Commission Regulation (EC) No 2182/2002 of 6 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 with regard to the Community Tobacco Fund
Date: 2002-12-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural guidance, agronomic research, consumer information, fund (EU), redirection of production, tobacco

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2182/2002

of 6 December 2002

laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 with regard
to the Community Tobacco Fund

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 of 30
June 1992 on the common organisation of the market in raw
tobacco (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 546/
2002 (2), and in particular Article 14a thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Regulation (EC) No 546/2002 amended Article 13 of
Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92, with regard to the estab-
lishment of a Community Tobacco Fund. The amend-
ments concern the areas of activity of the Fund. As a
result, detailed rules for the application of that provision
should be adopted.

Assistance should be provided for measures to discou-
rage smoking, and in particular for improving public
awareness of the dangers of tobacco consumption, and
funding should be provided for specific measures to
encourage tobacco producers to switch production,
in
collaboration with the quota buy-back programme, and
for studies into the possibilities for encouraging produ-
cers to switch to other crops or activities.

The funding should be divided appropriately between
the two main objectives of
the Fund, which are
providing information and encouraging producers to
switch production. However, if the funds earmarked for
one of these objectives are not used up in full, the distri-
bution of the initial allocation between the objectives
should be adjusted.

The Tobacco Fund is financed by a deduction from the
premiums granted to tobacco producers and it is there-
fore justified to propose that all public assistance for
measures financed under the Fund be provided from the
Community own resources in the Fund.

For the information programmes, the various proposals
presented under
the procedures adopted should be
assessed in accordance with criteria that will ensure the
best possible choice. Provision should be made also for
projects to be carried out on the initiative and on behalf
of the Commission. To that end, a call for proposals or,
as appropriate, a public invitation to tender seem the
most appropriate course.

(6)

Eligibility criteria should be laid down for natural or
legal persons who may present proposals under the
information programmes.

(7)

(8)

(9)

In the interests of sound administration of the informa-
tion programmes, the projects approved by the Commis-
sion should be carried out within a specified period. The
time limit originally envisaged may prove difficult to
meet in exceptional cases. Provision should be made,
therefore, for the time limit to be extended under certain
conditions.

the

context of

In order to make the best possible choice of projects
financed within the
information
programmes and ensure the proper implementation of
the approved projects, provision should be made for the
Commission to be assisted in the selection of
the
projects by a scientific and technical committee. The
Commission should have access to the services of inde-
pendent experts in assessing the projects.

In order to guarantee the proper implementation of each
project financed within the context of the information
programmes, it is necessary for details of the conditions
of
implementation to be included in the contracts
concluded with the Commission. Where an application
is made for an advance, contractors must
lodge a
security in favour of the Commission on the conditions
laid down in Title III of Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 2220/85 of 22 July 1985 laying down common
detailed rules for the application of the system of securi-
ties for agricultural products (3), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 1932/1999 (4).

(10)

the

Regarding
information programmes, provision
should be made to prevent the unjustified cumulation of
measures for the same project, and for payments to be
recovered in certain cases, particularly in the event of
irregularities.

(11) As regards the specific measures to promote a switch of
production, individual measures should be laid down to
promote a switch of production, as well as general
interest measures and studies into the possibilities for
tobacco producers to switch production, that are eligible
for financing by the Fund. The beneficiaries of each type
of measure should also be defined.

(12)

To ensure that the measures to support the switch of
production are sufficiently effective, the intensity of the
aid to be granted for each measure and the total amount
of assistance per producer should be determined for all
the measures. The intensity of the aid for each measure
should be set at a sufficiently attractive level to encou-
rage producers to take up the opportunity to switch
production, given the major changes that this entails to
how production is organised on their holding.

(1) OJ L 215, 30.7.1992, p. 70.
(2) OJ L 84, 28.3.2002, p. 4.

(3) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.
(4) OJ L 240, 10.9.1999, p. 11.

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(13)

(14)

The Fund must guarantee assistance for producers to
switch production across the whole Community and
must operate in collaboration with the quota buy-back
programme. To this end, the distribution of financing
under the Fund should be determined for each tobacco-
producing Member State. In order to respond to the
actual rate of withdrawal from tobacco production in
each Member State, provision should also be made for a
second distribution of the financing, based on applica-
tions for assistance received.

To guarantee that the assistance granted to promote the
switch of production by tobacco producers is imple-
mented in the proper framework, a programme must be
drawn up by each producer Member State. The content
of these programmes should therefore be determined,
together with the obligation on Member States to inform
the Commission of the monitoring they have carried out
on the progress made by the programmes each year.

(15) Any risk of a funding overlap for the same project from
the Tobacco Fund and other assistance schemes must be
avoided. Moreover, all decisions by tobacco producers to
withdraw from tobacco production should be facilitated.
The conditions should be determined in which an appli-
cation for assistance from the Tobacco Fund can be
accepted, and provision made for the possibility of
having the project financed by another scheme where
no further funding is available under the Tobacco Fund.
The type of controls to be carried out and the penalties
to apply should also be determined.

(16)

(17)

To give Member States sufficient time to draw up finan-
cing plans for production-switching measures for 2003,
that year's deadline for notifying the Commission of
these plans — and, consequently, the deadline for the
definitive distribution of
the resources among the
Member States — should be deferred.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1648/2000 of 25 July
2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 with regard to
the Community Tobacco Fund (1) should therefore be
repealed and replaced. However, the provision of that
Regulation must continue to apply to projects approved
before the entry into force of this Regulation.

(18)

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

(1) OJ L 189, 27.7.2000, p. 9.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

This Regulation lays down the conditions for financing by the
Community Tobacco Fund, hereinafter called ‘the Fund’, of the
measures in the two areas referred to in Article 13(2) of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 2075/92 in the
information
programmes and measures to promote a switch of production.

form of

Article 2

Expenditure by the Fund in each of the two categories of
measures referred to in Article 1 may amount to a maximum
50 % of the total amount of the Fund.

However, where the amount available for one of these cate-
gories is not used up in full, the Commission shall reallocate
the remaining amount to the other, provided that, in the latter
area, there are eligible projects still in need of funding.

CHAPTER II

INFORMATION PROGRAMMES

Article 3

1.
The aim of the information programmes financed by the
Fund shall be to improve public awareness of the dangers of all
forms of tobacco consumption.

2.
The programmes shall consist of projects involving infor-
mation and education, data collection and studies. The projects
concerned shall focus in particular on:

(a) raising public awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco

consumption, including passive smoking;

(b) improving the relevance and effectiveness of the messages
put across about the harmful effects of tobacco consump-
tion, and the methods of communication used (language
and images);

(c) preventing and stopping smoking;

(d) disseminating the results to the national authorities and the
relevant sectors, in the areas referred to in (a), (b) and (c).

Article 4

1.
The Commission, with the assistance of a scientific and
technical committee, shall be responsible for the management
of the Fund as regards the information programmes.

The scientific and technical committee shall be made up
2.
of nine members
the Commission. The
Committee shall be chaired by the Commission. The Commis-
sion shall ensure that members of the Committee are indepen-
dent as regards the projects submitted to them.

appointed by

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Article 5

Projects shall be the subject, as appropriate, of a call for propo-
sals or a public invitation to tender, in accordance with the
relevant provisions, published in the C series of the Official
Journal of the European Communities, within the period set in the
notice.

Article 6

Proposals for projects may be submitted by any natural

1.
or legal persons established in the Community who:

(a) possess recognised competence and at

least
professional experience in the field in question;

five years'

the total

(b) undertake to contribute from their own resources at least
25 % of
the project. However,
financing of
projects carried out on the initiative and on behalf of the
Commission shall be financed by the Fund at a rate of up
to 100 % of the total cost;

(c) undertake to carry out the proposed programme within the

time limit laid down;

(d) agree to provide regular reports on the progress of the

work;

(e) agree to make their accounts and other supporting docu-
ments on expenditure available for verification by the
Commission;

(f) agree to the conditions laid down in Articles 9, 10 and 11.

2.
Projects may be carried out on an annual basis, and may
be renewed, but may not however exceed five years from the
date on which the contract is signed.

However, the time limit for implementation may be extended if
the interested party requests the Commission to extend it and
provides proof
that, because of exceptional circumstances
beyond that party's control, it is not able to comply with the
time limit initially laid down.

(c) the projects must show that they have a methodology and
firm scientific backing. They must be innovative and take
account of work that has been carried out already and of
experience gained under past or present national or
Community programmes, so as to avoid any likelihood of
duplication in the allocation of Community funding;

(d) the projects must, as appropriate, contribute objectively
and effectively to improving public awareness of
the
harmful effects on health of using tobacco, to collecting
and analysing relevant epidemiological data or to ensuring
the rapid implementation of practical preventive measures;

(e) contractors must ensure that the results of their projects
are disseminated in recognised scientific journals and/or
presented at international conferences;

(f) priority will be given to projects covering the whole of the
territory of the Community and submitted by public health
organisations which are recognised and/or are expressly
supported by national or regional health authorities.

On the basis of the assessment, the Commission shall
2.
submit a list of the projects shortlisted for financing to the
scientific and technical committee referred to in Article 4. The
committee shall deliver an opinion on the list.

3.
As part of the public tendering procedure, projects to be
carried out at the initiative and on behalf of the Commission,
and shortlisted for financing, shall also be submitted by the
Commission to the scientific and technical committee referred
to in Article 4. The committee shall deliver an opinion on
those projects.

Pursuant to Article 5(4) of Decision No 646/96/EC of the
4.
European Parliament and of the Council (1), the Commission
shall
inform the Committee referred to in Article 5 of that
Decision which projects have been shortlisted for financing,
and shall provide it with the opinion of the scientific and tech-
nical committee referred to in Article 4 of this Regulation.

Article 8

Article 7

1.
On the basis of the opinions referred to in Article 7(2)
and (3), the Commission shall select the projects and decide on
their financing by the Fund. It may decide not to proceed with
any of the projects.

1.
Projects submitted in response to a call for proposals shall
be assessed by a group of independent experts selected by the
Commission. The following factors must be taken into account
in the assessment:

2.
Projects accepted for financing by the Fund shall be the
subject of a contract concluded by the Commission. A list of
the projects financed shall be published in the Official Journal of
the European Communities.

(a) the work must be done on a collaborative basis by natural

or legal persons established in several Member States;

(b) the projects must pay particular attention to the cultural
and linguistic characteristics of the Member States, notably
in the case of information campaigns directed at the public
at large, and to groups at risk;

The Commission shall monitor the implementation of
3.
projects accepted for financing by the Fund. It shall inform the
Management Committee for Tobacco regularly of the contracts
concluded and the progress of work.

(1) OJ L 95, 16.4.1996, p. 9.

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Article 9

CHAPTER III

1.
Contracts shall be based on the appropriate standard
contract drawn up by the Commission and shall reflect, where
necessary, the various activities concerned. They shall specify in
particular:

(a) the possibility of the payment of an advance by the Fund,

within two months of the contract being signed;

(b) the nature of the project deliverables required in order to
obtain subsequent payments, which shall be made in stag-
gered instalments reflecting the progress of the work and
on the basis of invoices and appropriate supporting docu-
ments;

(c) the deadline for submitting applications for payment of the
balance following completion of the measures provided for
in the contract, together with the nature of the accompa-
nying deliverables, which shall include at least a summary
of work carried out, appropriate supporting documents and
an evaluation of the results obtained and how those results
can be used;

(d) a maximum period for payments from the Fund of 60 days
from the date of approval by the Commission of the project
deliverables, which may be suspended by the Commission
in order to carry out additional verifications.

The payment of an advance by the Fund shall be subject
2.
to the lodging by the contractor, in favour of the Commission,
of a security of an amount equivalent to 110 % of the advance,
lodged in accordance with the conditions laid down in Title III
of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85. However, public institutions
may be exempt from this requirement.

The security shall be released subject to payment of the

3.
balance of the contribution for the measures concerned.

4. Where the advance exceeds the amount due, the security
shall be partially forfeit for an amount equal to the amount
wrongly paid.

Article 10

Projects accepted for financing by the Fund may not receive
Community financing from other sources.

MEASURES TO PROMOTE A SWITCH OF PRODUCTION

Article 12

The measures to promote a switch of production financed by
the Fund shall consist of specific individual measures and
general interest measures to encourage raw tobacco producers
to switch production to other crops or economic activities that
generate employment, and to support studies into the possibili-
ties for raw tobacco producers of switching to other crops or
activities.

Article 13

Individual measures to encourage tobacco producers to switch
production shall comprise:

(a) switching to other crops and improving the quality of agri-
cultural products other than tobacco, as well as providing
incentives to holdings to diversify their activities;

(b) training for producers required for a switch to agricultural

products other than tobacco;

(c) establishing

the

infrastructure

for marketing

quality
products other than tobacco, as well as services for the
rural economy and rural people and diversifying agricul-
tural or semi-agricultural activities with a view to creating a
range of activities that generate alternative employment and
income, and in particular promoting tourism and handi-
crafts activities.

Article 14

General interest measures and studies into the possibilities for
tobacco producers to switch production shall comprise:

(a) studies intended to expand the opportunities for producers
of tobacco to switch production to other crops or activities;

(b) guidance and advisory services for producers who decide to

withdraw from tobacco production;

(c) conducting innovative

experiments

for demonstration

purposes.

Article 11

These measures may be accompanied by measures to dissemi-
nate and promote the results.

1. Where financing has been unduly paid for a project, the
Commission shall recover the amounts paid to the benefici-
aries, plus interest to be counted from the date of payment to
the date of recovery.

The interest rate to be used shall be that charged by the
European Central Bank on its euro operations as published in
the Official
the European Communities on the first
working day of each month.

Journal of

2.
The amounts recovered, together with the interest, shall
be paid to the Commission and deducted from expenditure in
the tobacco sector financed by the European Agricultural
Guidance and Guarantee Fund.

Article 15

1.
The beneficiaries of the measures referred to in Article 13
shall be tobacco producers who have been participating in the
buy-back programme provided for in Article 14(1) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 2075/92 since the 2002 harvest and whose quota
irrevocably bought back is a quantity equal to or greater than
500 kg.

Beneficiaries may apply for assistance from the Fund only in
the first year in which they no longer have a quota allocated to
them.

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The beneficiaries of the measures listed in Article 14 shall

2.
be:

(a) public authorities in the production areas;

(b) public research bodies specialising in agronomy and/or

rural economy and designated by the Member States.

Article 16

The maximum total value of Community assistance that

1.
can be granted under this Chapter shall be equal to:

— 75 % of the eligible expenditure, for the measures referred

to in Article 13(a) and (c);

— 100 % of the eligible expenditure, for the measures referred

to in Article 13(b) and Article 14.

2.
The total amount of Community assistance per producer
for all of the measures referred to in Article 13 shall be as
follows:

(a) three times the amount of the annual premium — for
quantities of raw tobacco covered by the quota up to and
including 10 tonnes for which the producer has been paid
under the buy-back programme;

(b) twice the amount of the annual premium — for quantities
of raw tobacco covered by the quota between 10 and 40
tonnes for which the producer has been paid under the
buy-back programme;

(c) the amount of the annual premium — for quantities of raw
tobacco covered by the quota above 40 tonnes for which
buy-back
the producer has
programme.

been paid

under

the

3.
The total amount of Community assistance per producer
for all of the measures referred to in Article 13 may not exceed
involving the
EUR 300 000. However,
production, marketing or processing of products referred to in
Annex I of the Treaty, the total amount of Community assis-
tance per producer may not exceed EUR 100 000.

for measures not

Article 17

1.
The Community contribution shall comprise all of the
public contribution for the measures referred to in Articles 13
and 14.

Every year before 15 February,

2.
in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No
2075/92, the Commission shall draw up an indicative alloca-
tion between the Member States of the financing under the
Fund to the measures referred to in Articles 13 and 14 of this
Regulation, based on the following criteria:

— 90 % based on the quantities irrevocably bought back under

the quotas;

— 10 % based on the national guarantee threshold.

The Commission shall
review the percentage allocations
provided for in the first subparagraph in the light of experi-
ence.

3.
Before 31 March every year, the Member States shall
draw up and notify to the Commission their projected finan-
cing plans for the measures for which assistance has been
applied.

4. Where it is established, on the basis of the information
referred to in paragraph 3, that part of the funding allocated to
one or more Member States will not be committed due to a
lack of applications for assistance, the Commission shall draw
up, before 31 May every year, a definitive allocation of this
funding among Member States that have received applications
for assistance for a total amount greater than their budget as
determined in accordance with paragraph 2. This definitive
allocation shall be in proportion to the indicative allocation laid
down in paragraph 2 above.

Article 18

The Member States

set up the programmes
shall
1.
connected with the measures referred to in Articles 13 and 14.

The programmes shall include:

(a) a quantified description of

the current situation in the
tobacco sector, of the guidelines for measures to promote a
switch of production and the holdings involved, and of the
socio-economic situation in the production areas, in parti-
cular as regards employment and development potential;

(b) a description of the proposed strategy, its quantified objec-
tives and the priorities selected for the switch of production
from tobacco;

(c) an analysis of the expected impact in economic, environ-
mental and social terms, in particular as regards employ-
ment;

(d) a general indicative financial table;

(e) a description of the national provisions taken to implement
the programmes, and in particular the arrangements for
controls;

(f) the definition of the selection criteria for projects for which

an application for assistance has been made.

2.
The Member States shall adopt the necessary national
provisions to implement the programmes referred to in para-
graph 1, including the procedure for approving projects, and
shall designate the national authorities responsible for imple-
mentation.

3.
Every year before 31 March the Member States shall send
the Commission a comprehensive report on the progress made
by the programmes during the period between 1 January and
31 December in the previous year.

Article 19

1.
Applicants for assistance under Article 13 and 14 must
sign an undertaking not to apply for funding for the same
project under another assistance scheme. However, they shall
be relieved of this undertaking if the application for financing
for their project under the Fund is rejected definitively.

Failure to comply with the undertaking prescribed in

2.
paragraph 1 shall entail:

— the loss of rights regarding the quota buy-back programme
provided for in Article 14 of Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92;
and

— loss of eligibility for assistance for the measures referred to

in Articles 13 and 14 of this Regulation.

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Article 20

Article 24

1.
The Member States, in accordance with common rules to
be laid down by the Commission, shall set up a computerised
file including all the information on the projects financed under
this Chapter. This data shall be made available to the Commis-
sion.

For each Member State, the amounts of expenditure actually
incurred notified to the Commission in the declarations for a
given year shall be financed in accordance with Article 23,
these amounts does not exceed the
provided the total of
amount allocated to the Member State under Article 17.

The Member States shall ensure that

2.
the information
collected in accordance with paragraph 1 is made available to
the authorities responsible for implementing the other Commu-
nity or national structural assistance programmes.

3.
The Member States shall take the necessary steps to effec-
tively check that the provisions of this Chapter have been
observed, in particular by carrying out administrative controls
and on-site inspections. These measures shall ensure in parti-
cular that the projects financed under this Chapter have not
received assistance under another assistance scheme.

The controls referred to in paragraph 3 shall cover all the

4.
projects financed by the Fund.

Article 21

The Member States shall notify the Commission without delay
of the measures they adopt under Articles 18, 19 and 20.

Article 22

1.
The projects shall be carried out within two years of the
date on which the Member State notifies the beneficiary that
the project has been approved.

2.
The aid shall be paid once checks have been made that
the project in question has been carried out and no later than
three years following the date on which the Member State noti-
fies the beneficiary that the project has been approved.

Notwithstanding paragraph 2,

3.
provide for aid to be paid in advance, on condition that:

the Member State may

(a) project implementation has begun;

(b) the beneficiary has lodged a security equal to 120 % of the
advance. However, public bodies may be exempted from
this requirement.

For the purposes of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85, the obli-
gation shall in this case be to ensure that the project is
implemented within the period specified in paragraph 1
above.

Article 23

At the latest in the last declaration of expenditure for that year,
the Member States shall notify the Commission of all expendi-
ture actually incurred during the current financial year related
to the measures to promote a switch of production, as specified
in Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 296/96 (1).

Article 25

The Member States shall store the information recorded in
accordance with this Chapter for at least ten years after the year
in which it is recorded.

CHAPTER IV

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 26

By derogation from Article 17(3), the notification deadline for
the financing plans for the measures for which assistance has
been applied for under the buy-back programme for the 2002
harvest shall be put back from 31 March 2003 to 31 May
2003, and, consequently, by derogation from Article 17(4), the
deadline of 31 May 2003 shall be put back to 30 June 2003.

Article 27

The amount of the premium to be paid to producers and the
reimbursement to be made by the Member States to the proces-
in accordance with Articles 18 and 20 respectively of
sors,
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 of 22 December
1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 as regards the premium scheme,
production quotas and the specific aid to be granted to
producer groups in the raw tobacco sector (2) shall be reduced,
at the time of payment, by the deduction referred to in Article
13(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92.

The amount thus reduced shall be declared by the Member
States as expenditure under the Guarantee Section of
the
European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.

Article 28

Regulation (EC) No 1648/2000 is hereby repealed. However, its
provisions shall continue to apply to projects approved before
the entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 29

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

(1) OJ L 39, 17.2.1996, p. 5.

(2) OJ L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 17.

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

Done at Brussels, 6 December 2002.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission