Commission Regulation (EC) No 218/2006 of  8 February 2006  amending Regulation (EC) No 1262/2001 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 as regards the buying in and sale of sugar by intervention agencies
Date: 2006-02-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: intervention agency, intervention stock, purchase, sale, sugar

9.2.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 38/19

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 218/2006

of 8 February 2006

amending Regulation (EC) No 1262/2001 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council
Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 as regards the buying in and sale of sugar by intervention agencies

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(5)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 of 19
June 2001 on the common organisation of the markets in the
sugar sector (1), and in particular Articles 7(5) and 9(3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

applying the

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1262/2001 (2)
lays
down detailed rules
intervention
for
arrangements in the sugar sector. Experience has shown
that adjustments are needed in order to simplify the
arrangements
current
harmonise
practice for other products such as cereals and milk
powder.

them with

and

Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 guarantees prices and
disposal only for sugar produced under quota. Access
to intervention should therefore be restricted to manu-
facturers who are holders of a quota and who, in return
for the price guarantee, are required to pay the minimum
price for beet, while respecting the legitimate expec-
tations of
traders who have already been
granted the necessary approval to offer sugar for inter-
vention.

specialist

Recent experience in sugar intervention operations has
shown that the criteria for the intervention storage of
sugar and the approval of warehouses and silos should
be made more stringent, in particular by giving the inter-
vention agencies greater discretionary powers. It is also
accepted that sugar can be stored for a very long time
without risk of deterioration in quality where the storage
conditions are right. Therefore the rules on the final dates
for removal should be amended, whilst, to take account
of legitimate expectations, the rules on sugar offered for
intervention before a certain date should be maintained.

(4)

Intervention procedures for sugar must be brought into
line with those followed in other sectors such as cereals
and milk powder, in particular as regards time limits for
payment from the submission of tenders for intervention.

Regulation (EC) No 1262/2001, as amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 1498/2005, lays down the requirements
to be met by certain forms of packaging in which sugar
bought in must be delivered. Certain clarifications are
needed to ensure that this provision is properly applied.

in particular by creating uniform lots,

In order to facilitate the day-to-day management of inter-
the
vention,
minimum quantity
intervention
agency is not obliged to accept a tender should be
increased.

below which the

Regulation (EC) No 1262/2001 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

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

(6)

(7)

(8)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1262/2001 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 1 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

The intervention agency shall buy in the sugar

‘1.
only if it is offered by:

(a) a manufacturer with a production quota:

(b) a specialist sugar trader who is approved before 1
March 2006 by the Member State on whose
territory they are established.’;

(b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

(1) OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 1. Regulation as

last amended by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 39/2004 (OJ L 6, 10.1.2004,
p. 16).

(2) OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 48. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 1498/2005 (OJ L 240, 16.9.2005, p. 39).

‘3.
Sugar may only be taken over where it is under
quota and at the time of the offer is stored separately in
an approved store or silo that has not been used most
recently to store products other than sugar.’;

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Official Journal of the European Union

9.2.2006

2. Article 2 is amended as follows:

4. Article 4(1) is replaced by the following:

(a)

the following subparagraph is added to paragraph 1:

Sugar offered to intervention shall meet the following

‘1.
requirements:

‘Additional conditions for approval of silos and ware-
houses may be laid down by the intervention agencies.’;

(a)

it must have been produced within a quota during the
marketing year in which the offer is made;

(b) paragraph 2(c) is replaced by the following:

(b) it must be in crystal form.’;

‘(c) a total quantity, in the case of silos and warehouses
for the bulk storage of sugar, not exceeding 50
times the daily removal capacity for bulk sugar
that
the
disposal of the intervention agency concerned for
the removal of the sugar.’;

the applicant undertakes

to place at

5. the second paragraph of Article 6 is replaced by the

following:

‘For the purposes of this Regulation “lot” means at least
2 000 tonnes of sugar of uniform quality and packing,
all of which is stored in the same place.’;

(c)

in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3, the second
sentence is deleted;

6. Article 9 is amended as follows:

3. Article 3 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

for

sugar

to offer

In order

‘2.
intervention,
specialised traders as referred to in paragraph 1 must
have been approved by the Member State concerned.
Approval shall be granted by the Member State on
whose territory the trader’s establishment
is located
to all applicants meeting or
before 1 March 2006,
deemed able to meet
the conditions laid down in
paragraph 1 of this Article for the marketing year in
question
additional
conditions which the Member State might attach to
the grant of approval.’;

and, where

applicable,

any

‘2.
Storage contracts shall take effect five weeks after
the date of acceptance of the offer referred to in Article
8(2) and shall expire at the end of the 10-day period
sugar
during which removal of
concerned is completed.’;

the quantity of

(b) paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4.
The intervention agency shall bear the storage
costs from the beginning of the 10-day period within
referred to in
which the contract
paragraph 2 until the expiry of the contract.’;

takes effect as

(b) the second subparagraph of paragraphs 3 and 4 is

deleted;

(c)

the second subparagraph of paragraph 5 is deleted;

(c) paragraph 5 is replaced by the following:

7. Article 10(1) is replaced by the following:

‘5.
Approval shall be withdrawn if it is found that
the person concerned no longer satisfies, or is no
longer capable of satisfying, any of the conditions laid
down in paragraphs 1 and 2. Withdrawal of approval
may take place in the course of the marketing year. It
shall not have retroactive effect.’;

The transfer of ownership of sugar covered by a
in

take place when the sugar

shall

‘1.
storage contract
question is paid for.’;

8. Article 16 is replaced by the following:

(d) paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 16

‘6.
Approval granted or withdrawn under this Article
shall be notified in writing to the person concerned.’;

The intervention agency shall make payment no earlier
than 120 days from the day on which the offer
is
accepted, provided the checks to verify the weight and
quality of the offered lots have been conducted.’;

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9. Article 17(4) is replaced by the following:

11. the first sentence of Article 19(1)

is replaced by the

‘4.

(a)

Sugar bought in shall be removed:

in the case of offers accepted before 30 September
2005, not later than the end of the seventh month
following that
in which the offer was accepted,
without prejudice to Article 34;

(b) in the case of offers accepted from 1 October 2005 to
9 February 2006, not later than 30 September 2006,
without prejudice to Article 34;

(c)

in the case of offers accepted from 10 February 2006,
not later than the date of removal laid down in Article
34.’;

10. Article 18 is amended as follows:

following:

At

the time of removal

‘1.
in the case of sugar as
referred to in Article 17(4)(a) and (b) and within the time
limit referred to in Article 16 in the case of sugar as
referred to in Article 17(4)(c), four samples shall be taken
for analysis either by experts approved by the competent
authorities of the Member State concerned or by experts
agreed upon by the intervention agency and the seller.’;

12. Article 23(2) is replaced by the following:

‘2.
be:

(a)

The price to be paid by the successful tenderer shall

in the case of paragraph 1(a), the price indicated in the
tender;

(a)

the third subparagraph of paragraph 3 is replaced by
the following:

‘The flat-rate amount to cover the cost of the packing
required or accepted by the intervention agency referred
to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 shall be
EUR 15,70 per tonne of sugar.’;

(b) paragraph 4 is deleted;

(b) in the case of paragraph 1(b) and (c), the price indicated

in the terms of the invitation to tender.’

Article 2

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

Article 1(1)(b) and (4) to (8) shall apply to sugar offered to
intervention from the date of entry into force.

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

Done at Brussels, 8 February 2006.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission