Commission Regulation (EC) No 734/2006 of  16 May 2006  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 2006/2007 storage period
Date: 2006-05-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: aid to agriculture, hard cheese, private stock, storage premium

17.5.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 734/2006

of 16 May 2006

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 2006/2007 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
cheese
Kasseri
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 warehousing costs should be reduced. The amount
for the financial costs should be calculated on the basis
of an interest rate of 2,5 %. As for the fixed costs, the aid
measure should no longer compensate for other than
daily storage costs and financial costs, as storage does
not give raise to supplementary fixed costs, being part
of the normal manufacturing process of those cheeses.

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.

It should be clarified that only whole cheeses are eligible
for the private storage aid.

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

(5)

(6)

(7)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Subject matter

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 2006/2007 storage period.

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.

Article 2

Definitions

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.
The amount of aid should be fixed with reference to
to be maintained
storage
and the balance
the aid and other
between cheeses qualifying for
cheeses marketed. In view of these elements, and of the
available resources, the amounts per day of storage for

costs

(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;

(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 Regulation

(EC) No 1913/2005 (OJ L 307, 25.11.2005, p. 2).

(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.

(c)

the amount of aid;

(d) the identity of the storage depots.

Article 3

Cheeses eligible for aid

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.

Aid shall be granted in respect of certain long-keeping
1.
cheeses, Pecorino Romano, Kefalotyri
cheese
under the terms laid down in the Annex. Only whole cheeses
are eligible.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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 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:

shall make

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

competent

available

to the

(a)

the quantity of cheese to which the contract applies;

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

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

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

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(c)

the date of entry in storage;

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

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.

(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 report shall be drawn up on the checks carried out

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

(a)

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

(a)

the date of the check;

(b) its duration;

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

(c)

the operations carried out.

(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

1.
On entry into storage the competent agency shall conduct
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.

The competent agency shall make an unannounced check,
2.
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

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

storage period,

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

the

for

In the case of irregularities affecting at least 5 % of the
5.
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 0,10 per tonne per day of storage under contract for

the warehousing costs;

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

(i) EUR 0,28 per tonne for long-keeping cheeses;

(ii) EUR 0,35 per tonne for Pecorino Romano;

(iii) EUR 0,49 per tonne for Kefalotyri and Kasseri.

For the purposes of the check referred to in the first sub-
paragraph, the contractor shall notify the competent authority,
indicating the storage lots concerned, at least five working days

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.

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fails to comply with the time-limit
Where the contractor
referred to in the second or, as the case may be, third sub-
paragraph 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.

in Article 7(3) have been carried out and that the conditions for
entitlement to the aid have been met.

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.

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

Article 9

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 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, 16 May 2006.

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

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

Irish long-keeping
cheeses:
‘Irish long-keeping
cheese. Emmental,
special grade’

Austrian long-keeping
cheeses:
‘1. Güteklasse

Emmentaler/
Bergkäse/Alpkäse’

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’

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

16 000 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

1 000 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

900 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

1 700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

1 700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

1 700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

3 000 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

200 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

700 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

500 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

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Categories of cheeses

Quantities eligible
for aid

Minimum age
for cheeses

Period of entry
into storage

Period of removal
from storage

Hungarian long-
keeping cheeses:
‘Hajdú’

300 t

10 days

From 1 June to
30 September 2006

From 1 October 2006
to 31 March 2007

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 2005

90 days and
produced after
30 November 2005

From 1 June to
31 December 2006

Before 31 March 2007

From 1 June to
30 November 2006

Before 31 March 2007