Commission Regulation (EC) No 1468/2006 of 4 October 2006 amending Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003 establishing a levy in the milk and milk products sector
Date: 2006-10-04
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural levy, milk, milk product, regulation of agricultural production

L 274/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

5.10.2006

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1468/2006

of 4 October 2006

amending Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation
(EC) No 1788/2003 establishing a levy in the milk and milk products sector

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003 of
29 September 2003 establishing a levy in the milk and milk
products sector (1), and in particular Articles 3(3) and 24
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

the

individual

In order to ensure harmonised implementation of the
rules regarding the period of notice and conditions for
reference quantity or
withdrawal of
approval provided for in Articles 8(4) and 11(4) of
Commission Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 (2),
the
relevant provisions need clarification. Furthermore,
to
facilitate management by Member States the deadlines
set up in those Articles need to be adapted.

shown that

experience has

Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 provides for
the way the fat content of milk is to be taken into
account when drawing up the definitive statement of
quantities. The
some
producers whose reference fat content is very high and
not representative for their current dairy herd and milk
production can benefit from a significant fat correction.
In order to prevent the unfair use of the fat correction
mechanism, a limit for the negative correction of
fat
should therefore be set up. It is however appropriate to
apply this provision as from the 12 month period, as
referred to in Article 1(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1788/2003, starting on 1 April 2007 so that the quan-
tities of milk marketed during the current 12 month
period are not affected by the new arrangements.

In accordance with Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No
amended by Regulation (EC) No
1788/2003 as
the levy due shall be paid by Member
1406/2006,
States
to 30
in the period between 16 October
November of each year. Therefore the deadline set in
Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 in which
the levy due to the European Agricultural Guarantee
Fund (EAGF) has to be paid and declared should be
changed.

Article 26(3) of Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 provides
for an update of the questionnaire in Annex I to that
Regulation, duly completed pursuant to Article 8(2)(b) of
Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003, to be communicated to
the Commission before 1 December, 1 March, 1 June
and 1 September each year. Such updates may give rise
to a different amount of levy due. The way the adjusted
amounts due to the European Agricultural Guarantee
Fund (EAGF) in accordance with Article 3 of Regulation
(EC) No 1788/2003 have to be declared should therefore
be laid down.

In accordance with Article 16(1) of Regulation (EC) No
595/2004, Member States determine priority categories
of producers for redistributing the excess levy on the
basis of one or more objective criteria. Experience has
shown that Member states need more clarity and more
flexibility for the definition of priority categories.

In accordance with Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1788/2003, Member States are to pay the levy into the
EAGF within the limit of 99 % of the amount due. In
cases where the remaining 1 % is not fully needed for
cases of bankruptcy or definitive inability of producers to
pay the levy, Member States should be allowed to use the
remaining amount in accordance with the criteria for the
distribution of the excess levy provided for in Article
13(1) of that Regulation.

In accordance with Article 24(6) of Regulation (EC) No
595/2004 producers making direct sales have to keep
available all records of milk and milk products which
have been produced including those which have been
produced but not
transferred. These book-
keeping requirements are considered as disproportionate
for some small direct sellers producing marginal quan-
tities of
less than 5 000 kg milk equivalent. These
producers should therefore be exempted from the obli-
gation of keeping records of milk or milk products not
sold or transferred.

sold or

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 123. Regulation as last amended by

Regulation (EC) No 1406/2006 (OJ L 265, 26.9.2006, p. 8).

(2) OJ L 94, 31.3.2004, p. 22.

(9)

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

5.10.2006

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Official Journal of the European Union

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 is amended as follows:

1. In Article 8, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4. Where no declaration is submitted before 15 June,
Member States shall within 15 working days give formal
notice to the purchaser to submit such declaration within
15 days. Where no declaration is submitted at the end of
that period, Member States shall either withdraw approval or
require payment of an amount in proportion to the volume
of milk involved and the seriousness of the irregularity.

Paragraph 3 shall continue to apply during the period of
notice.’

2. In Article 10, paragraph 1, the following subparagraph is

inserted after the third subparagraph:

‘Where in application of the third subparagraph the adjusted
quantity of milk delivered by the producer is less than 75 %
of the quantity of the actual milk delivered and where the
producer's reference fat content is above 4,5 %, the indi-
vidual statement shall be drawn up on the basis of 75 %
of the actual quantity delivered.’

3. In Article 11, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

‘4. Where no declaration is submitted before 15 June,
Member States shall within 15 working days give formal
notice to the producer to submit the declaration within 15
days. Where no declaration is submitted at the end of that
period, the reference quantity for direct sales of the producer
concerned shall revert
to the national reserve. The first
subparagraph of paragraph 3 of this Article shall continue
to apply during the period of notice.’

resulting from the application of Article 3 of Regulation
(EC) No 1788/2003 together with the expenditure
declared in respect of November each year.

Where pursuant to Article 26(3) of this Regulation, the
Member States communicate an update of
the ques-
tionnaire provided for in paragraph 1 of that Article,
the resulting adjusted amounts shall be declared to the
EAGF at the latest together with the expenditure declared
in respect of the month before which the questionnaire
shall be communicated.’

5. Article 16 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 16

Criteria for redistributing the excess levy

1. Where appropriate, Member States shall determine the
priority categories of producers referred to in Article 13(1)(b)
of Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003, on the basis of one or
more of the following objective criteria:

(a)

formal acknowledgement by the competent authority of
Member State that all or part of
the levy has been
wrongly charged;

(b) the geographical

location of the holding and primarily
mountain areas within the meaning of Article 18 of
Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (*);

(c)

the maximum stocking density on the holding for the
purpose of extensive livestock production;

(d) the individual reference quantity is exceeded by less than
5 % or less than 15 000 kg, whichever is the lowest;

(e)

the level of
50 % of
quantity;

individual reference quantity is less than
reference

individual

the national

average

4. Article 15 is amended as follows:

(a)

in paragraphs 1 and 2,
‘October’;

‘September’

is replaced by

after consulting the Commission.

(f) other objective criteria adopted by the Member State

(b) paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

‘3.
Agricultural Guarantee

The Member States shall declare to the European
amounts

Fund (EAGF)

the

The redistribution of the excess levy shall be completed
2.
15 months after the end of the 12 month period in question
at the latest.

___________
(*) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.’

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6. The following Article 16a is inserted:

‘Article 16a

Use of the 1 % levy non-payable to the EAGF

to Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No
Where pursuant
1788/2003,
the 1 % levy not payable into the EAGF
exceeds the amount necessary to cover cases of bankruptcy
or definitive inability of certain producers to pay the levy,
Member States may use the excess in accordance with Article
13(1) of that Regulation.’

drawn up, stock records drawn up by 12-month period
giving details, per month and per product, of any sale or
transfer of milk or milk products.

Producers whose individual reference quantity of direct sales
is 5 000 kg or more shall also keep records of milk and milk
products which have been produced but not sold or trans-
ferred.

Member States may lay down more detailed rules.’

7. In Article 24(6), the first subparagraph is replaced by the

following:

‘Producers making direct sales shall keep available for the
competent authority of the Member State, for at least three
years from the end of the year in which the documents are

Article 2

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

Article 1(2) shall apply from 1 April 2007.

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

Done at Brussels, 4 October 2006.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission