Commission Regulation (EC) No 345/2002 of 25 February 2002 amending Regulation (EC) No 2461/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 as regards the use of land set aside for the production of raw materials for the manufacture within the Community of products not primarily intended for human or animal consumption
Date: 2002-02-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid to agriculture, cereals, fuel, oleaginous plant, substitute fuel

L 55/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

26.2.2002

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 345/2002

of 25 February 2002

amending Regulation (EC) No 2461/1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council
Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 as regards the use of land set aside for the production of raw
materials for the manufacture within the Community of products not primarily intended for
human or animal consumption

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

of those yields before 31 July, and before 31 August in
the case of sunflower seeds. It is difficult to establish a
representative yield for maize before 31 July, in view of
the late sowing date and the difficult weather conditions
in some Member States. The same date should therefore
apply for maize as for sunflower seeds.

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1251/1999 of 17
May 1999 establishing a support system for producers of
certain arable crops (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1038/2001 (2), and in particular Article 9 thereof,

(5)

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

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 3(4) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2461/
1999 (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 587/
2001 (4), allows Member States to authorise farmers to
process on their holdings the raw material harvested on
land set aside. In this situation where the farmer is both
the producer and the processor of that raw material,
there is a higher risk of fraud. Specific additional meas-
ures are therefore needed to ensure closer monitoring of
the use to which the raw material

is put.

The third subparagraph of Article 3(4) of Regulation
(EC) No 2461/1999 also requires denaturing of cereals
and oilseeds harvested on certain areas set aside where
they are to be used on the holding as heating fuel or to
produce power or biofuel on the same holding. Dena-
turing is required to prevent these products from being
used for human or animal consumption and makes it
possible to dispense with further checks. After dena-
turing, as the by-products of manufacturing non-food
products can no longer be used for human or animal
consumption, particularly in the case of oilseeds, the
profitability of oilseed crops grown on land set aside is
accordingly reduced.

To remedy this problem, the Member States must be
authorised to permit the oil obtained from oilseeds to be
denatured, provided they introduce specific arrange-
ments for checking, in particular, that the entire quantity
harvested has been processed,
the processing
security has been lodged and that denaturing has been
carried out.

that

(4)

Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 2461/1999 also requires
the Member States to establish representative yields for
certain raw materials each year, and to inform applicants

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 16.
(3) OJ L 299, 20.11.1999, p. 16.
(4) OJ L 86, 27.3.2001, p. 15.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 2461/1999 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 3(4) is replaced by the following:

Notwithstanding paragraphs 2 and 3, Member States

‘4.
may permit applicants:

(a) to use all the cereals or all the oilseeds falling within CN
codes 1201 00 90, ex 1205 00 90 and 1206 00 91
harvested on certain set-aside land:

(i) as fuel for heating their agricultural holding;

(ii) for the production on the holding of power or

biofuels;

(b) to process

into biogas

2711 29 00, on their holdings, all
harvested on certain land set aside.

falling within CN code
the raw material

In the cases listed in the first subparagraph, applicants shall
undertake, by way of a declaration in place of the contract
referred to in Article 4, to use or process directly the raw
material covered by the declaration.

In addition, applicants must have all
the raw material
harvested weighed by a body or an undertaking designated
by the Member State and must keep separate accounts for
the raw material used and the products and by-products
resulting from its processing. However, where the entire
plant is used, weighing may be replaced by volumetric
measurement of the raw material.

Member States applying the first subparagraph shall intro-
duce adequate checks to ensure that the raw material is used
directly on the holding or is processed into biogas falling
within CN code 2711 29 00.

26.2.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 55/11

Furthermore, cereals and oilseeds used in accordance with
point (a) must be denatured in accordance with the method
laid down by the Member State. The Member States may,
however, authorise the oil produced by processing oilseeds
in accordance with point (a)(ii) to be denatured instead of
the oilseeds themselves, provided that such denaturing takes
place immediately after the seeds are processed into oil and
that the use to which the seeds are put is checked. The
measures provided for in the first, second, third and fourth
subparagraphs and any amendments thereto shall be noti-
fied to the Commission before 30 November of the year
preceding the harvest year to which these measures apply.
In the case of the 2001/02 and 2002/03 marketing years,
the measures shall be notified before 31 May 2001 and 31
March 2002, respectively.

Articles 4 to 21 shall apply mutatis mutandis.’

2. Article 9(2) is replaced by the following:

‘2.
States shall select

In the case provided for in paragraph 1(b), Member
the localities to be used to calculate

representative yields, which may, but need not necessarily,
correspond to the regions set out in their regionalisation
plans drawn up in accordance with Regulation (EC) No
1251/1999. Each year before the harvest, Member States
shall
those repres-
entative yields, doing so by:

inform the applicants concerned of

(a) 31 July at the latest in the case of raw materials that
may be bought into intervention otherwise than under
this scheme, with the exception of maize, rapeseed or
colza seed as referred to in paragraph 1; and

(b) 31 August at

the latest

in the case of maize and

sunflower seeds as referred to in paragraph 1.’

Article 2

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

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

Done at Brussels, 25 February 2002.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission