2000/498/EC: Commission Decision of 24 July 2000 on the granting of aid for the production of table olives in France (notified under document number C(2000) 2198) (Only the French text is authentic)
Date: 2000-07-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: France, agro-industry, olive, production aid

L 200/54

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

8.8.2000

COMMISSION DECISION

of 24 July 2000

on the granting of aid for the production of table olives in France

(notified under document number C(2000) 2198)

(Only the French text is authentic)

(2000/498/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(7)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation No 136/66/EEC of 22
September 1966 on the establishment of a common organ-
isation of the market in oils and fats (1), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 2702/1999 (2), and in particular Article
5(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Article 5(4) of Regulation No 136/66/EEC grants the
Member States the possibility of allocating part of their
their olive-oil
national guaranteed quantities and of
production aid to support for table olives on conditions
to be approved by the Commission in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 38 of that Regula-
tion.

France has presented a request in respect of the 2000/01
marketing year and detailed rules should be laid down
for the granting of the aid.

Provision should be made for aid to be granted to
growers of processed table olives from olive groves in
France and the conditions governing the granting of the
aid should be specified.

The processing period should be defined as running
from 1 September 2000 to 31 August 2001. Olives
which have undergone initial treatment in brine lasting
at least 15 days and have been removed from the brine
definitively or failing that have undergone making them
fit for human consumption should be deemed to be
processed olives.

The weight of processed table olives for which aid is
payable and the equivalence between processed table
olives and olive oil should be determined for
the
purposes of calculating the unit aid for olives and of
administering the national guaranteed quantities.

Undertakings processing table olives must be approved
in accordance with conditions
to be determined.
Account should be taken of the fact that processing
undertakings located within the area covered by a regis-
tered designation of origin must maintain stock records,
irrespective of the type of olives processed.

(1) OJ 172, 30.9.1966, p.3025/66.
(2) OJ L 327, 21.12.1999, p. 7.

Provisions should be laid down for checks on aid for
table olives. Those provisions must in particular cover
crop declarations by table-olive growers, notifications by
processors of
the quantities of olives delivered by
growers and leaving the processing chain, and the obli-
gations on paying agencies regarding controls. Provision
should be made for penalties on table-olive growers
where their declarations conflict with the results of
checks.

The information needed for calculating the aid to be
granted to growers of processed table olives should be
determined. An advance on the aid may be granted on
certain conditions.

France must notify the Commission of
the national
measures adopted for the purposes of applying this
Decision and of the information used for calculating the
advance on the aid and the definitive aid.

(8)

(9)

(10)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Oils and Fats,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

For the 2000/01 olive-oil marketing year, France is authorised
to grant aid for the production of table olives in accordance
with this Decision.

Article 2

1.
Aid for the production of table olives shall be granted to
growers of olives which come from olive groves in France and
are sent to approved processing undertakings for processing
into table olives.

2.
For the 2000/01 olive-oil marketing year, aid shall be
granted for table olives processed between 1 September 2000
and 31 August 2001.

3. Within the meaning of this Decision,
‘processed table
olives’ means olives that have undergone for at least 15 days
initial treatment in brine and have been removed from the
brine definitively or failing that have undergone treatment
making them fit for human consumption.

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Article 3

1.
For the purposes of calculating the unit aid for table
olives and of administering the national guranteed quantities of
olive oil, 100 kg of processed table olives shall be deemed to
be equivalent to 13 kg of olive oil eligible for production aid
as provided for in Article 5 of Regulation No 136/66/EEC.

The weight of processed table olives to be taken into
2.
consideration shall be the drained net weight of whole olives
after processing, possibly bruised but not stoned.

Article 4

Approval number shall be allocated to undertakings

1.
approved for the 1999/2000 marketing year or which:

— submit an application for approval by 30 September 2000,
accompanied by the information referred to in paragraph 2
and the commitments referred to in paragraph 3,

— market processed table olives, with or without additional

preparation,

— have plant capable of processing at least 5 tonnes of olives
per year in the Department of Corsica and in the case of
olives harvested within the area covered by a registered
designation of origin and 10 tonnes of olives elsewhere.

2.

Applications for approval shall

include at least:

— a description of the processing plant and storage facilities,

with details of their capacity,

— a description of

the forms of

table-olive preparations
marketed, indicating the average weight of processed table
olives required for 1 kilogram of each type of prepared
product,

— details of stocks of table olives at various stages of prepara-
tion, by form of preparation, as at 1 September 2000.

3.

For the purposes of approval, processors shall undertake:

— to keep table olives for which aid is payable separate from
table olives originating in third countries and those for
which aid is not payable when taking delivery of,
processing and storing them,

— to keep stock records covering table olives, linked to the

financial accounts and indicating, for each day:

(a) the quantities of olives entering the establishment,
showing each consignment separately and identifying
the grower of each,

(b) the quantities of olives sent for processing and the
quantities of table olives processed within the meaning
of Article 2(3),

(c) the quantities of table olives for which the process of

preparation has been completed,

— to provide the grower as referred to in Article 2(1) and the
competent body with the documents and the information
referred to in Article 6 in accordance with the conditions
laid down therein,

— to submit to all checks provided for under this Decision.

Approval shall be refused or immediately withdrawn

4.
where undertakings:

— fail to comply or no longer comply with the conditions for

approval, or

— are prosecuted by the competent authorities for irregulari-
ties in respect of the arrangements provided for in Regula-
tion No 136/66/EEC, or

— have been penalised for an infringement to that Regulation

within the past 24 months.

Before final approval is granted, an on-site inspection of
5.
the facilities shall be carried out in order to verify the informa-
tion submitted by the undertaking.

Article 5

For the purposes of granting the aid for the production of table
lodge a crop
olives, by 31 December 2000 growers shall
attestation confirming that
the declaration laid down for
olive-oil production also covers table olives or, as appropriate,
a new declaration containing the same information as the crop
declaration for olive oil but referring to table olives.

Where the information concerned has already been furnished
by a crop declaration for olive oil and has not been subject to
modification, the supplementary declaration shall simply indi-
cate the references to the crop declaration and the parcels
concerned.

The declarations concerning table olives shall be included in
the alphanumeric database provided for in connection with the
aid scheme for olive oil production.

Article 6

1.
During the month following delivery of the final consign-
ment of olives and no later than 30 June 2001, approved
undertakings shall issue growers as referred to in Article 2(1)
with a certificate of delivery showing the net weight of olives
entering the undertaking.

The certificate must be supported by all the documentation
relating to the weight of the consignments of olives delivered.

Approved undertakings shall notify the competent body

2.
and the control agency:

(a) by the 10th day of each quarter, of:

(d) the quantities of table olives leaving the undertaking,
broken down by form of preparation and indicating the
consignees,

— the quantities of olives received, sent for processing and
in the

processed within the meaning of Article 2(3)
course of the previous quarter,

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— the quantities of olives prepared and sent out, broken
by form of preparation, in the course of the previous
quarter,

— the aggregate quantities referred to in the first two
the

indents and the stock situation at
previous quarter;

the end of

(b) before 1 July 2001, of the names of growers as referred to
in Article 2(1) for the processing period referred to in
Article 2(2) and of the quantities covered by certificates
issued to them in accordance with paragraph 1;

(c) before 1 June 2002, of the total quantities delivered for the
processing period referred to in Article 2(2) and of the
corresponding total quantities processed.

— entitlement to table-olive production aid is respected,

— olives

this
entering an undertaking approved under
Decision are excluded from eligibility for olive-oil produc-
tion aid,

— no more than one aid application is lodged for the same

olives.

3. Without prejudice to the penalties laid down by France,
no aid shall be granted to growers as referred to in Article 2(1)
whose declarations as provided for in Article 5 or whose aid
applications in accordance with Article 7 proves to conflict
with the results of checks. However, Article 15 of Regulation
(EC) No 2366/98 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 7

Article 9

1.
Before 1 July 2001, table-olive growers shall lodge aid
applications, directly or indirectly, with the competent body,
containing at least the following details:

— the name and address of the grower,

— a reference to the relevant crop declaration,

— the approved undertaking to which the olives were deliv-

ered.

Such applications shall be accompanied by certificates of
delivery as referred to in Article 6(1).

Where applicable, applications may be accompanied by an
application for an advance on the aid.

the deadline shall

Applications lodged after

incur a
2.
penalty consisting of a reduction of 1 % of the amount to
which the grower would have been entitled had the application
been lodged by the due date, for each working day of delay.
Applications lodged more than 25 working days late shall be
refused.

1.
Growers as referred to in Article 2(1) may receive an
advance on the aid requested. The advance shall be equal to the
unit amount referred to in Article 17a(1) of Regulation (EEC)
No 2261/84, multiplied by the quantity of olive oil equivalent,
in accordance with Article 3(1) of this Decision, to the relevant
quantity of table olives processed.

For the purposes of granting advances to growers, the quantity
of table olives processed shall be determined by applying a
provisional processing coefficient to the quantity appearing in
the certificate of delivery, as confirmed by the other informa-
tion notified to the competent body. That coefficient shall be
established by the competent body on the basis of the data
available on the approved undertaking concerned. However,
the quantity of table olives taken into consideration may not
exceed 90 % of the quantity of table olives delivered.

2.
Advances on the aid shall be paid from 16 October 2001
to growers applying therefor in accordance with Article 7(1).

Article 8

Article 10

Before the definitive payment of the aid, the competent

1.
body shall carry out the controls required to check:

— the quantities of

table olives covered by certificates of

delivery,

— the quantities of table olives processed, broken down by

grower.

Controls shall

involve:

— several physical inspections of goods in stock and a check

of the accounts of approved undertakings,

— stricter checks of aid applications from olive growers
applying for aid for both table olives and olive oil.

France shall see that all the necessary controls are in place

2.
to ensure that:

1. Without prejudice to the reductions provided for in
Article 20d of Regulation No 136/66/EEC, the aid shall be
equal to the unit amount referred to in Article 17a(2) of
Regulation (EEC) No 2261/84 multiplied by the quantity of
olive oil equivalent,
in accordance with Article 3(1) of this
Decision, to the relevant quantity of table olives processed.

For the purposes of granting the aid to growers as referred to
in Article 2(1), the quantity of table olives processed shall be
determined by applying a processing coefficient for the under-
taking concerned to the quantity appearing in the certificate of
delivery, as confirmed by the other information notified to the
competent body. That coefficient shall be equal to the ratio
between the total quantity of table olives processed on the one
hand, and the total quantity of table olives covered by certi-
ficates of delivery on the other hand, in respect of the olive-oil
marketing year concerned.

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table olives processed for

Where the quantity of processed olives corresponding to the
aid as set out in the certificate of delivery cannot be established,
the quantities of
the growers
concerned shall be calculated using the average coefficient for
the other undertakings. However, without prejudice to any
claims which the olive growers concerned might make against
the undertaking, that quantity of processed olives may not
exceed 75 % of the quantity shown in the certificate of delivery.

2.
Once the controls referred to in Article 8 have been
carried out, the aid or, where applicable, the balance of the aid
shall be paid to the grower in full within 90 days of the
Commission fixing the unit amount thereof.

France shall notify the Commission:

Article 11

— without delay, of the national measures taken pursuant to

this Decision,

— before 1 August 2001, of the quantities of olive oil equiva-
lent to the estimated output of table olives processed and of
the provisional processing coefficients for that estimate,
— before 16 June 2002, of the quantities of olive oil equiva-
lent to the actual output of table olives processed and of
the processing coefficients adopted.

Article 12

This Decision is addressed to the French Republic.

Done at Brussels, 24 July 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission