Commission Regulation (EC) No 1591/2001 of 2 August 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying the cotton aid scheme
Date: 2001-08-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, cotton, production aid

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1591/2001

of 2 August 2001

laying down detailed rules for applying the cotton aid scheme

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

ities are submitted. To prevent
speculation during
periods of sudden disturbance on the world market for
fibre, it is appropriate to authorise aid applications to be
submitted during such periods subject to specific condi-
tions.

Having regard to Protocol 4 on cotton annexed to the Act of
Accession of Greece (1), as last amended by Council Regulation
(EC) No 1050/2001 (2),

(6)

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 of 22
May 2001 on production aid for cotton (3), and in particular
Article 19(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

In view of the fluctuations which normally occur in
world market prices for fibre, the average world market
price for unginned cotton should be determined several
times each month. To facilitate the disposal of cotton on
the world market, it is necessary to determine the period
during which that price is fixed and during which aid
applications may be submitted, taking account of the
time limits required for proper administration of the aid
scheme.

the world market price for

If there are no representative offers or quotations for
unginned cotton,
this
product should be determined on the basis of the world
market price for ginned cotton. For the purposes of
Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001, the coef-
ficients
relationship
between the world market price for ginned cotton and
the price calculated for unginned cotton should be fixed.

representative of

the historical

Offers and quotations need to be adjusted to compen-
sate for any deviation from the quality and terms of
delivery for which the world market price is determined.

Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 provides for
the amount of the aid to be increased where certain
conditions are fulfilled and up to certain maximum
limits. Rules should be laid down for determining this
increase. In view of the adjustments and increases to be
determined, the amount of aid should be fixed after
those adjustments and increases have been made but
before a final date which allows the balance of the aid to
be paid before the end of the marketing year.

Detailed rules on the submission of aid applications
should be laid down for the purpose of applying the
amount of the aid to the corresponding quantities of
cotton eligible for aid on the basis of the exact period
during which the aid applications covering those quant-

(7)

(8)

(9)

Adequate controls must be set up in order to check the
quantity of unginned Community cotton entering each
ginning plant. To that end, the terms ‘batch’ and ‘entry
of the batch in the ginning plant’ should be defined, an
application for supervised storage should be required
and detailed rules should be laid down on how such
applications are to be submitted. In order to prevent
growers from holding unginned cotton for too long,
thereby allowing the quality of the stored product to
deteriorate, the Member States should be authorised to
fix a final date by which applications for supervised
storage must be submitted which is earlier than the final
date for submission of aid applications. For adminis-
trative reasons, cotton should be ginned within a certain
period.

Detailed rules on calculating and paying aid advances
should be laid down. Payment of advances should be
subject to the lodging of a security in order to ensure
that the amounts in question are paid or forfeit if a
given obligation is not
fulfilled. Unless otherwise
provided, such securities must meet the requirements set
out in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 of 22
July 1985 laying down common detailed rules for the
application of the system of securities for agricultural
products (4), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1932/1999 (5).

Payment of an advance on the minimum price to be
paid to producers is notably one of the requirements to
be met by undertakings ginning on their own account in
order to qualify for aid. The detailed rules for calculating
and paying to the producer
that advance on the
minimum price should therefore be laid down.

In order to ensure that cotton covered by aid applica-
tions is of proper origin, it must be possible to identify
areas sown to cotton by means of the system for identi-
fying agricultural plots provided for in Council Regula-
tion (EEC) No 3508/92 of 27 November 1992 estab-
lishing an integrated administration and control system
for certain Community aid schemes (6), as last amended
by Commission Regulation (EC) No 495/2001 (7).

(1) OJ L 291, 19.11.1979, p. 174.
(2) OJ L 148, 1.6.2001, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 148, 1.6.2001, p. 3.

(4) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.
(5) OJ L 240, 10.9.1999, p. 11.
(6) OJ L 355, 5.12.1992, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 72, 14.3.2001, p. 6.

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(10)

So that entitlement to aid can be checked, and in partic-
ular compliance with the minimum price, the conditions
to be satisfied by the contracts provided for in Article
11(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 should be speci-
fied. To that end, reference should be made to the stock
accounting of undertakings.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Purpose

(11) Where ginning is carried out on behalf of third parties,
detailed rules should be laid down for paying and
administering the aid in such cases, as well as the obliga-
tions to be fulfilled by the parties concerned.

This Regulation lays down the detailed rules for implementing
the production aid scheme for cotton introduced by Protocol 4
on cotton annexed to the Act of Accession of Greece and
Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001.

There must be a system of checks to ensure that opera-
tions are conducted properly. The detailed rules on such
checks should be laid down.

Article 2

World market price for unginned cotton

(12)

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

(19)

Penalties should be laid down for cases where the provi-
sions of this Regulation are not complied with. These
penalties must be
deterrent, while
complying with the principle of proportionality.

an adequate

So that the aid scheme can be properly administered, it
is necessary to specify which information operators
should send to the competent authorities and which
communications the Member States should make to the
Commission.

In order that advance payments on the aid can be made
as the marketing year progresses and the balance paid
before the end of the marketing year, the dates referred
to in Article 19(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001
should be fixed.

In order to ensure a smooth transition to the new
scheme, transitional provisions are needed during the
2001/02 marketing year regarding certain documents to
be drawn up before the beginning of that marketing
year.

Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 introduces a new
production aid scheme for cotton from the 2001/02
marketing year and repeals Council Regulations (EEC)
No 1964/87 (1) and (EC) No 1554/95 (2) with effect
from 1 September 2001. Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 1201/89 of 3 May 1989 laying down rules imple-
menting the system of aid for cotton (3) should there-
from the 2001/02
fore also be repealed with effect
marketing year.

To ensure that this Regulation applies on 1 September
2001, it should enter into force on the day following its
publication.

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

(1) OJ L 184, 3.7.1987, p. 14.
(2) OJ L 148, 30.6.1995, p. 48.
(3) OJ L 123, 4.5.1989, p. 23.

1.
The Commission shall determine the world price for
unginned cotton in euro per 100 kilograms in the period
running from 1 July before the start of the marketing year
concerned to the following 31 March. The price shall be deter-
mined on the last working day preceding the first, 11th and
21st of each month and shall enter into force on the day
following the date on which it is determined. The working days
taken into account shall be those applied by the Commission.
The exchange rate for the euro used to determine the world
market price shall be that applicable on the day on which the
offers and quotations referred to in Article 3 are established.

However, in the event of significant changes of 5 % or more in
cotton prices expressed in euro on the world market, the
Commission may amend the price referred to in the first
subparagraph without delay.

2.
The world market price for unginned cotton shall be
equal to a percentage of the price of ginned cotton determined
in accordance with Article 3.

This percentage shall be set at:

(a) 20,6 if the price is EUR 110 or less per 100 kilograms;

(b) 21,8 if the price is more than EUR 110 but less than

EUR 120 per 100 kilograms;

(c) 23,0 if the price is more than EUR 120 but less than

EUR 130 per 100 kilograms;

(d) 24,4 if the price is EUR 130 or more per 100 kilograms.

As soon as the price referred to in paragraph 1 is deter-
3.
inform the Member States
mined,
thereof, and in any case before the date on which it comes into
force.

the Commission shall

Article 3

World market price for ginned cotton

To determine the world price for ginned cotton, the
1.
Commission shall take account of an average of the offers and
quotations obtaining on one or more European exchanges
representative of
for cotton delivered cif at a
Community port and originating in various supplier countries
regarded as the most representative in international trade.

the market

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The offers and quotations taken into account shall relate to the
marketing year for which the price is determined and to ship-
ments to be made during the months nearest to the date on
which the price is determined.

2. Where the offers and quotations relate to:

(a) ginned cotton of a quality other than the quality for which
the guide price is fixed, they shall be adjusted as shown in
Annex I;

(b) cotton seed delivered c and f, they shall be increased by

0,2 % to take insurance costs into account;

(c) cotton delivered fas,

fob or otherwise,

they shall be
increased, as appropriate, by the lowest loading, transport
and insurance costs from the point of shipment or loading
to the frontier crossing point.

Article 4

Calculating and fixing the aid

1.
No later than 30 June of the marketing year concerned,
the Commission shall fix the amount of aid for unginned
cotton applicable for each period for which a world market
price for unginned cotton has been determined in accordance
with Article 2(1).

The amount of aid to be granted in euro per 100 kilo-
2.
grams shall be that which is valid on the day on which the aid
application is lodged in accordance with Article 5.

To determine the amount of aid, the increase referred to
3.
in Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 shall be estab-
lished in accordance with paragraphs 4 and 5.

The difference between EUR 770 million and total
4.
budget expenditure on the aid scheme, calculated in accordance
with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001, shall be
divided by the total actual production of the Member States
whose actual national production exceeds the guaranteed
national quantity.

The increase shall be equal to the result of the division referred
to in the first subparagraph, without prejudice to the second
paragraph of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001.

5.

However, where:

(a) the actual production of Spain and Greece exceeds the
respective guaranteed national production of those coun-
tries, and

(b) the amount of the aid, increased in accordance with para-
graph 4, exceeds one or other of the ceilings laid down in
the second paragraph of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No
1051/2001 in either Greece or Spain but not both,

the increase applicable in the Member State referred to in point
the
(b) above shall be calculated so that

the amount of

increased aid is equal
concerned.

to the lower of

the two ceilings

Without prejudice to the second paragraph of Article 8 of
Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001, the increase applicable to the
other Member State shall be calculated, taking account of the
first subparagraph, to obtain a total level of Community expen-
diture not exceeding EUR 770 million.

Article 5

Aid applications

1.
To qualify for the production aid for cotton, ginning
plants shall submit aid applications to the body appointed by
the Member State, hereinafter referred to as the ‘competent
body’.

Applications shall be submitted from 1 July before the start of
the marketing year for which the aid is requested until 31
March of the marketing year concerned.

2.

Aid applications shall contain the following information:

— the name, forenames, address and signature of the appli-

cant,

— the date of the application,

— quantity of unginned cotton for which aid is requested.

3. Where an aid application is submitted before the applica-
tion for supervised storage referred to in Article 6 is made, it
shall be valid only if a security of EUR 12 per 100 kilograms is
lodged. The security shall be released in proportion to the
quantities for which the supervised storage obligation provided
for in Article 6(1) is fulfilled.

Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 shall apply to the securities
provided for in this paragraph and the obligation provided for
in the first subparagraph shall constitute a primary requirement
within the meaning of Article 20 of that Regulation.

4. Without prejudice to Article 6(5), aid applications
submitted during a period when a world market price for
unginned cotton fixed in accordance with Article 4(2) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1051/2001 is in force may cover only the
quantities in supervised storage on the date the application is
submitted.

Article 6

Application for supervised storage

identify the batch,

1. When unginned cotton enters the ginning plant, the plant
shall
the quantity and the contract(s)
concerned and submit an application for supervised storage.
The contracting parties shall then take, by mutual agreement,
the samples needed to establish the quality of each batch.

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A batch is a specified quantity of unginned cotton

2.
numbered when it enters the ginning plant.

Unginned cotton is considered to have entered the ginning
plant when it enters:

(a) any building or other place within the precincts of a cotton

ginning plant; or

(b) any place of storage outside the ginning plant offering
sufficient and adequate security for the purposes of control
of the stored products and which has been approved in
advance by the inspection body.

Except in cases of force majeure, or where the inspection body
grants prior authorisation, unginned cotton which has entered
a ginning plant and for which an application for supervised
storage has been submitted may not leave the plant unginned.

3.
Applications for the supervised storage of one or more
batches shall be submitted to the inspection body for ginning
plants, between 1 September and 31 March of the marketing
year concerned.

Where applicable,
the Member State may fix a final date
between the above two dates. However, in the event of unfav-
ourable weather conditions, Member States may authorise the
cotton concerned to be placed in supervised storage during the
last five working days in March.

Article 7

Advances on the aid

1.
From the start of supervised storage, but not before 16
October of the marketing year concerned, the Member States
shall grant those concerned an advance on the aid, provided a
security equal to at least 110 % of the advance is lodged. The
advance shall be paid within 20 days following the application
therefor.

At the request of the parties concerned, advances paid before
16 December of the marketing year concerned shall, where
applicable, be increased in accordance with the second
subparagraph of Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/
2001. Such requests shall be accompanied by an additional
security set at a level that will ensure compliance with the first
subparagraph.

The amount of the advance in euro per 100 kilograms
2.
shall be equal to the guide price referred to in Article 3(1) of
Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001,

less:

(a) the world market price referred to in Article 2 of this

Regulation; and

(b) the provisional reduction of the guide price referred to in
Article 16(1) or (2) of this Regulation, as the case may be.

The advance to be paid shall be equal to the amount referred to
in the first subparagraph valid on the day on which the
application for supervised storage was submitted, multiplied by
the quantities covered by the application for the advance.

Applications for supervised storage shall contain the

4.
following information:

Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 shall apply to the securities

3.
provided for in this Article.

— the name, forenames, address and signature of the appli-

cant,

— the date of the application,

— the quantity of unginned cotton covered by the application,

— the number(s) of the batches(es) concerned,

— the number or identification of the contract(s) covering

each batch,

— where applicable, without prejudice to paragraph 5, a state-
ment that the aid application will be submitted at a later
date.

5.
The quantities taken into supervised storage shall be set
off against the aid applications, without reference to batches, in
the chronological order in which the applications are lodged.

6.
The quantity taken into supervised storage must be
ginned within a period laid down by the Member State
concerned and in any case within 90 days of its entry into
supervised storage.

Within 90 days of being taken into supervised storage, and in
any case before 10 April of the marketing year concerned, the
ginning plant shall notify the Member State of the quantity of
ginned cotton produced from the quantity of unginned cotton
taken into supervised storage, specifying the quantities ginned
for third parties in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation
(EC) No 1051/2001. The quantity of ginned cotton shall be
established using the method set out in Annex II.

Notwithstanding Article 19(1)(a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/
85, the security on the advance shall be released:

(a) up to 60 % not before 1 April of the marketing year
concerned, for the quantities complying with the require-
ment referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 6(6);
and

(b) in full, between the first and the 15th day following
payment of the balance of the aid referred to in the second
subparagraph of Article 14(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/
2001,
in proportion to the quantities for which the
Member State has granted the aid.

However, where significant
the
available securities lodged by the ginning plant and the
marketing year concerned shall be released in accordance with
point (b) of the second subparagraph.

irregularities are found, all

The security shall be forfeited in proportion to the amount by
which the advance paid exceeds the amount of the aid to be
granted.

Article 8

Advance on the minimum price

No more than 30 days after submitting the application for
supervised storage, all ginning plants as referred to in Article
11 of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 shall pay the producers,
for the quantities covered by the application, an advance on the
minimum price taking account of:

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(a) the provisional reductions of the guide price referred to in

Article 16(1) and (2); and

(b) the quality of the product delivered, in accordance with the
second indent of Article 11(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/
2001.

However, where the advance on the minimum price referred to
in the preceding paragraph relates to quantities placed in super-
vised storage between 1 and 25 September of the marketing
year in question, the advance shall be paid to the producer
between the following 16 and 26 October.

Article 9

Declaration of areas sown

1.
Before the final date set by the Member State, all
Community cotton growers shall submit an application form
for area aid, as provided for under the integrated administra-
tion and control system, by way of a declaration of areas sown
for the following marketing year. The agricultural plot or plots
concerned shall be identified in accordance with the system for
identifying agricultural plots provided for under the integrated
administration and control system. Where applicable, growers
shall submit a corrected declaration to take account of the area
actually sown to cotton by the date fixed by the Member State,
and no later than 31 May preceding the marketing year
concerned.

2.
If the areas declared differ from those found during the
inspections, the Member States shall adjust the declarations
concerned. Without prejudice to the penalties laid down in
accordance with Article 14(1), the Member States shall take
account of these adjustments when determining the total area
declared.

Article 10

Contract

1. When unginned cotton is taken into supervised storage at
the latest, ginning plants shall submit one or more contracts
for each batch to the competent body.

2.

Contracts shall contain at least the following particulars:

(a) the names,

forenames, addresses and signatures of

the

contracting parties;

(b) the date of signing and the year of sowing;

(c) the area, expressed in hectares and ares, with identification
of the agricultural plot or plots in accordance with the
system for identifying agricultural plots laid down under
the integrated administration and control system;

if

(d) a reference to the declaration of areas sown to cotton;
however,
the declaration is not available when the
contract is concluded, a reference to it shall be added to the
contract as soon as the declaration is submitted and in all
cases no later than 1 June preceding the marketing year
concerned;

(e) the quantity harvested on the area referred to at (c) covered
by the contract or,
if the contract is concluded before
harvesting, an undertaking by the producer to deliver, and
by the purchaser to take delivery of, the quantity harvested

on the area concerned. In this case, the contracting parties
shall estimate quantity on the basis of the historical yields
recorded in the region concerned;

(f) the selling price of the unginned cotton by unit of weight,

with the following specifications:

(i) the selling price is fixed for cotton of the standard
quality laid down for the guide price, ex-holding; the
adjustments to be made to that price to take account of
the difference between the standard quality and the
quality of the delivered cotton shall be determined by
mutual agreement
in accordance with the second
indent of Article 11(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/
2001;

(ii) where Article 7 and, where applicable, Article 8 of
Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 are applied, the selling
price shall be adapted by the respective resulting
amounts;

(g) the terms of payment of the advance on the minimum
price and of the selling price, particularly as regards the
time limits, adjustments for quality, and method for calcu-
lating those amounts.

Article 11

Ginning on behalf of third parties

1.
Notwithstanding Article 10, this Article shall apply where
the cotton is to be ginned on behalf of an individual producer
or a producer group in accordance with Article 12 of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1051/2001.

2.
No later than 10 days before the date on which the first
quantity concerned is taken into supervised storage, ginning
plants shall lodge a declaration of ginning on behalf of third
parties with the competent body.

3.

The declaration shall

include:

(a) the names,
concerned;

addresses

and signatures of

the parties

(b) how the ginning plant is to administer the applications
provided for in Article 5 and the applications for super-
vised storage provided for in Article 6;

(c) how the ginning plant is to ensure that the individual
producers or producer groups, as the case may be, have
complied with the obligations giving them entitlement to
the aid;

(d) an undertaking that the aid and the advance thereon will be
passed on to the contracting individual producer or
producer group, as the case may be.

it has undertaken to pay each member at

This undertaking is fulfilled where the group furnishes proof
the
that
minimum price, adjusted in accordance with Article 11(a) of
Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001. To that end, the producer
group shall supply, in particular, the price at which the produ-
cers deliver the unginned cotton, in accordance with Article
10(2)(f) and (g).

least

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Article 10(2)(d) shall analogously apply where the cotton
4.
is ginned on behalf of an individual producer or a producer
group.

Without prejudice to Articles 5 and 6, aid applications and
applications for supervised storage shall include a reference to
the declaration of ginning on behalf of a third party.

The competent body may forward the documents referred to in
Articles 5 and 6 relating to the aid application and the applica-
tion for supervised storage to the individual producer or
producer group concerned, upon request.

Article 12

Stock records

The stock records provided for in Article 11(c) of Regulation
(EC) No 1051/2001 shall contain at least the following infor-
mation, separately in respect of cotton harvested inside and
outside the Community:

(a) the quantity of ginned cotton produced, with reference to
the unginned cotton taken into supervised storage;

(b) the quantities of unginned cotton, ginned cotton, seed and
cotton linters in stock on the first day of each month;

(c) for each batch of products as referred to at point (b), the
quantity concerned and the number of
the receipt or
invoice or any other equivalent document issued per batch;

(d) for each batch of products as referred to at point (b)
leaving the ginning plant, the quantity concerned and the
number of the receipt or invoice or any other equivalent
document issued per batch.

Article 13

Checks

The inspection body appointed by the producer Member

1.
State shall verify:

(a) that the declarations of areas sown to cotton are accurate,
by an on-the-spot check relating to not less than 5 % of
declarations;

(b) that the requirements laid down in Article 10 are complied

with;

(c) that the quantity of cotton covered by aid applications are
consistent with the total quantity of unginned cotton
produced on the areas indicated in the contracts;

(d) the accuracy of the quantities of ginned cotton communi-
cated by the ginning plants in accordance with the second
subparagraph of Article 6(6);

(e) that the stock records provided for in Article 11(c) of
Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 have been kept in accord-
ance with Article 12 of
In particular,
checks shall establish whether the invoices and other docu-
ments referred to in Article 12 have been signed by identi-
if necessary, demonstrate the
fiable operators who can,

this Regulation.

origin of the unginned cotton to the satisfaction of the
Member State concerned;

(f) by cross-checks, that the agricultural plots mentioned in
the contracts correspond to those declared by the growers
in their declaration of areas sown to cotton.

2. Where irregularities are found in connection with the
declaration of areas referred to in Article 9, subject to the
application of penalties as referred to in Article 14(1), aid shall
be granted for the quantity of cotton for which all the other
requirements have been met.

3. Where several bodies are responsible for the inspection
arrangements, the Member State shall establish a system of
coordination to this end.

Article 14

Penalties

1. Member States shall establish penalty arrangements for
violations of this Regulation and shall take any measure neces-
sary to ensure their application. The penalties shall be effective,
proportionate and dissuasive. The Member States shall notify
the Commission of
these arrangements no later than 31
December 2001, and any subsequent amendments thereto as
soon as possible.

2. Without prejudice to the penalties laid down by the
Member State for the marketing year concerned:

(a) any ginning plant making a false declaration intentionally
or as a result of serious negligence shall be excluded from
the aid scheme for the following marketing year;

(b) any producer group failing to comply with the provisions
referred to in Article 11(3)(d) shall be excluded from the
aid scheme for the following marketing year.

Except in cases of force majeure, where aid applications are
3.
lodged after 31 March of the marketing year concerned, the
amount of the aid applying on that date shall be reduced by
1 % per working day of delay. Applications submitted more
than 25 days late shall be inadmissible.

Article 15

Communications

1.
The producer Member States shall communicate to the
Commission the names and addresses of the bodies appointed
to implement this Regulation, as soon as they are appointed.

2.
No later than the 15th of each month, the Member States
shall communicate to the Commission, specifying for each
period for which a different world market price applies:

(a) the quantities covered by aid applications during the

previous month;

(b) the corresponding quantities taken into supervised storage

during the previous month.

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No later than 30 January each year, Spain and Greece
3.
shall notify the Commission of the measures and programmes
adopted under Article 17(1), (2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No
1051/2001 for the following marketing year.

4.

Producer Member States shall notify the Commission:

(a) no later than 15 May each year:

(i) a summary of

the quantities

for which aid was
approved for the current marketing year, broken down
for each period for which a different world market
price applies;

(ii) a summary of the quantities of cotton ginned for the
current marketing year on the behalf of
individual
producers or producer groups in accordance with
Article 12 of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001;
(iii) the average quality of ginned cotton and average yields
of ginned cotton and cotton seed recorded during the
current marketing year;

(b) no later than 31 August each year:

(i) the areas sown to cotton during the current year, where
necessary adjusted in accordance with Article 9(2);

Article 16

Determining estimated and actual production

1.
The estimated production of unginned cotton referred to
in the first subparagraph of Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No
1051/2001 and the resulting provisional reduction of the guide
price shall be established before 10 September of the marketing
year concerned.

2.
The revised production estimate referred to in the second
subparagraph of Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/
2001 and the resulting new provisional reduction in the guide
price shall be established before 1 December of the marketing
year concerned.

The actual production, the reduction in the objective
3.
guide price referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No
1051/2001 and any increase in the aid as referred to in Article
8 of that Regulation shall be established before 15 June of the
marketing year concerned.

Article 17

the

corresponding production of

Transitional measures

(ii) an estimate of
unginned cotton;

(c) no later than 25 November each year:

(i) the most recent figures on quantities placed in super-

vised storage;

(ii) the revised production estimate for unginned cotton.

5. Where significant
irregularities are found, particularly
where they concern 5 % or more of the areas inspected under
Article 13(1)(a),
so inform the
Commission without delay, stating what measures have been
adopted.

the Member States

shall

6. Where a Member State decides under the second subpara-
graph of Article 6(3) to fix a final date earlier than 31 March
for the submission of applications for supervised storage,
it
shall adopt the new date no later than 30 days before that date
and shall

inform the Commission thereof immediately.

Where a Member State decides under the second subparagraph
of Article 6(3)
to authorise taking into supervised storage
during the last five days of March, it shall inform the Commis-
sion thereof not less than 10 days before that period.

For the 2001/02 marketing year, the declarations of areas sown
referred to in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 1201/89 and
the contracts and declarations of ginning as referred to in
Article 10 of that Regulation submitted before 1 September
2001 shall be considered equivalent to declarations of areas
sown, contracts and declarations of ginning on behalf of third
parties as referred to in Articles 9, 10 and 11 of this Regula-
tion, respectively.

Article 18

Repeal of Regulations

Regulation (EEC) No 1201/89 is hereby repealed with effect
from 1 September 2001.

Article 19

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

It shall apply from 1 September 2001.

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

Done at Brussels, 2 August 2001.

For the Commission

Frederik BOLKESTEIN

Member of the Commission

3.8.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 210/17

ANNEX I

Coefficients of equivalence for ginned cotton

Increase or reduction of price by:

(a) 1 % for each mm more or less than 28 mm;

(b) 1,5 % for each half grade higher or lower than grade 5.

ANNEX II

Determination of the weight of a batch of ginned cotton

1. A batch of ginned cotton means a ball of ginned cotton as produced by the undertaking in question.

2. Without prejudice to point 4, the actual weight of a batch of ginned cotton is to be increased by 0,6 % for each
half-point of moisture below 8,5 % and reduced by the same percentage for each half-point of moisture above 8,5 %.

The moisture content of a batch:

— is established by the inspection body appointed by the Member State by taking samples from at least 5 % of the

batches produced by each ginning plant, or

— is equal to the average moisture content recorded for each ginning plant as a result of sampling as referred to in
the first indent if the batch concerned has not been sampled. This impurity content is to be communicated to the
ginning plant by the inspection body.

3. Without prejudice to point 4, the actual weight of a batch of ginned cotton is to be adjusted as follows:

(a) for batches graded by the inspection body appointed by the Member State, the table below applies:

Grade

Percentage by which the weight is adjusted

3,5 and less

4

4,5

5

5,5

6

6,5

7

7,5

8

8,5 and more

plus 1,5

plus 1

plus 0,5

—

less 0,5

less 1

less 1,5

less 2

less 2,5

less 4

less 5

(b) for batches not graded by the inspection body appointed by the Member State, the actual weight is adjusted by
taking into account the average impurity content recorded for each ginning plant on the basis of samples taken by
the inspection body from at least 5 % of the ungraded batches. This impurity content is to be communicated to the
ginning plant by the inspection body.

The actual weight is to be increased by 0,6 % for each half-point of impurities below 2,5 % and reduced by the
same percentage for each half-point of impurities above 2,5 %.

4. However, if the ginned cotton is not stored under normal storage conditions, in particular if it is not kept in a dry
place or if the moisture content of the outer layers of the bale exceeds the limits practised by the trade, the
determination of weight as described above may proceed only after the limits practised by the trade are complied with.