Commission Regulation (EC) No 1288/2000 of 19 June 2000 providing for a specific inspection of intervention stocks of cereals at the beginning of the 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 marketing years
Date: 2000-06-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, cereals, intervention agency, intervention stock, quantitative restriction

L 145/20

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

20.6.2000

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1288/2000

of 19 June 2000

providing for a specific inspection of intervention stocks of cereals at the beginning of the
2000/2001 and 2001/2002 marketing years

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

(5)

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on the
common organisation of
in cereals (1), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1253/1999 (2), and in partic-
ular Article 5 thereof,

the market

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1253/1999 of 17 May 1999
amending Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 provides for a
15 % reduction in the price of cereals in two equal steps
from the 2000/2001 marketing year.

The prospect of such a price reduction may lead opera-
tors to place quantities of cereals including some of their
working stock in intervention at the end of the 1999/
2000 marketing year to avoid devaluation of their stock.

The risk that intervention stocks may be used unlawfully
and subsequently replaced by cereals from the new
harvest cannot be ruled out in this context.

fraudulent use of

the inspections provided for

intervention
To avoid any risk of
stocks, on top of
in
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2148/96 of 8
November 1996 laying down rules for evaluating and
monitoring public intervention stocks of agricultural
products (3), amended by Regulation (EC) No 808/
1999 (4), provision should be made for a specific inspec-

tion of
reality of such stocks during the critical period.

intervention stocks to confirm the physical

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Cereals,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1. Without prejudice to the inspections provided for in
Regulation (EC) No 2148/96, intervention agencies shall draw
up, between 15 May and 15 June 2000 and 2001 in Spain,
Greece, Italy and Portugal, and between 15 June and 15 July
2000 and 2001 in the other Member States, a detailed list
verifying the quantities of cereals in approved stores in accord-
ance with the physical inspection procedure laid down in point
III(A)(2) of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 2148/96.

2.
The inspection, carried out without prior notification,
must cover at least 50 % of stores chosen at random on the
basis of a high risk of use in breach of the rules. A volume
assessment must be carried out only where discrepancies are
found.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the third day
following that of 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, 19 June 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 181, 1.7.1992, p. 12.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.7.1999, p. 18.
(3) OJ L 288, 9.11.1996, p. 6.
(4) OJ L 102, 17.4.1999, p. 70.