Commission Regulation (EC) No 590/2001 of 26 March 2001 derogating from and amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 as regards the buying-in of beef
Date: 2001-03-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, award of contract, beef, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, intervention buying, invitation to tender, market prices

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Official Journal of the European Communities

27.3.2001

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 590/2001

of 26 March 2001

derogating from and amending Regulation (EC) No 562/2000 laying down detailed rules for the
application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 as regards the buying-in of beef

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1254/1999 of
17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in
beef and veal (1), and in particular Article 38(2) and Article
47(8) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Recent events involving bovine spongiform encephalop-
athy (BSE) have provoked a serious loss of consumer
confidence in the safety of beef and veal. This has led to
a sharp drop in beef consumption and a significant
decline in prices, which may well last for some time. As
a result, the market for beef and veal is severly disrupted
and there is a risk that it might collapse entirely.

In view of the market situation described above and to
improve the effectiveness of the measures to be taken,
additional products should be accepted into interven-
tion, as provided for by Commission Regulation (EC) No
562/2000 of 15 March 2000 laying down rules for the
application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 as
regards the buying-in of beef (2), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 503/2000 (3), carcasses of animals
which exceed the maximum weight currently permitted
and which have had to be kept for a longer period than
usual due to low demand should be accepted and,
finally, the increase to be applied to the average market
price in order to calculate the maximum buying-in price
should be adjusted temporarily to take account,
in
particular, of increased costs and reduced receipts in the
sector.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 716/96 of 19 April
1996 adopting exceptional support measures for the
beef market in the United Kingdom (4), as last amended
by Regulation (EC) No 1176/2000 (5), adopted special
measures in respect of bovine animals reared in the
United Kingdom which are more than 30 months old.
Those measures comprise the slaughtering and subse-
quent destruction of such cattle. Castrated animals from
the United Kingdom exceeding that age are not therefore
eligible for public intervention. Moreover, Commission
Decision 2000/764/EC (6), as last amended by Decision

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 21.
(2) OJ L 68, 16.3.2000, p. 22.
(3) OJ L 73, 15.3.2001, p. 16.
(4) OJ L 99, 20.4.1996, p. 14.
(5) OJ L 131, 1.6.2000, p. 37.
(6) OJ L 305, 6.12.2000, p. 35.

2001/8/EC (7) on the testing of bovine animals for the
presence of bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
lays
down that all bovine animals over 30 months of age
subject to normal slaughter for human consumption are
to be examined by one of the approved rapid tests listed
in Annex IVa to Commission Decision 98/272/EC (8) as
from 1 July 2001 at the latest. Animals that have not
been subject
therefore be
to those tests may not
accepted into public intervention with a view to subse-
quent disposal on the market.

(4)

(5)

(6)

In order to permit intervention to play a full role faced
with this serious market situation, the acceptance into
intervention of forequarters should also be authorised,
with the price being derived from the carcase price.

Articles 10 and 16 of Regulation (EC) No 562/2000
define the periods for submitting tenders and delivery,
respectively. In view of the dates on which the public
holidays fall in the second quarter of 2001, for practical
reasons the closing dates for submission of tenders in
the second quarter and for delivery for the last tendering
procedure in the first quarter of 2001 should be
changed.

In order to deal with the further disturbance of the
market which may result
from the entry onto the
market of substantial numbers of male store animals
orginating in the Community, which have been kept on
their holdings of origin due to a lack of demand and for
which these holdings no longer have fodder, the neces-
sary support measures should be adopted in accordance
with Article 38 of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 and
buying-in of the carcasses of such animals permited.
Moreover, to prevent the buying-in of animals almost
ready for market, a limit should be placed on the weight
of eligible carcasses under these arrangements. Since
cattle of the breeds listed in Annex I to Commission
Regulation (EC) 2342/1999 of 28 October 1999 laying
down detailed rules for the application of Council Regu-
lation (EC) No 1254/1999 on the common organisation
of the market in beef and veal as regards premium
schemes (9), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 192/
2001 (10), are not considered as belonging to a meat
breed, they should not be eligible for this type of inter-
vention. To avoid granting duplicate aid, a mechanism

(7) OJ L 2, 5.1.2001, p. 28.
(8) OJ L 122, 24.4.1998, p. 59.
(9) OJ L 281, 4.11.1999, p. 30.
(10) OJ L 29, 31.1.2001, p. 27.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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the
should be introduced making full payment of
buying-in price conditional on the producer not having
applied for the special premium referred to in Article 4
of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 for
the animal
concerned. Finally, further additions to or derogations
from the normal intervention scheme as laid down by
Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 are also needed.

Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 562/2000 authorises
the Member States to bone all or part of the meat
bought in. In view of the current crisis, requiring all of
the meat to be boned could help free up the storage
space needed to cope with the large volumes of beef
likely to be bought in, and could facilitate subsequent
disposal of the meat. The said Article 20 should there-
fore be amended accordingly, giving the Member States
sufficient time to introduce the measure.

Consequently, Regulation (EC) No 562/2000 should be
derogated from or amended.

The Management Committee for Beef and Veal has not
given an opinion within the time limit set by its
Chairman,

(7)

(8)

(9)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Notwithstanding Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 562/
1.
2000, the additional products which may be bought into inter-
vention shall be as follows:

— category A, class O2 and class O3,

— Ireland: category C, class O4,

— United Kingdom — Northern Ireland: category C, class 04.

In derogation from or in addition to Article 4(2) of

2.
Regulation (EC) No 562/2000:

(a) The following may not be bought into intervention:

(i) carcasses and half carcasses of castrated animals reared
in the United Kingdom which are more than 30
months old;

(ii) in the other Member States, carcasses and half carcasses
of castrated animals which are more than 30 months
old and which have not been subjected to one of the
approved rapid tests listed in Annex IVa to Decision
98/272/EC;

(b) five-rib forequarters obtained using a straight cut from the
carcasses or half carcasses referred to in Article 4(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 562/2000; the price of forequarters
shall be calculated by applying the coefficient 0,80 to the
carcasse price.

Notwithstanding Article 4(2)(g) of Regulation (EC) No
for the second quarter of 2001 the maximum

3.
562/2000,
weight of the carcasses referred to therein shall be:

— 430 kg for the first two tendering procedures,

— 410 kg for the third and fourth tendering procedures,

— 390 kg for the last two tendering procedures.

Notwithstanding the first sentence of Article 10 of Regu-
4.
lation (EC) No 562/2000,
the deadline for submission of
tenders in the second quarter of 2001 shall be 12 noon (Brus-
sels time) on the following dates:

— 17 April,

— 1, 15 and 29 May,

— 12 and 26 June.

5.
Notwithstanding Article 16(2) of Regulation (EC) No
562/2000, the delivery period for the last tendering procedure
in March 2001 shall end on 21 April 2001.

Notwithstanding Article 36 of Regulation (EC) No 562/

6.
2000:

(a) in the case of invitations to tender under Article 47(3) of
Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999, the amount to be added to
the average market price shall be EUR 14 per 100 kg
carcasse weight;

(b) in the case of invitations to tender under Article 47(5) of
Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999, the amount to be added to
the average market price shall be EUR 7 per 100 kg
carcasse weight.

Buying-in in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 562/
7.
2000 and this Regulation shall also be opened for carcasses
and half carcasses of male animals of Community origin under
12 months old in category A and under 14 months old in
category C.

In this case:

— the animals shall be of breeds not listed in Annex I to

Regulation (EC) No 2342/1999,

— the carcasse weight shall be between 140 and 200 kg and
carcasses shall not show any deformities or anomalies of
weight vis-à-vis the age of the animal,

— where the carcasses and half carcasses presented for inter-
vention are of animals at least nine months old, the buying-
in price to be paid to the successful tenderer shall be
reduced by EUR 68 per half carcase delivered. However,
where proof is provided that no special premium has been
applied for in respect of the animal concerned, that reduc-
tion shall not apply,

— the price offered shall be without reference to product

quality,

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— Article 13(3) of Regulation (EC) No 562/2000 shall apply
to buying-in as referred to in this Article. However, the
coefficient laid down may be different from those laid
down under that Article in the case of buying-in of other
products,

— the following provisions of Regulation (EC) No 562/2000

shall not apply;

(a) Article 4(3)(b) and (c), with the exception of those
concerning the markings indicating the category and
the slaughter number;

(b) Article 18(3);

(c) Article 20 in the case of animals under 12 months old;

(d) Article 36;

(e) the information in Annex II relating to the classification

of products.

Moreover, with respect
Article:

to products purchased under this

— notwithstanding Article 11(5)(a) of Regulation (EC) No
562/2000, tenders must relate to at least 5 tonnes,
— when notifying tenders to the Commission, the intervention

— such products shall be stored separately, by tendering
procedure or by month of storage, in easily identifiable lots,
— the notifications provided for in Article 31(1), (2), (3) and
(4) of Regulation (EC) No 562/2000 shall be sent separately
from those required for other intervention products.

Article 2

Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 562/2000 is replaced by the
following:

‘Article 20

Boning requirement

The intervention agencies shall have all the beef bought in
boned.’

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 1 shall apply to tendering procedures opened during the
second quarter of 2001. However, point 5 shall apply to the
last tendering procedure in March 2001.

agencies must specify the quantities concerned,

Article 2 shall apply from 1 July 2001.

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

Done at Brussels, 26 March 2001.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission