2001/658/EC: Commission Decision of 10 August 2001 on the granting of aid for the production of table olives in Italy (notified under document number C(2001) 2492)
Date: 2001-08-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Italy, olive, production aid

L 231/16

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Official Journal of the European Communities

29.8.2001

COMMISSION DECISION

of 10 August 2001

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

(notified under document number C(2001) 2492)

(Only the Italian version is authentic)

(2001/658/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

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 1513/2001 (2), and in particular Article
5(4) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

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 under condi-
tions to be approved by the Commission in accordance
with the procedure laid down in Article 38 of that
Regulation.

Italy has presented a request in respect of the 2001/02,
2002/03 and 2003/04 marketing years and detailed
rules should be laid down for the granting of the aid.

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

The processing period should be defined as running
from 1 September to 31 August. 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 treatment 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 table olives and
of administering the national guaranteed quantities.

Undertakings processing table olives must be approved
in accordance with conditions to be determined.

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

(1) OJ 172, 30.9.1966, p. 3025/66.
(2) OJ L 201, 26.7.2001, p. 4.

processors of
the quantities of olives delivered by
growers and leaving the processing chain, and the obli-
gations on paying agencies regarding checks. Provision
should be made for penalties on table-olive growers
where their declarations conflict with the results of
checks.

(8)

(9)

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
under certain conditions.

Italy must notify the Commission of the national meas-
ures adopted for the purposes of applying this Decision
and of the information used for calculating the advance
on the aid and the definitive aid.

(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 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2003/04 marketing years, Italy
is authorised to grant aid for the production of table olives in
accordance with this Decision.

Article 2

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

For each olive-oil marketing year, aid shall be granted for
2.
table olives processed between 1 September of the preceding
marketing year and 31 August of
the marketing year
concerned.

3. Within the meaning of this Decision,
‘processed table
olives’ means olives that have undergone 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 guaranteed 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 numbers shall be allocated to undertakings

1.
which:

— submit an application for approval by 30 September
preceding the olive oil marketing year in question, accom-
panied 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 50 tonnes of olives

per year.

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

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

the forms of

— 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 of that Regulation

within the past 24 months.

Article 5

For the purposes of granting the aid for the production of table
olives, by 1 December of the current marketing year growers
shall lodge a crop attestation, directly or indirectly, with the
competent body confirming that the declaration laid down for
olive oil production aid also covers table olives or, as appro-
priate, 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.

— details of stocks of table olives at various stages of prepara-
tion, by form of preparation, as at 1 September preceding
the olive-oil marketing year in question.

Article 6

3.

For the purposes of approval, processors shall undertake:

— to keep table olives for which aid is payable separate from
table olives originating in non-member 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:

1.
During the month following delivery of the final consign-
ment of olives and no later than 30 June, approved undertak-
ings 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.

(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;

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

Approved undertakings shall notify the competent body

2.
and the control agency:

(a) before the 10 day of each month, of:

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

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

— the quantities of olives prepared and sent out, broken
in the course of the

down by form of preparation,
previous month,

— the aggregate quantities referred to in the first two
the

indents and the stock situation at
previous month;

the end of

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(b) before 1 July, 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 of the following marketing year, of the total
quantities delivered for the processing period referred to in
Article 2(2) and of
the corresponding total quantities
processed.

Article 7

Before 1 July of the current marketing year, table-olive
1.
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.

Applications lodged after

2.
incur a
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 days late shall be refused.

the deadline shall

Article 8

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.

Italy shall see that all the necessary controls are in place

2.
to ensure that:

— entitlement to table-olive production aid is respected,

— olives

entering an undertaking approved under
this
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 Italy, 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 prove to conflict with
the results of checks. However, Article 15 of Regulation (EC)
No 2366/98 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 9

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 of the
current marketing year to growers applying therefor in accord-
ance with Article 7(1).

Article 10

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.

Where the quantity of processed olives corresponding to the
quantity set out in the certificate of delivery cannot be estab-
lished, the quantities of table olives processed for 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.

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Once the controls referred to in Article 8 have been
2.
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.

Article 12

This Decision shall apply from 1 September 2001.

Article 11

Article 13

Italy shall notify the Commission:
— without delay, of the national measures taken pursuant to

this Decision,

— before 1 August of each marketing year, of the quantities of
olive oil equivalent to the estimated output of table olives
processed and of the provisional processing coefficients for
that estimate,

— before 16 June of each subsequent marketing year, of the
quantities of olive oil equivalent to the actual output of
table olives processed and of the processing coefficients
adopted.

This Decision is addressed to the Italian Republic.

Done at Brussels, 10 August 2001.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission