Commission Regulation (EC) No 1141/2003 of 27 June 2003 determining for the 2002/03 marketing year actual production of unginned cotton and the ensuing guide price reduction
Date: 2003-06-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Greece, Portugal, Spain, cotton, crop production, marketing, norm price, tariff reduction

28.6.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 160/37

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1141/2003

of 27 June 2003

determining for the 2002/03 marketing year actual production of unginned cotton and the ensuing
guide price reduction

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Greece, and in parti-
cular Protocol 4 thereto on cotton, as last amended by Council
Regulation (EC) No 1050/2001 (1),

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 of 22
May 2001 on production aid for cotton (2), and in particular
the third indent of Article 19(2) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

The first subparagraph of Article 16(3) of Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1591/2001 of 2 August 2001 laying
down detailed rules
cotton aid
scheme (3), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1486/
2002 (4),
the actual production of each
marketing year is to be determined before 15 June of
that year.

applying the

states

that

for

The third indent of Article 19(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1051/2001 states that the actual production is to be
determined taking account in particular of the quantities
on which aid has been applied for.

The second subparagraph of Article 16(3) of Regulation
(EC) No 1591/2001 states the terms on which the quan-
tity of unginned cotton produced is to be reckoned as
the actual production.

The Greek authorities have, using fibre yield as a quality
criterion,
recognised 1 166 268 tonnes of unginned
cotton as eligible for aid.

The Greek authorities have informed the Commission
that on 15 May 2003 they did not recognise as eligible
for aid 24 778 tonnes of unginned cotton consisting of
6 149 tonnes from areas not declared in line with Article
9 of Regulation (EC) No 1591/2001, 12 172 tonnes in
respect of which national area reduction measures under
Article 17(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 were
disregarded, and 6 457 tonnes from areas in respect of
which financial compensation was paid to the growers
on account of adverse weather conditions.

(7)

(8)

(9)

tioned 6 457 tonnes from actual production. Moreover,
this quantity meets the requirements of
the second
subparagraph of Article 16(3) of Regulation (EC) No
1591/2001 and must therefore be added to the quantity
of 1 166 268 tonnes.

In consequence by application of fibre yield as a quality
criterion actual Greek production of unginned cotton for
the 2002/03 marketing year must be considered to total
1 172 925 tonnes.

The Spanish authorities have, using fibre yield as a
quality
of
unginned cotton as eligible for aid.

recognised

criterion,

321 539

tonnes

The Spanish authorities have informed the Commission
that on 15 May 2003 they did not recognise as eligible
for aid 3 268 tonnes of unginned cotton consisting of
3 038 tonnes in respect of which national area reduction
measures under Article 17(3) of Regulation (EC) No
1051/2001 were disregarded, 182 tonnes that was not
of sound and fair merchantable quality as required by
Article 15(1) of that Regulation, and 48 tonnes because
the rules concerning contracts referred to in Article 11
of that Regulation were not complied with.

(10)

Exclusion from actual production of the abovementioned
48 tonnes of unginned cotton on account of non-
compliance with the rules concerning contracts is not
justified. Moreover, this quantity meets the requirements
of the second subparagraph of Article 16(3) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1591/2001 and must therefore be added to
the quantity of 321 359 tonnes.

(11)

In consequence by application of fibre yield as a quality
criterion actual Spanish production of unginned cotton
in the 2002/03 marketing year must be considered to
total 321 588,5 tonnes.

(6)

As the financial compensation was granted on the basis
of the losses actually suffered by the growers concerned,
there is no justification for excluding the abovemen-

(1) OJ L 148, 1.6.2001, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 148, 1.6.2001, p. 3.
(3) OJ L 210, 3.8.2001, p. 10.
(4) OJ L 223, 20.8.2002, p. 3.

(12) Having applied the quality criterion of fibre yield, the
Portuguese authorities recognised as eligible for the aid
843 tonnes of unginned cotton originating from crop
areas in Portugal. This quantity meets the requirements
of the second subparagraph of Article 16(3) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1591/2001 and must accordingly be
regarded as Portuguese actual production of unginned
cotton for the 2002/03 marketing year.

L 160/38

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

28.6.2003

(13) Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 states that
if the sum of the actual production determined for Spain
and Greece exceeds 1 031 000 tonnes the guide price
indicated in Article 3(1) of that Regulation is to be
reduced in any Member State where actual production
exceeds the guaranteed national quantity.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

For the 2002/03 marketing year actual production of

1.
unginned cotton is determined as:

(14)

(15)

(16)

For the 2002/03 marketing year the guaranteed national
quantity is exceeded in both Spain and Greece. The
guide price reductions for these countries are to be set
in line with the percentage overshoot of the respective
guaranteed national quantity.

The first subparagraph of Article 7(4) of Regulation (EC)
No 1051/2001 states that the guide price reduction in
each Member State is to be 50 % of the percentage over-
shoot of its guaranteed national quantity.

— Greece: 1 172 925 tonnes,

— Spain: 321 588,5 tonnes,

— Portugal: 843 tonnes.

The amount by which the guide price for 2002/03 is

2.
reduced is, per 100 kg of unginned cotton:

— Greece: EUR 26,575

— Spain: EUR 15,52

— Portugal: EUR 0.

Article 2

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

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

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

Done at Brussels, 27 June 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission