Commission Regulation (EC) No 2318/2001 of 29 November 2001 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as regards the recognition of producer organisations in the fishery and aquaculture sector
Date: 2001-11-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aquaculture, fishing industry, marketing, producer organisation

30.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 313/9

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2318/2001

of 29 November 2001

laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as regards
the recognition of producer organisations in the fishery and aquaculture sector

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

(8)

determining the consequences of any fraudulent applica-
tion for, or use of, such recognition.

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

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), amended by Commis-
sion Regulation (EC) No 939/2001 (2), and in particular Article
5(4) and Article 6(7) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2939/94 of 2
December 1994 laying down detailed rules for the
application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 105/76 on
the recognition of producers' organisations in the fishing
industry (3), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1762/
96 (4),
should
therefore be repealed and replaced.

requires considerable amendments.

It

It is necessary to lay down the conditions and procedure
for the Member States' granting of recognition to, and
withdrawal of recognition from, producer organisations
in such a way as to guarantee consistent application of
the rules governing the common organisation of the
markets in fishery and aquaculture products.

A producer organisation is required, under Article 5(2)
of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, to provide evidence
that it is sufficiently active economically to merit recog-
nition. It is therefore necessary to define the criteria for
considering that condition to have been met.

It is also necessary to specify the conditions for recog-
nising an association of producer organisations.

There is a need to provide for the laying down of
common rules which members of producer organ-
isations would be obliged to observe.

It would be advisable to specify what information must
be supplied by an applicant for recognition. Deadlines
for granting and refusing recognition and certain rules
on the withdrawal of recognition should be laid down.

(7)

Measures should be provided for verifying compliance
with the conditions attaching to recognition, and for

(1) OJ L 17, 21.1.2000, p. 22.
(2) OJ L 132, 15.5.2001, p. 10.
(3) OJ L 310, 3.12.1994, p. 12.
(4) OJ L 231, 12.9.1996, p. 6.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
A producer organisation as defined in Article 5(1) of
Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 shall be deemed to be suffi-
ciently active economically, for the purposes of Article 5(2)
thereof,

if:

(a) on the basis of its size, the total capacity of fishing vessels
operating from it and the regularity and size of the land-
ings, the area covered by the application for recognition is
deemed by the Member State to be of sufficient impor-
tance; and

(b) any of the following conditions is fulfilled:

(i) the number of vessels operated by members of the
producer organisation is at
the total
number of vessels habitually present in that area; or

least 20 % of

(ii) for the species or group of species for which recogni-
tion is sought, the producer organisation disposes of
either:

— at least 15 % by weight of the total production in its

area, or

— at least 30 % by weight of the total production in a
major port or market in its area, the Member State
concerned defining what is meant by ‘major’ for this
purpose.

The Member States shall decide which of the conditions

2.
laid down in paragraph 1(b) shall apply in their territory.

They shall notify the Commission and interested parties of
their decision within two months of publication of this Regula-
tion.

In the event of the structure of a market being altered, the
Member States may decide to change the condition. They shall
notify the Commission and interested parties thereof without
delay.

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3. Where a producer organisation is made up of producers
at least 30 % of whom normally operate in one or more areas
other than that in which the vessels operated by the members
have their home port, that organisation shall be considered to
be sufficiently active economically for the purposes of Article
5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 if, for the species or
group of species for which recognition is sought, it disposes of
at least 4 % by weight of national production.

4.
the
In the interests of more efficient management,
Member State may set at between 15 % and 30 % the
percentage referred to in the first indent of paragraph 1(b)(ii),
may set at between 30 % and 50 % the percentage referred to
in the second indent of paragraph 1(b)(ii), and may set at
between 30 % and 50 % the percentage regarding producers
referred to in paragraph 3.

5. Where recognition is sought for aquaculture products,
economic activity shall be considered sufficient
the
purposes of Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 if the
producer organisation disposes of at least 25 % of total produc-
tion of
in a
production area which is deemed sufficiently large by the
Member State concerned on the basis of criteria established by
that Member State.

the species or group of species in question,

for

In order to take account of
the specific characteristics of
regional production the Member State may set the percentage
referred to in the first subparagraph within a bracket of 25 %
to 50 %.

Member States shall, within two months of publication of this
Regulation, inform the Commission of the percentage which
they have chosen to apply.

Article 2

An association of producer organisations may be recognised by
a Member State only on condition that:

(a) it comprises a minimum proportion of the total number of
producer organisations recognised by the Member State
concerned in a given branch; and

(b) the value of the production marketed by the association
represents at least 20 % of the value of national production
in that branch.

referred to in Article 5(1)(c)(1) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000
shall be drawn up in writing.

2.
In accordance with Article 5(1)(c)(4) of Regulation (EC)
No 104/2000, the requirement that members are to dispose of
their total production through their producer organisation may
in accordance with
be waived if products are disposed of
common rules established in advance.
In such cases, these
common rules must at least require compliance with the orga-
nisation's withdrawal prices.

3.
By way of derogation from Article 5(1)(c)(4) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 104/2000, the quantities of products for which
members of a producer organisation have concluded contracts
before becoming members do not have to be disposed of
through the producer organisation, provided that the members
have informed the organisation of the extent and duration of
the contracts before joining, and provided that the organisation
has agreed to waive the requirement.

Article 4

When seeking recognition,
following:

the applicant shall supply the

(a) the constitution of the producer organisation;

(b) the rules and regulations of the producer organisation;

(c) the names of persons with authority to act for and on

behalf of the producer organisation;

(d) details of those of its activities on which the application for

recognition is based;

(e) evidence that it complies with Article 1 or Article 2.

Article 5

Within three months of receiving an application for recogni-
tion the Member State shall inform the producer organisation
in writing of its decision. If recognition is refused, the Member
State shall give reasons for the refusal.

Article 3

Article 6

1. Without prejudice to Commission Regulation (EC) No
2508/2000 (1), the rules on fishing, production and marketing

(1) OJ L 289, 16.11.2000, p. 8.

Where it is planned to withdraw recognition, the Member State
shall notify that
intention to the producer organisation,
together with the reasons for the withdrawal. The Member
State shall allow the producer organisation to submit its obser-
vations within a specified period.

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Article 7

Article 8

1.
In accordance with Article 6(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No
104/2000, Member States shall carry out a check at least once
a year to ascertain that producer organisations comply with the
terms and conditions for recognition.

2. Where recognition is withdrawn because the producer
organisation concerned has sought or used recognition fraudu-
lently, any aid granted under Article 15(1) of Council Regula-
tion (EC) No 2792/1999 (1) shall be recovered by the Member
State.

Regulation (EC) No 2939/94 is hereby repealed.

Article 9

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2002.

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

Done at Brussels, 29 November 2001.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 337, 30.12.1999, p. 10.