Commission Regulation (EC) No 217/2002 of 5 February 2002 fixing eligibility criteria for raw materials under the production aid scheme in Regulation (EC) No 2201/96
Date: 2002-02-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agro-industry, eligibility criteria, fruit vegetable, pip fruit, production aid, stone fruit

6.2.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 35/11

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 217/2002

of 5 February 2002

fixing eligibility criteria for raw materials under the production aid scheme in Regulation (EC) No
2201/96

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 of 28
October 1996 on the common organisation of the markets in
processed fruit and vegetable products (1), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 1239/2001 (2), and in particular Article
6(1) thereof,

Whereas:

Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 provides for an
aid scheme to assist producer organisations delivering
tomatoes, peaches and Williams and Rocha pears for
processing.

Eligibility conditions for consignments of raw materials
delivered for processing should be laid down to ensure
proper application of the above aid scheme, without
distorting competition and without prejudicing the rules
by which the contracting parties may agree on varying
the price of the raw material based on quality criteria in
addition to the defects covered by this Regulation.

This Regulation lays downs detailed rules of application
in addition to those in Commission Regulation (EC) No
449/2001 of 2 March 2001 laying down detailed rules
for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 as
regards the aid scheme for products processed from fruit
and vegetables (3), as amended by Regulation (EC) No
1343/2001 (4).

extent

to which the Member States or

The
the
contracting parties may agree clauses in addition to this
Regulation should be indicated.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

order to benefit from the production aid scheme established by
Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96.

Article 2

Upon reception of each consignment, processors shall
1.
examine the quality of
the raw material on the basis of
samples. The competent authorities in the Member States shall
the procedure
take the necessary measures to ensure that
followed in taking and examining samples guarantees objec-
tivity and selects samples representative of each consignment.
The producer organisation or its representative may be present
at this procedure, which may also be conducted by a third
party designated by both parties.

2.
The examination referred to in paragraph 1 shall establish
the percentage by weight of defective raw material for each
type of defect defined in Article 3 and the total of these
percentages,
rounded up or down to the nearest whole
number. If this total exceeds the 10 % limit, the consignment
shall not be eligible for aid.

3.
The reduction rate referred to in Article 11(1)(e) and
Article 13(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 449/2001 shall, for each
eligible consignment, be the total referred to in paragraph 2.

4.
The price to be paid by the processor, as referred to in
Article 3(4)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 449/2001, on the one
hand, and the unit amount of production aid, on the other,
shall apply to the net weight delivered once the reduction rate
has been applied.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Products Processed from Fruit and Veget-
ables,

Article 3

The defects shall be defined as follows:

(a) for tomatoes, peaches and pears:

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

This Regulation lays down the criteria to be met by consign-
ments of tomatoes, peaches or pears delivered for processing in

(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 29.
(2) OJ L 171, 26.6.2001, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 64, 6.3.2001, p. 16.
(4) OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 16.

— foreign matter:

foreign matter is considered to be
anything other than the fruit
itself. Foreign matter
includes above all plant debris (leaves, twigs, grass, etc.),
mineral matter (earth, gravel, stones, etc.) and miscella-
neous debris,

— diseased,

rotten or wormy fruit:

fruit attacked by
disease, insects or a rotting agent over an area more
than 30 mm in diameter, extending into the fruit;

(b) in the case of tomatoes alone:

— green tomatoes: healthy fruit which have not reached
maturity and are completely green on the outside. The
colour inside the fruit is not taken into account;

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Official Journal of the European Communities

6.2.2002

(c) in the case of peaches and pears alone:

— sizing defects: minimum size is 55 mm,
— ripeness: underripe or overripe fruits are defective. The
degree of ripeness is measured and compared to a scale
of limit values fixed by the contracting parties,
— hail damage penetrating the skin, covering more than

20 % of the surface of the fruit;

(d) in the case of peaches alone:

— visible split pits: a pit whose two halves have separated
is visible between the peach halves at the stem end.

Article 4

— to reduce the limit fixed in Article 2(2) for any of the
products concerned,
the
defects referred to in Article 3 or increase the minimum
size referred to in Article 3(c),

fix specific limits for each of

— to define defects in addition to those referred to in Article
3, in respect of which the percentage of defective fruit is to
be included in the total referred to in Article 2(2).

2.
The Member States may authorise the contracting parties
to increase the limit fixed in Article 2(2) by a maximum of
15 % for each of the products concerned.

The provisions adopted under this Article shall be speci-

3.
fied in the contracts.

The Member States or the signatories to the contracts
1.
referred to in Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 may
agree:

This Regulation shall apply from the 2002/03 marketing year.

Article 5

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

Done at Brussels, 5 February 2002.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission