Commission Regulation (EC) No 1467/1999 of 5 July 1999 amending Regulation (EEC) No 1858/93 laying@down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the aid scheme to compensate for loss of income from marketing in the banana sector
Date: 1999-07-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid to agriculture, financial loss, marketing, tropical fruit

6. 7. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 170/7

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1467/1999

of 5 July 1999

amending Regulation (EEC) No 1858/93 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation
(EEC) No 404/93 as regards the aid scheme to compensate for loss of income from marketing in the
banana sector

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

should be extended to give operators enough time to
prepare their applications;

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13
February 1993 on the common organisation of the market in
bananas (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1257/
1999 (2), and in particular Articles 12 and 14 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2799/98 of 15
December 1998 establishing agrimonetary arrangements for
the euro (3), and in particular Article 3(2) thereof,

(1) Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1858/93 (4),
as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1062/1999 (5),
lays down detailed rules for applying the system of
compensatory aid for loss of income from the marketing
of bananas;

(2) Whereas the average production income is established
on the basis of the average of prices at the stage of
delivery at first port of unloading in the rest of the
Community less the average costs of
transport and
delivery fob; whereas experience has shown that in prac-
tice the average costs deducted from the average value of
bananas at the stage of delivery at the first port of
unloading (goods not unloaded) have remained relatively
stable to date; whereas, this being the case, administra-
tion of
the scheme could be greatly simplified by
providing for a flat-rate amount to be deducted, while
complying with the criteria laid down in the rules;
whereas the average production income for bananas
produced and marketed in their producer region as
defined in Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93
must be established separately on the basis of the selling
prices on local markets, less a flat-rate amount for the
forwarding costs to the markets concerned;

(3) Whereas such flat-rate amounts must be reviewed to
ensure that they keep pace with real costs, in particular
transport costs;

(4) Whereas experience has shown that the dates by which
operators are to submit their applications for advances
the Member States
to the competent authorities of

(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.
(3) OJ L 349, 24.12.1998, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 170, 13.7.1993, p. 5.
(5) OJ L 129, 22.5.1999, p. 24.

(5) Whereas, for the purposes of calculating the compens-
atory aid, it is justified to break down all the information
on the marketing of bananas forwarded to the Commis-
sion by bananas dispatched to the Community outside
their producer region and bananas placed on the market
in a producer region as defined in Article 12 of Regula-
tion (EEC) No 404/93;

(6) Whereas the definition of the operative event for the aid
for the purposes of payment of advances and payment
of the balance of the aid should be adapted;

(7) Whereas, with a view to appreciably simplifying the
administration of these arrangements, this Regulation
should apply during 1999; whereas the inclusion of
certain costs, in particular for forwarding and transport,
by means of flat-rate amounts is based directly on infor-
mation obtained by Member States during the marketing
of the products;

(8) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation
are in accordance with the opinion of the Management
Committee for Bananas,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1858/93 is amended as follows:

1. Article 3 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 3

The

average production income

1.
bananas
produced and marketed. in the Community as referred to
in Article 12(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 shall be
calculated for the ex-packing shed stage.

for

2.
In the case of bananas marketed in the Community
outside their producer region as defined in Article 12 of
Regulation (EEC) No 404/93,
the average production
income shall be determined for each year on the basis of
the average of the prices of bananas from the producer
regions at the stage of delivery at first port of unloading
(goods not unloaded), less a flat-rate amount of EUR 18,7/
100 kg net weight corresponding to average costs of trans-
port and delivery fob.

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EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

6. 7. 1999

In the case of bananas produced and marketed in a
producer region as defined in Article 12 of Regulation
(EEC) No 404/93, the average production income shall be
determined on the basis of the average selling prices on
local markets, less a flat-rate amount of EUR 0,29/100 kg
net weight corresponding to the forwarding costs to the
markets concerned.

3.
The flat-rate amounts referred to in paragraph 2 shall
be reviewed if the average costs of transport, delivery fob
or forwarding change substantially’.

6. Article 10 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 10

After verifying aid applications and supporting docu-
1.
ments, the competent national authorities shall pay the
amount of the advance or the balance of the aid, as the
case may be, within two months of the month in which
the application was lodged.

Advances and the balance of the aid shall be paid to

2.
beneficiaries in full’.

2. The second paragraph of Article 5 is deleted.

7. Article 11 is replaced by the following:

3. Article 7(2)(a) is amended as follows:

‘Article 11

‘(a) in the case of advances, at the latest on 30 March, 30
May, 30 July, 30 September and 30 November for
bananas marketed during the
two-month period
preceding the month of application’.

For application of the compensatory aid scheme, the oper-
ative event for the exchange rate shall,
in the case of
payment of advances, be the first day of the two-month
marketing period in question as defined in Article 7(2),
and in the case of payment of the balance of the aid, 31
December of the year in respect of which the aid is set’.

4. The third indent of Article 7(3)

is replaced by the

following:

8. Article 12(1) is replaced by the following:

‘— the quantities of bananas produced and marketed
during the period in question. Such quantities shall be
broken down into the bananas referred to in the first
subparagraph of Article 3(2) and those referred to in
the second subparagraph of this paragraph. Applica-
tions for the balance shall cover the total quantities
marketed during the year in question, broken down in
the same way’.

5. Article 8 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 8

shall

States

1. Member
inform the Commission,
without delay at the end of each period laid down for the
payment of advances, of the quantities marketed for which
applications for payment have been submitted. These
quantities shall, be broken down as indicated in the third
indent of Article 7(3).

2. Within 20 days of the end of the period for lodging
applications for payment of the balance as referred to in
Article 7(2)(b), they shall forward to the Commission, for
each two-month period:

— in the case of bananas as referred to in the first
subparagraph of Article 3(2), the quantities in question,
the average selling prices for green bananas and the
average prices at the stage of delivery at first port of
unloading (goods not unloaded),

— in the case of bananas as referred to in the second
subparagraph of Article 3(2), the quantities in question
and the average selling prices on local markets’.

‘1. Where aid is paid unduly in respect of bananas
which have not been marketed in accordance with Article
1, the competent authorities shall recover the amounts
paid, plus interest calculated from the date of payment of
the aid up to actual recovery thereof.

The rate of interest to be applied by the producer Member
States with the exception of Greece shall be that fixed by
the European Central Bank and published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.

The rate of interest to be applied by Greece shall be that in
force for similar recovery operations under national law.
This rate may not be lower than the yield on three-month
Treasury bonds as applied on the day of payment, plus
one percentage point.

Member States may decide not to collect interest if it
amounts to EUR 20 or less’.

9. Article 13 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 13

On request, producer Member States shall
Commission of the following:

inform the

— the development of Community production and

marketing,

— the development of the real costs of transport and

delivery fob,

— the situation regarding the quantities available in

ripening depots,

— the development of the price of Community bananas
at the various stages of the chain of production up to
the wholesale and retail stages, and of bananas origin-
ating in third countries from the cif stage up to the
retail stage’.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 170/9

10. The following Article 13a is inserted:

11. The Annex is deleted.

‘Article 13a

If Community bananas are marketed in a producer region
during a given two-month period at prices significantly
below the average price for bananas marketed in that
producer region during the same period, Member States
shall intensify the checks on compliance with quality stan-
dards provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No
2898/95 (*).

(*) OJ L 304, 16.12.1995, p. 17’.

Article 2

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

Article 1(1) shall apply from 1 January 1999 for determination
of the aid for 1999.

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

Done at Brussels, 5 July 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission