of a coefficient fixed
on the basis of on-the-spot checks and the technical
specifications of the machine in question.

(a) for the 1999/2000 marketing year: 1,5 t per hectare;

(b) for the 2000/01 marketing year: 2 t per hectare.

Article 2

The yield to be used shall be the average yield of
1.
non-deseeded straw on the areas covered by aid applica-
tions or, where the applicants are growers within the
meaning of Article 3a(b) of Regulation (EEC) No 619/71,
the yield on the areas of each owner or farmer with whom
a contract for flax growing has been concluded.

2.
The average yield as referred to in paragraph 1 shall
be equal to the tonnage of non-deseeded straw ready for
processing weighed on entry at
the processing plant,
divided by the area in hectares.

However,

— where the straw is harvested separately from the seed,
the weight of the seed shall be added to the weight of
the straw entering the processing plant, and

— where the straw is harvested using a machine that
separates the fibre from the woody parts, the weight of
the straw shall be replaced by the total weight of the
various products resulting from that separation. Where
it is not possible to weigh the woody parts of the stalk,
the Member State shall, in the light of the results
corresponding to good cultivation methods, establish

3.
Compliance with the minimum yield shall be estab-
lished on the basis of the information referred to in
paragraphs 1 and 2 available before a date set by the
Member State which is before 30 June in the marketing
year in question. Where that information reveals that the
minimum yield has not been complied with, the Member
State shall inform the interested party and, at the latter’s
request, shall take account, after verification on the spot,
of the estimated weight of the quantities relative to the
marketing year in question which he is holding in store.

Article 3

Where the minimum yields laid down in Article 1 are not
achieved, the aid payable for the areas in question shall be
reduced by 65 %.

Article 4

Regulation (EC) No 2183/97 shall be repealed with effect
from 1 August 1999.

Article 5

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

It shall apply from the 1999/2000 marketing year.

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

Done at Brussels, 1 March 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission