Commission Regulation (EC) No 1244/2004 of 6 July 2004 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards the granting of private storage aid for certain cheeses in the 2004/05 storage period
Date: 2004-07-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, cheese, hard cheese, private stock, storage premium

7.7.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 236/5

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1244/2004

of 6 July 2004

laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards
the granting of private storage aid for certain cheeses in the 2004/05 storage period

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 of 17
May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk
and milk products (1), and in particular Article 10 thereof,

Whereas:

Pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999
private storage aid may be granted for long-keeping
cheeses and for cheeses which are manufactured from
sheeps’ and/or goats’ milk and require at
six
months for maturing,
if for those cheeses price devel-
opments and the stock situation indicate a serious
imbalance of the market which may be eliminated or
reduced by seasonal storage.

least

The seasonal nature of the production of certain long-
keeping cheeses and Pecorino Romano, Kefalotyri and
the
is aggravated by the
Kasseri
cheese
seasonality of
the
consumption is
seasonality of production. The fragmented production
of such cheeses further aggravates the consequences of
that seasonality. Therefore, provision should be made for
recourse to seasonal storage in respect of a quantity
corresponding to the difference between summer and
winter production.

that
inverse of

fact

the

The types of cheeses,
including those from the new
Member States, eligible for aid and the maximum quan-
tities which may qualify for it should be laid down, as
well as the duration of the contracts in relation to the
real requirements of the market and the keeping qualities
of the cheeses in question. The cheeses eligible for aid in
Ireland should also be specified, targeting those which
might cause a market imbalance.

costs

The amount of aid must be fixed with reference to
to be maintained
storage
and the balance
the aid and other
between cheeses qualifying for
cheeses marketed. To that end the amount
the
fixed costs should be reduced and the amount for the
financial costs should be calculated on the basis of an
interest rate of 2 %.

for

(6)

(7)

(8)

Detailed rules should also be laid down regarding docu-
mentation, accounting and the frequency and nature of
checks. In this connection, it should be laid down that
the Member States may charge the costs of checks fully
or in part charged to the contractor.

To ensure monitoring of
the
storage aid scheme, information about the quantities of
cheese
the
be
Commission on a regular basis.

the implementation of

transmitted

involved

should

to

The Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products
has not delivered an opinion within the time-limit set by
its chairman,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Purpose

This Regulation lays down the detailed rules for granting
Community aid for private storage of certain cheeses (here-
inafter referred to as ‘aid’) pursuant to Article 9 of Regulation
(EC) No 1255/1999 during the 2004/05 storage year.

Article 2

Definitions

The market situation of Pecorino Romano, with surpluses
justifies making a larger
and a marked drop in prices,
quantity of that cheese eligible for aid than in the past.

For the purpose of this Regulation:

It is necessary to specify the terms of the storage contract
and the essential measures to enable the cheese covered
by a contract to be identified and subjected to checks.

(a)

‘storage lot’ means a quantity of cheese weighing at least
two tonnes, of the same type and taken into storage in a
single storage depot on a single day;

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 48. Regulation as

amended
by Commission Regulation (EC) No 186/2004 (OJ L 29, 3.2.2004,
p. 6).

last

(b) ‘day of commencement of contractual storage’, means the

day following that of entry into storage;

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

L 236/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

7.7.2004

(c)

‘last day of contractual storage’, means the day before that
of removal from storage;

(d) ‘storage period’, means the period during which the cheese
can be covered by the private storage scheme, as specified
for each type of cheese in the Annex.

Article 3

Cheeses eligible for aid

Aid shall be granted in respect of certain long-keeping
cheese

1.
cheeses, Pecorino Romano, Kefalotyri
under the terms laid down in the Annex.

and Kasseri

The

2.
Community and satisfy the following conditions:

cheeses must have been manufactured in the

(a) be indelibly marked with an indication of the undertaking in
which they were manufactured and of the day and month
of manufacture; the above details may be in code form;

(b) have undergone quality tests which establish their classifi-
cation after maturing in the categories laid down in the
Annex.

Storage contracts shall be concluded within no more than
4.
30 days of the date of registration of the application to draw up
a contract.

5.
Control measures, particularly those referred to in Article
7, shall be the subject of specifications drawn up by the inter-
vention agency. The storage contract shall refer to those speci-
fications.

Article 5

Entry into and removal from storage

The periods of entry into and removal from storage shall

1.
be as laid down in the Annex.

2.

Removal from storage shall be in whole storage lots.

the deterioration in the quality of

3. Where, at the end of the first 60 days of contractual
the cheese is
storage,
greater than is normal in store, contractors may be authorised,
once per storage lot, to replace the defective quantity, at their
own expense.

Article 4

Storage contract

If checks during storage or on removal from storage reveal
defective quantities, no aid may be paid for those quantities.
In addition, the part of the lot which is still eligible for aid may
not be less than two tonnes.

Contracts relating to the private storage of cheese shall be
1.
concluded between the intervention agency of the Member State
on whose territory the cheese is stored and natural or legal
persons, hereinafter called ‘contractors’.

Storage contracts shall be drawn up in writing on the

2.
basis of an application to draw up a contract.

Applications must reach intervention agencies within no more
than 30 days of the date of entry into storage and may relate
only to lots of cheese which have been fully taken into storage.
The intervention agencies shall register the date on which each
application is received.

If the application reaches the intervention agency within 10
working days following the deadline, the storage contract may
still be concluded but the aid shall be reduced by 30 %.

The second subparagraph shall apply where part of a lot is
from
removed before the start of
the
storage referred to in paragraph 1 or before expiry of
minimum storage period referred to in Article 8(2).

the period of

removal

4.
For the purpose of calculating the aid in the case referred
to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3, the first day of
contractual storage shall be the day of commencement of
contractual storage.

Article 6

Storage conditions

The Member State shall ensure that all the conditions

1.
granting entitlement to payment of the aid are fulfilled.

Storage contracts shall be concluded for one or more
in particular, provisions

and shall

include,

lots

3.
storage
concerning:

(a)

the quantity of cheese to which the contract applies;

(b) the dates relating to the execution of the contract;

shall make

2.
The contractor or, at the request of the Member State or
with its authorisation, the person responsible for the storage
authority
depot,
responsible for inspection any documentation permitting verifi-
cation of the following particulars of products placed in private
storage:

competent

available

to the

(c)

the amount of aid;

(a) ownership at the time of placing in storage;

(d) the identity of the storage depots.

(b) the origin and the date of manufacture of the cheeses;

7.7.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 236/7

(c)

the date of placing in storage;

(d) presence in the store and the address of the store;

five working
indicating the storage lots concerned, at
days before the expiry of the contractual storage period or
the start of the removal operations, where these take place
during or after the contractual storage period.

least

(e)

the date of removal from storage.

The Member State may accept a shorter time-limit than the five
working days specified in the second subparagraph.

The

contractor

person
3.
responsible for the storage depot shall keep stock records
available at the depot for each contract, covering:

or, where

applicable,

the

(a)

the identification, by storage lot number, of the products
placed in private storage;

(b) the dates of entry into and removal from storage;

(c)

the number of cheeses and their weight by storage lot;

(d) the location of the products in the store.

Products

stored must be

easily
4.
accessible and identified individually by contract. A special
mark shall be affixed to stored cheeses.

identifiable,

easily

Article 7

Checks

On entry into storage the competent agency shall conduct
1.
checks, in particular to ensure that products stored are eligible
for the aid and to prevent any possibility of substitution of
products during storage under contract.

2.
The competent agency shall make an unannounced check,
by sampling, to ensure that the products are present in the
storage depot. The sample concerned must be representative
and must correspond to at least 10 % of the overall quantity
under contract for a private storage aid measure.

Such checks must include, in addition to an examination of the
accounts referred to in Article 6(3), a physical check of the
weight and type of products and their identification. Such
physical checks must relate to at
the quantity
subjected to the unannounced check.

least 5 % of

At

the

end of

the
3.
the
competent agency shall
that products are
present. However, where the products are still in storage after
expiry of the maximum contractual storage period, this check
may be made when the products are removed from storage.

contractual
check to see

storage period,

A report shall be drawn up on the checks carried out

4.
pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, specifying:

(a)

the date of the check;

(b) its duration;

(c)

the operations carried out.

The report must be signed by the inspector responsible and
countersigned by the contractor or, as the case may be, the
person responsible
storage depot, and must be
included in the payment dossier.

the

for

5.
In the case of irregularities affecting at least 5 % of the
quantities of products checked, the check shall be extended to a
larger sample to be determined by the competent authority.

The Member States shall notify such cases to the Commission
within four weeks.

6. Member States may provide that the costs of checks are to
be fully or in part charged to the contractor.

Article 8

Storage aid

1.

The aid shall be as follows:

(a) EUR 10 per tonne for the fixed costs;

(b) EUR 0,25 per tonne per day of storage under contract for

the warehousing costs;

(c)

for the financial costs per day of contractual storage:

(i)

EUR 0,23 per tonne for long-keeping cheeses,

(ii) EUR 0,28 per tonne for Pecorino Romano,

For the purposes of the check referred to in the first subpar-
the contractor shall notify the competent authority,
agraph,

(iii) EUR 0,39 per tonne for Kefalotyri and Kasseri.

L 236/8

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Official Journal of the European Union

7.7.2004

No aid shall be granted in respect of storage under
2.
contract
for less than 60 days. The maximum aid payable
shall not exceed an amount corresponding to 180 days’
storage under contract.

Where the contractor
fails to comply with the time-limit
referred to in the second or, as the case may be, third subpar-
agraph of Article 7(3), the aid shall be reduced by 15 % and
shall be paid only in respect of
the period for which the
contractor supplies satisfactory proof to the competent agency
that the cheeses have remained in contractual storage.

3.
The aid shall be paid on application by the contractor, at
the end of the contractual storage period, within 120 days of
receipt of the application, provided that the checks referred to
in Article 7(3) have been carried out and that the conditions for
entitlement to the aid have been met.

(a)

the quantities of the following cheeses under contract at the
beginning of the month in question:

— long-keeping cheeses,

— Pecorino Romano,

— Kefalotyri and Kasseri;

(b) the quantities of cheeses for which storage contracts were
concluded during the month in question, broken down by
the categories listed in point (a);

(c)

the quantities of cheeses for which storage contracts expired
during the month in question, broken down by the cate-
gories listed in point (a);

if it has been necessary to commence an adminis-
However,
trative inquiry into entitlement to the aid, payment shall not
be made until entitlement has been recognised.

(d) the quantities of cheeses under contract at the end of the
month in question, broken down by the categories listed in
point (a).

Article 9

Communications

Article 10

Entry into force

Not later than the 10th of each month, Member States shall
report, for the month preceding the communication:

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that
of 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, 6 July 2004.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission

7.7.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 236/9

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