Commission Regulation (EC) No 1609/1999 of 22 July 1999 laying down the detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 establishing a special framework of assistance to traditional ACP suppliers of bananas
Date: 1999-07-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: ACP countries, competitiveness, financial aid, technical cooperation, tropical fruit

L 190/14

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

23. 7. 1999

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1609/1999

of 22 July 1999

laying down the detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999
establishing a special framework of assistance to traditional ACP suppliers of bananas

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 of 22
April 1999 (1) establishing a special framework of assistance
for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas, and in particular
Article 8 thereof.

(1) Whereas Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 establishes, for a
period not exceeding ten years, a special framework for
technical and financial assistance to assist
traditional
ACP suppliers of bananas to adapt to new market condi-
tions following the amendments made to the common
organisation of the market in bananas;

(2) Whereas Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 stipulates that
technical and financial assistance shall be granted to
contribute to the implementation of programmes aiming
to improve competitiveness in the banana sector, where
improvement
the banana
in the competitiveness of
sector is not sustainable, to support diversification;

(3) Whereas programmes submitted for financing should be
consistent with the general development objectives of
the traditional ACP supplier concerned;

(4) Whereas, in order to ensure such consistency as well as
the relevance of these programmes with regard to the
specific objectives defined by Regulation (EC) No 856/
1999, it is necessary that these programmes be based on
a coherent long term strategy:

(5) Whereas this strategy should be defined by the tradi-
tional ACP supplier concerned, in consultation with the
involved in the sector, and agreed by the
actors
Commission;

(6) Whereas,

so as

to ensure an integrated approach,
programmes submitted for financing should take the
form of annual action plans, based on the strategy
agreed;

(7) Whereas Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 856/1999
provides that, within the global amount available for a
the maximum amount available to each
given year,
traditional ACP
of
programmes aimed at increasing the competitiveness of
the banana sector shall be fixed on the basis of the
competitivity gap observed and taking into account the
importance of banana production of
the country
concerned; whereas it further provides that, where only

financing

supplier

the

for

programmes aimed at diversification are implemented,
an amount comparable to that given to other traditional
suppliers shall be allocated;

(8) Whereas detailed rules on the method of calculation of
the individual country allocations should be laid down;

(9) Whereas the competitivity gap should be established for
each individual traditional ACP supplier on the basis of
the price differences observed at
the entry into the
Community market, taking into account the quantities
exported to the Community; whereas, so as to avoid the
impact of short-term price fluctuations, the price differ-
ence to be considered should be calculated on the basis
of a sufficiently long reference period immediately
preceding the year of application; whereas, in order to
traditional ACP
grant a comparable treatment
suppliers,
the specific objective they
pursue,
the average ACP price difference observed
should be used in cases where exports have ceased as a
consequence of diversification; whereas, in view of the
economic objective of Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 to
allow traditional ACP suppliers to maintain a position
on the Community market equivalent
they
enjoyed before the entry into force of Council Regula-
tion (EC) No 1637/98 (2), the quantities to be considered
for the establishment of the competitivity gap should be
those realised during the three years preceding the entry
into force of that Regulation;

irrespective of

to that

to all

(10) Whereas the importance of banana production for the
economy of the traditional ACP supplier concerned is
best reflected by the share of the banana sector in GDP
of that country; whereas the most accurate statistics in
this regard are supplied by the International Monetary
Fund or in their absence by UNCTAD and these statistics
should therefore be used; whereas, as with regard to
export quantities, the economic objective of Regulation
(EC) No 856/1999 requires that the statistics to be used
be those relating to the three years preceding the year of
entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 1637/98, for
which statistics are available;

(11) Whereas, given the fact that the basic economic factors
of the banana trade vary considerably within the group
of traditional ACP suppliers, the most equitable result
will be achieved if both criteria relevant to the calcula-
tion of the individual country allocations are equally
weighted;

(1) OJ L 108, 27.4.1999, p. 2.

(2) OJ L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 28.

23. 7. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 190/15

(12) Whereas,

in order

the
programmes to be financed, a minimum allocation
should nevertheless be fixed;

to ensure the feasibility of

(13) Whereas, special account needs be taken of the need for

specific solutions for Somalia;

(14) Whereas Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 856/1999
provides that from the year 2004 and for each subse-
quent year thereafter, a maximum reduction coefficient
of 15 % shall be applied to the level of assistance made
available to individual traditional ACP suppliers; whereas
it further provides that, where programmes aimed at
increasing competitiveness are implemented, this reduc-
tion coefficient shall be reduced to the same extent that
an increase in competitiveness has been observed
compared to the previous year;

(15) Whereas in order to ensure that the maximum use is
made of the opportunities offered by Regulation (EC) No
856/1999 to assist traditional ACP suppliers to adapt to
the new market conditions, unused funds, within the
budget year, should be reallocated;

(16) Whereas the measures provided for in this regulation are
in accordance with the opinion of
the Committee
provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1637/
98,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
Requests for technical and financial assistance in accord-
ance with Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 shall be
presented by the traditional ACP supplier concerned to the
Commission, at the beginning of each calendar year and no
later than 60 days after the financial allocations, referred to in
Article 2, have been notified. Account will be taken of the
special situation of Somalia.

2.
These requests should be based on a coherent long-term
strategy for the banana sector, defined by the ACP country
concerned,
in consultation with the actors involved in the
sector, and agreed by the Commission. The strategy should
define the specific objective pursued in accordance with Article
3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 856/1999, assess its viability and
set out the approach to achieve this objective. It should further
provide the necessary information allowing to assess its consis-
tency with the general development objectives of the traditional
ACP supplier concerned. Particular attention shall be paid to
level.
the possibility of carrying out projects on a regional

3.
Programmes submitted for financing should be drawn up
on the basis of the agreed strategy and take the form of annual
action plans.

Article 2

The maximum amount
financing of
available
programmes referred to in Article 1(3) above shall be fixed
annually. Without prejudice to Article 6 below,
it shall be
individually calculated for each traditional ACP supplier on the
basis of the competitivity gap observed and the importance of

the

for

banana production for the economy of the country concerned,
both criteria being equally weighted.

Article 3

1.
The competitivity gap shall be calculated on the basis of
the reference quantities and the difference between the third
country reference price and the ACP reference price.

2.
The reference quantity shall be the average quantity of
bananas exported by each individual ACP supplier to the
Community for the last three years preceding the entry into
force of Council Regulation (EC) No 1637/98. By derogation
and taking account of its particular situation, the reference
quantity for Somalia is fixed at 60 000 tonnes. Reference
quantities to be applied are listed in Annex I.

The third country reference price shall be the lowest
3.
average price per tonne of bananas produced in any individual
established third country supplier other than an ACP country
and exported to the Community during the last three years
preceding the year of application,
in respect of which the
assistance is requested, for which statistics are available.

4.
The ACP reference price shall be the average price per
tonne of bananas produced in the traditional ACP supplier
concerned and exported to the Community during the same
period. In cases where banana exports have ceased as a conse-
quence of diversification, the average ACP reference price shall
be applied.

Reference prices referred to in paragraph 3 and 4 above
5.
shall be cif prices. The statistics needed for the calculation of
the competitivity gap shall be those drawn up and published
on Community imports by the Statistical Office of the Euro-
pean Communities.

Article 4

The importance of the banana production for the economy of
the traditional ACP supplier concerned shall be established on
the basis of the share of the value added by the banana sector
to the total GDP of the traditional ACP supplier concerned in
the last three years, preceding entry into force of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1637/98, for which statistics are available.
The statistics needed for the establishment of the importance of
the banana production shall be those drawn up by the Inter-
national Monetary Fund or in their absence by UNCTAD. By
derogation and taking account of its particular situation, the
calculation factor for Somalia is fixed at 1,0. The calculation
factor resulting from these statistics is listed in Annex II.

Article 5

Without prejudice to Articles 2 to 4 above, an automatic
reduction coefficient shall be applied as from the year 2004
and for each year thereafter to the allocations made available.
the
The reduction coefficient shall be fixed individually at
appropriate level to ensure that the level of assistance made
available to each individual traditional ACP supplier during the
year of application is
reduced by not more than 15 %
compared to the level of funds made available in the previous
year.

L 190/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

23. 7. 1999

Article 6
Where calculations carried out in accordance with Articles 2 to
5 above lead to an amount inferior to EUR 0,5 million per
year, a minimum amount of EUR 0,5 million shall be allo-
cated.

Article 7
Where any traditional ACP supplier has not presented a request
for technical and financial assistance within the deadline set out
in Article 1(1) or where programmes presented are not in
compliance with the long-term strategy defined in Article 1(2),

the Commission will reallocate the amounts initially made
available to the remaining ACP suppliers, on the basis of the
programmes presented and in accordance with the provisions
of Regulation (EC) No 856/99. Account will be taken of the
special situation of Somalia.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that
of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communi-
ties is applicable from 1 January 1999.

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

Done at Brussels, 22 July 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

23. 7. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 190/17

ANNEX I

List provided for in Article 3(2)

Country

Belize

Cameroon

Cap Verde

Ivory Coast

Dominica

Grenada

Jamaica

Madagascar

Somalia

St Lucia

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Surinam

Tonnes

49 762

163 016

20

169 272

36 173

2 222

83 432

0

60 000

92 951

40 611

28 469

ANNEX II

List provided for in Article 4

Country

Calculation factor

Belize

Cameroon

Cap Verde

Ivory Coast

Dominica

Grenada

Jamaica

Madagascar

Somalia

St Lucia

St Vincent and the Grenadines

Surinam

4,16

1,16

0,60

0,95

8,02

0,31

0,93

0

1,0

8,17

7,27

1,99