Commission Regulation (EC) No 2508/2000 of 15 November 2000 laying down the detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as regards operational programmes in the fisheries sector
Date: 2000-11-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aquaculture, catch of fish, catch quota, common organisation of markets, fishery product, operational programme, producer organisation

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Official Journal of the European Communities

16.11.2000

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2508/2000

of 15 November 2000

laying down the detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as
regards operational programmes in the fisheries sector

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 of 17
December 1999 on the common organisation of the markets
in fishery and aquaculture products (1), and in particular Article
9(5) and Article 10(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 requires producer organ-
isations to submit an operational programme for plan-
ning supply and regulate in advance the deliveries from
their members at the beginning of each fishing year.

It

The content of the operational programme needs to be
defined for producer organisations to meet their obliga-
tions.
is
required in the marketing strategy, the catch plan, and
the production plan for both fishing and aquaculture
producer organisations.

is therefore necessary to stipulate what

Producer organisations need to ensure internal discipline
in order to ensure that the operational programme can
be enforced. The penalties must be in proportion to the
infringement and must be made known to the members
in advance.

The timetable for submission by the producer organ-
isations and approval by the competent national author-
ities of the operational programmes should be estab-
lished to ensure an effective operation of the arrange-
ments.

An advance should be granted to producer organisations
in order to cover some of the financial costs incurred in
establishing operational programmes.

It is appropriate to provide for a report to be submitted
on the implementation of the operational programme at
the end of the fishing year to enable the producer organ-
isation to assess the effectiveness of its programme and
to enable the national authorities to establish whether
the financial compensation should be granted.

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

CHAPTER I

Marketing strategy and catch plan for fishing producer
organisations

Article 1

For the species in Annexes I and IV to Regulation (EC) No
104/2000, the marketing strategy referred to in Article 9(1)(a)
of that Regulation shall

include the following:

(a) the number of registered members of the producer organ-
isation on the first day of the fishing year as defined in
Article 9(1) of this Regulation;

(b) the number and type of fishing vessels that are members of
the producer organisation on the first day of the fishing
year;

(c) the volume of production and intervention operations by

species in the previous fishing year;

(d) the aggregate turnover of the producer organisation in the

previous fishing year;

(e) the quota allocated to the producer organisation by species;

(f) the percentage of fish sold through auctions or by other

means in the previous fishing year;

(g) the strategy to improve or maintain the quality of the
products disposed of through the producer organisation or
its members;

(h) voluntary product labelling or other promotional activities;

(i) proposed new outlets or other commercial opportunities.

Article 2

The species that represent a significant share of the land-
1.
ings of a producer organisation shall be taken as those species
which contribute:

(a) at least 5 % of the total production of the producer organ-
isation during the previous fishing year by volume or by
value for species which are covered by catch quotas as set
in accordance with Article 8(4) of Council Regulation (EEC)
No 3760/92 (2); or

(1) OJ L 17, 21.1.2000, p. 22.

(2) OJ L 389, 31.12.1992, p. 1.

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(b) at least 10 % of the total production of the producer organ-
isation during the previous fishing year by volume or by
value for species not covered by catch quotas referred to in
(a).

For the species referred to in Article 9(1)(b) of Regulation
2.
(EC) No 104/2000 that meet the requirements of paragraph 1
of this Article, the catch plan shall include an indicative supply
schedule set out across the fishing year and based on seasonal
trends (price, production and demand) in the market.

The catch plan may be simplified where there are no

3.
market difficulties, particularly withdrawals.

4. Where there are catch plans set up within a Member State
at a different level to the producer organisations, the producer
organisation may make reference to those plans.

However, the existence of such plans does not exonerate the
producer organisation from setting out further measures to
regulate the supply of its members, as indicated in Article 5.

seasonal production factors and anticipated trends in the
market.

CHAPTER III

Measures applicable to species in Annexes I, IV and V to
Regulation (EC) No 104/2000

Article 5

The operational programme referred to in Article 9(1) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 104/2000 shall state the reasons for any
habitual market difficulties experienced in recent fishing years
and shall specify the anticipatory measures taken to adjust the
supply.

CHAPTER II

Article 6

Marketing strategy and production plan for aquaculture
producer organisations

Article 3

For the species referred to in Annex V to Regulation (EC) No
104/2000, the marketing strategy referred to in Article 9(1)(a)
of that Regulation shall

include:

(a) the number of registered members of the producer organ-
isation on the first day of the fishing year, as defined in
Article 9(1) of this Regulation;

(b) the volume of species harvested in the previous fishing

year;

(c) the average sale price of the species concerned in the

previous fishing year;

(d) the aggregate turnover of the producer organisation in the

previous fishing year;

(e) the rearing method used;

(f) the peak seasons for production and for sales;

(g) the strategy to improve or maintain the quality of the
products disposed of through the producer organisation or
its members;

1.
The producer organisation shall take all the necessary
steps to try to remedy the situation where the market condi-
tions change so that:

(a) withdrawals as a percentage of the quantities put up for
sale in any month increase by 5 percentage points
compared to the average percentage of withdrawals of the
previous three months; or

(b) any other serious market difficulties arise.

Products withdrawn for carryover aid as referred to in Articles
23 and 24(4) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 shall not be
taken into account as withdrawals for the purposes of this
paragraph.

The producer organisation shall

inform the competent
2.
authorities of the Member State of any steps taken in accord-
ance with paragraph 1. A revision to the operational
programme shall not be necessary unless so required by the
competent authorities of the Member State.

Article 7

A list of the penalties referred to in Article 9(1)(d) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 104/2000 shall be established by the producer
organisation and shall be made available to all its members.

(h) voluntary product labelling or other promotional activities;

The penalties shall be proportionate to the infringement.

(i) market assessment including proposed new outlets or other

commercial opportunities.

Article 8

Article 4

The production plan referred to in the second indent of Article
9(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 shall comprise an
the fishing year based on
indicative supply schedule for

The unforeseen circumstances
referred to in the second
subparagraph of Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000
shall be events which are independent of the actions of the
producer organisation and affect the market for the species
concerned.

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CHAPTER IV

Procedural aspects

Article 9

1.
The fishing year shall run for 12 months and shall
normally start on 1 January, unless an alternative period or
starting date is justified and is agreed with the competent
authorities of the Member State.

2.
The producer organisation shall submit its operational
programme within seven weeks of the beginning of the fishing
year. The producer organisation shall immediately implement
the programme.

3.
The Member State concerned shall approve the opera-
tional programme within 12 weeks of the beginning of the
fishing year.

the
the Member State has significant amendments for
If
producer organisation to make to the programme, the time-
table for approval may be extended by a further two weeks.

Article 10

After the Member State concerned has approved the opera-
tional programme and at the latest four months after the
fishing year has started, it may grant an advance of 50 % of the
value of the compensation granted to the producer organ-
isation under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 on
condition that the producers organisation has lodged a security
of not less than 105 % of the amount of the advance.

Article 11

1.
The number of vessels used to calculate the aid referred
to in Article 10(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 shall be
the total number of member vessels in the producer organ-
isation on the first day of the fishing year.

The representativeness of a producer organisation used to
2.
calculate the aid referred to in Article 10(2)(b) of Regulation
(EC) No 104/2000 shall be established on the basis of data
from the fishing year preceding the fishing year for which the
operational programme is established.

3.
The five-year period referred to in the second and third
subparagraphs of Article 10(1) of Regulation (EC) No 104/
2000 and in Annex VII thereto shall be equal to five of the
fishing years defined in Article 9(1) of this Regulation.

Article 12

The producer organisation shall establish a report of its activi-
the
ties and shall send it
Member State within seven weeks of the end of the fishing
year. The report shall

include the following information:

to the competent authorities of

(a) a market report on the species covered by the operational
programme, which shall focus on any marketing difficulties
experienced during the year, the measures taken to react to
those difficulties such as those required by Article 6,
including penalties applied and, if appropriate, the reason
for which the producer organisation has been unable to
remedy those difficulties;

(b) a copy of the producer organisation's rules in the first
the programme and
implementation of

fishing year of
thereafter any modification to those rules;

(c) the list of penalties established by the producer organ-

isation in accordance with Article 7.

Article 13

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2001.

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

Done at Brussels, 15 November 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission