Commission Regulation (EC) No 923/2005 of 15 June 2005 on the transfer and sale on the Portuguese market of 80000 tonnes of common wheat, 80000 tonnes of maize and 40000 tonnes of barley held by the Hungarian intervention agency
Date: 2005-06-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Hungary, Portugal, common organisation of markets, common wheat, intervention agency

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Official Journal of the European Union

18.6.2005

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 923/2005

of 15 June 2005

on the transfer and sale on the Portuguese market of 80 000 tonnes of common wheat, 80 000
tonnes of maize and 40 000 tonnes of barley held by the Hungarian intervention agency

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(5)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 of
29 September 2003 on the common organisation of
the
market in cereals (1), and in particular Article 6 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

The weather conditions in Portugal during the 2004/05
marketing year have led to a severe drought which has
seriously reduced the availability of fodder and caused a
shortage for farmers. This shortage of fodder could cause
farmers to sell or slaughter their livestock too early and
have serious consequences for the sector and farmers’
incomes.

in the

rest of

abundant

cereal harvest

the
The
Community in that marketing year, particularly in the
Member States that joined the Community on 1 May
2004, has at the same time led to a significant increase
in intervention stocks of common wheat, maize and
barley, outlets for which on the domestic market of
the Member States concerned or the export markets
have been non-existent for a relatively long period, and
for which sufficient
local storage capacities are not
always available.

Therefore the Community market in cereals continues to
be highly imbalanced and stabilisation and compensation
measures should be taken under the intervention system.
As a result, given the existence of cereal stocks that may
have to be kept for a very long period under the inter-
vention regime in those regions with a large surplus and
the resultant costs for the Community budget, and the
existence at the same time of a shortage of animal feed in
Portugal, part of those stocks should be made available
to Portuguese farmers.

an appropriate management

Distribution of these cereals on the Portuguese market
requires
and financial
control structure to be used. Provision should be made
for the cereals to be transferred initially to the Portuguese
intervention agency, which should then be responsible
for selling the cereals and distributing them to the
benefit of farmers.

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 78.

(6)

(7)

(8)

As a result of the level of demand and the availability of
cereals offered for intervention in Hungary, the lack of
intervention in that
approved storage capacities
country, and the inadequacy of the measures taken so
far to solve the problem of disposing of these Hungarian
stocks,
this operation should be carried out using
Hungarian cereals.

for

Provisions on the booking of this operation should be
laid down in accordance with the mechanisms provided
for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1883/78 of 2 August
1978 laying down general rules for the financing of
interventions by the European Agricultural Guidance
and Guarantee Fund, Guarantee Section (2).

For the sake of simplification and for control purposes,
the Community’s financial contribution should be set at a
standard amount.

The stocks transferred should be sold in accordance with
the conditions laid down in Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 2131/93 of 28 July 1993 laying down the
procedure and conditions for the sale of cereals held
by intervention agencies (3). However,
the
special requirements of the objectives to be met in the
context of the shortage of animal feed, specific provisions
should be laid down to be applied by the Portuguese
intervention agency, by way of derogation from Regu-
lation (EEC) No 2131/93.

in view of

(9)

In order not to disrupt the Portuguese cereal market, it is
in particular necessary to lay down specific provisions for
the quantities offered and to set limits on the selling
price of the cereals.

(10)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
The Hungarian intervention agency shall make available
80 000 tonnes of common wheat, 80 000 tonnes of maize
and 40 000 tonnes of barley to the Portuguese intervention
agency.

(2) OJ L 216, 5.8.1978, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 695/2005 (OJ L 114, 4.5.2005, p. 1).

(3) OJ L 191, 31.7.1993, p. 76. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 749/2005 (OJ L 126, 19.5.2005, p. 10).

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The Portuguese intervention agency shall take over the
2.
products referred to in paragraph 1, arrange for them to be
transported to Portugal and ensure that they are disposed of
for use as animal feed before 31 December 2005.

Article 2

1.
The Hungarian intervention agency shall debit the annual
accounts referred to in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
1883/78 with the quantities of common wheat, maize and
barley, valued at zero.

Article 6

The Portuguese intervention agency shall take over the cereals
in accordance with the quantities loaded onto the means of
transport when they leave the warehouse designated by the
Hungarian intervention agency and shall assume responsibility
for them at that moment.

Portuguese

The
Commission and the Hungarian intervention agency of
progress of the transfer operations.

intervention

inform the
the

agency

shall

The Portuguese intervention agency shall credit the annual
2.
accounts referred to in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
1883/78 with the quantities of common wheat, maize and
barley physically taken over, valued at zero, and shall value
them at the end of the month at EUR 101,44/t in the case of
common wheat, EUR 85,52/t
in the case of maize and
EUR 80,87/t in the case of barley.

Article 7

The Portuguese intervention agency shall sell the quantities of
cereals transferred from the stocks of
the Hungarian inter-
vention agency on its domestic market by standing invitation
to tender.

All the other formalities laid down in Community legis-
3.
lation relating to the transfer of cereals between the Hungarian
intervention agency and the Portuguese intervention agency
shall be completed under the responsibility of those agencies.

In accordance with Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2131/93,
the sale shall be reserved exclusively for cattle, sheep and goat
farmers’ associations or cooperatives and processing plants that
have concluded cooperation contracts with such associations or
cooperatives for use in Portugal.

Article 3

The transport costs for the quantities of cereals referred to
1.
this Regulation shall be entered by the
in Article 1 of
Portuguese
accounts
referred to in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 1883/78
on the basis of
laid down in para-
graph 2 of this Article.

the standard amount

intervention agency

in the

annual

Article 8

Regulation (EEC) No 2131/93 shall apply to the sale referred to
in Article 7 of this Regulation, subject to Article 9.

Article 9

The Community shall contribute EUR 60/t towards the

2.
cost of transporting the cereals.

1.
The quantities of each type of cereal to be sold shall
correspond to the quantities actually transferred and shall be
specified in the notice of invitation to tender.

Article 4

1.
The Portuguese and Hungarian intervention agencies shall
agree on the choice of places of departure and destination and,
where applicable,
intermediate storage locations, and on the
dates of removal of the products. The lists of those places
and the
forwarded to the
Commission immediately.

relevant quantities

shall be

The minimum quantity for each tender shall be 1 500

2.
tonnes.

Tenders shall be drawn up for the actual quality of the lot

3.
to which they relate.

2.
The Portuguese and Hungarian intervention agencies shall
ascertain, on loading in Hungary and on entry into the storage
locations in Portugal, the loaded and unloaded weight and, on
the basis of an analysis certificate, the quality of the products in
question.

4.
The minimum selling price for each type of cereal shall be
laid down at a level that does not disturb the Portuguese cereal
market and in any event is not below the intervention price.

Article 5

The Hungarian intervention agency shall inform the Portuguese
the quantities
intervention agency and the Commission of
actually recorded as removed and the dates of removal
for
each place of removal.

The Portuguese authorities shall draw up a notice of invitation
to tender specifying in particular the dates of the invitations to
tender and detailed control provisions enabling them to satisfy
themselves that the second paragraph of Article 7 is complied
with.

Article 10

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

Article 11

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

Done at Brussels, 15 June 2005.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission