Commission Regulation (EC) No 827/2005 of 30 May 2005 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 2005/2006 storage period
Date: 2005-05-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid system, hard cheese, private stock, storage premium

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Official Journal of the European Union

31.5.2005

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 827/2005

of 30 May 2005

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 2005/2006 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:

Under 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
sheep’s and/or goat’s 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

storage costs and the balance to be maintained between
cheeses
the
cheeses qualifying for
aid and other
the
these elements, and of
In view of
marketed.
available resources, the amounts for the fixed costs and
per day of storage for the warehousing costs should be
reduced. The amount for the financial costs should be
calculated on the basis of an interest rate of 2 %.

(5)

(6)

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 to the contractor.

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

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 2005/06 storage year.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Regulation:

The types of cheeses eligible for aid and the maximum
quantities 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.

(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;

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.
The amount of aid must be fixed with reference to

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

day following that of entry into storage;

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

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

(c) ‘last day of contractual storage’ means the day before that of

removal from storage;

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

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(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.

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 %.

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;

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;

(c) the amount of aid;

(d) the identity of the storage depots.

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

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

5.
Inspection measures, particularly those referred to in
Article 7, shall be the subject of specifications drawn up by
the intervention agency. The storage contract shall refer to
those specifications.

Article 4

Storage contract

1.
Contracts relating to the private storage of cheese shall be
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.

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
storage,
the cheese is
greater than is normal in store, contractors may be authorised,
once per storage lot, to replace the defective quantity, at their
own expense.

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 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.

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The second subparagraph shall apply where part of a lot is
from
removed before the start of
storage referred to in paragraph 1 or before expiry of
the
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.

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

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

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

(c) the date of placing in storage;

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

(e) the date of removal from storage.

The

contractor

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

or, where

applicable,

the

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 least 5 % of the quantity
subjected to the unannounced check.

At

the

the

end of

contractual

3.
the
the products are
competent agency shall check to see that
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.

storage period,

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

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

(a) the identification, by storage lot number, of the products

placed in private storage;

A report shall be drawn up on the checks carried out

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

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

(a) the date of the check;

(c) the number of cheeses and their weight by storage lot;

(b) its duration;

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

(c) the operations carried out.

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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.

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

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

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.

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
the period for which the
shall be paid only in respect of
contractor supplies satisfactory proof to the competent agency
that the cheeses have remained in contractual storage.

Article 8

Storage aid

1.

The aid shall be as follows:

(a) EUR 7,50 per tonne for the fixed costs;

The aid shall be paid on application by the contractor, at
3.
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.

(b) EUR 0,20 per tonne per day of storage under contract for

the warehousing costs;

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

(c) for the financial costs per day of contractual storage:

(i) EUR 0,23 per tonne for long-keeping cheeses;

Article 9

Entry into force

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

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, 30 May 2005.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

Categories of cheeses

Quantities
eligible
for aid

Minimum age for cheeses

Period of entry into
storage

Period of removal from
storage

French long-keeping cheeses:
— protected designation of origin Beaufort and

Comté cheeses

— ‘Label Rouge’ Emmental grand cru
— class A or B Emmental and Gruyère cheeses

16 000 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

German long-keeping cheeses:
‘Markenkäse’ or ‘Klasse fein’ Emmentaler/Bergkäse

1 000 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

Irish long-keeping cheeses:

900 t

10 days

Irish long-keeping cheese. Emmental, special grade

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

Austrian long-keeping cheeses:
‘1. Güteklasse Emmentaler/Bergkäse/Alpkäse’

1 700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

Finnish long-keeping cheeses:
‘I luokka’

Swedish long-keeping cheeses:
‘Västerbotten/Prästost/Svecia/Grevé’

Polish long-keeping cheeses:
‘Podlaski/Piwny/Ementalski/Ser Corregio/Bursztyn/
Wielkopolski’

Slovenian long-keeping cheeses:
‘Ementalec/Zbrinc’

Lithuanian long-keeping cheeses:
‘Goja/Džiugas’

1 700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

1 700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

3 000 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

200 t

10 days

From 1 June to

30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

Latvian long-keeping cheeses:
‘Rigamond, Ementāles tipa un Ekstra klases siers’

500 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

Hungarian long-keeping cheeses:
‘Pannónia’

300 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2005

From 1 October 2005 to
31 March 2006

Pecorino Romano

19 000 t

Kefalotyri and Kasseri made from sheep’s or goat’s
milk or a mixture of the two

2 500 t

90 days and produced
after
1 October 2004

90 days and produced
after
30 November 2004

From 1 June to
31 December 2005

Before 31 March 2006

From 1 June to
30 November 2005

Before 31 March 2006