Commission Regulation (EC) No 883/2007 of 26 July 2007 amending Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 establishing procedures for the taking-over of cereals by intervention agencies and laying down methods of analysis for determining the quality of cereals
Date: 2007-07-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: cereals, common organisation of markets, intervention agency, quality control of agricultural products

27.7.2007

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 883/2007

of 26 July 2007

amending Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 establishing procedures for the taking-over of cereals by
intervention agencies and laying down methods of analysis for determining the quality of cereals

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

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:

in Greece, Spain,

Italy and Portugal,

for the submission of offers for maize running from
1 August
from
1 December in Sweden and from 1 November in the
other Member States, with 31 December as the last day
for the submission of offers in all Member States. At the
end of this first period the Commission will be obliged,
where appropriate, to fix an award coefficient for the
admissible offers submitted during this first period and
to close the intervention for
the
marketing year where the quantities offered exceed the
quantity laid down in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1784/2003. To avoid placing administrative and financial
burdens on the intervention agencies and on operators
by requiring securities to be lodged which could prove
unnecessary in the absence of quantities to be awarded,
provision should be made for a break in the submission
of offers between 1 January and the date of publication
in the Official Journal of the European Union of the quantity
remaining available for intervention in the second period.

the remainder of

(1)

(2)

Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003, as
limits the
amended by Regulation (EC) No 735/2007,
quantities of maize which may be bought in by inter-
vention agencies throughout the Community to a total of
1 500 000 tonnes
in the 2007/08 marketing year,
700 000 tonnes in the 2008/09 marketing year and
0 tonnes from the 2009/10 marketing year onwards.

(4)

To ensure the satisfactory management of the system for
intervention buying-in of maize, and to give economic
operators in all Member States access to the intervention
system under equivalent conditions, detailed procedures
should be laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No
824/2000 (2) specific to the award of the quantities of
maize eligible for intervention. To this end, a mechanism
should be introduced for the award of those quantities,
covering the periods of the marketing year in which
operators may submit offers, giving them sufficient
time to submit
their offers and allowing a uniform
award coefficient to be fixed for all offerers where the
quantities offered exceed those available. Provision should
therefore be made for the offers to be examined in two
periods, and timetables should be laid down for the
submission of offers for maize and for deliveries and
the associated take-overs.

first day for

Given the time needed to fix the award coefficient for the
first period where necessary, the second period for the
submission of offers should commence on the day
following the date of publication in the Official Journal
of the European Union of the quantity remaining available
the
for
this being the
intervention,
submission of offers
In this
in all Member States.
the acceptance of offers should take
second period,
place once a week, starting the first Friday following
the publication of that quantity, on the basis of offers
submitted by operators by 12.00 (Brussels time) on the
Friday at the latest. Each week, by Wednesday at the
latest, the Commission should post on its Internet site
information for operators as to the remaining quantity
available for intervention. Where the quantity laid down
in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 is
the Commission should fix and publish an
exceeded,
award coefficient and close the intervention for
the
marketing year in question. In view of the intervention
buying-in periods provided for in Article 5(2) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1784/2003, the second period for the
the
submission of offers should in any case end at
latest by 30 April in Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal,
30 June in Sweden and 31 May in the other Member
States.

(3)

Taking into account the periods for intervention buying-
in laid down in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1784/2003, and to ensure equivalent
treatment of
operators, provision should be made for a first period

(5)

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 78. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 735/2007 (OJ L 169, 29.6.2007, p. 6).

(2) OJ L 100, 20.4.2000, p. 31. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1572/2006 (OJ L 290, 20.10.2006, p. 29).

To allow sound management of the award mechanism, it
should be laid down that offers for maize may not be
altered or withdrawn. Moreover, to ensure that offers are
genuine,
to the lodging of a
security, and the terms for checking that offers are
genuine and for releasing the security should be laid
down. To this end, this check should follow the same

they should be subject

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in the

and the

form of public
accounting of public

rules and conditions as those applicable to checks on
stocks in public storage under Commission Regulation
(EC) No 884/2006 of 21 June 2006 laying down
detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1290/2005 as regards the financing by the
European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) of inter-
storage
vention measures
operations
storage
operations by the paying agencies of
the Member
States (1). In addition, between the start of the submission
of offers in the first period and 31 December, several
financial
months may elapse. To avoid placing a
burden on operators
first
period, it should be allowed for the security that has to
be lodged on submission of the offers, when it is lodged
in the form of a bank guarantee, not to be payable until
the day following the final day for the submission of
offers.

submitting offers

in this

(6)

(7)

Under Article 5(4) and (5) of Regulation (EC) No
824/2000, cereals may be taken over in the store in
which they are being held at the time of the offer. To
improve the quality of storage conditions and provide a
guarantee of this from the time the offers are submitted,
the places where the cereals are stored at the time of the
offer should be such as to guarantee the best possible
conservation, in particular over a long period as regards
maize. It is therefore necessary to limit the possibility of
taking over the cereals in the offerer's store and to
authorise this kind of take-over only where the cereals
are kept by storers within the meaning of Article 2(2)(a)
the
of Regulation (EC) No 884/2006.
offerer should undertake to apply mutatis mutandis in
his
from submission
storer,
of his offer, the same rules and conditions of storage
and control as are applicable under Regulation (EC)
No 884/2006.

relations with the

In such cases,

as

Under Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 824/2000, the
price payable to the offerer is the intervention price
referred to in Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1784/2003, valid on the date specified as the first day
of delivery when notice was given of acceptance of the
offer, for goods delivered at warehouse, before unloading,
adjusted in accordance with the increases and reductions
referred to in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 824/2000.
Taking into account the new system for managing inter-
vention buying-in of maize introduced by this Regu-
lation, and in particular the fact that offers for maize
may not be withdrawn or altered,
is necessary to
derogate from that rule for offers of maize where the
intervention price for the month of the offer is above
the month in which the
the intervention price for
delivery takes place.

it

be compiled on changes in the intervention stocks of
cereals. Taking into account
the new system for
managing intervention buying-in of maize introduced
by this Regulation,
these
provisions, specifically those relating to the notification
of offers by the intervention agencies to the Commission.

is necessary to adjust

it

(9)

In the interests of sound management of the system, the
information required by the Commission should be sent
on the basis of models containing the information
required to manage intervention, made available by the
Commission to the Member States, and these models
should apply once the Management Committee for
Cereals has been informed and then, where applicable,
adapted and updated by the Commission under the same
conditions.

(10)

Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

(11) As the intervention period in Greece, Spain, Italy and
Portugal starts on 1 August, the measures provided for
in this Regulation should apply from that date.

(12)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 is hereby amended as follows:

1. The following Article 3a is inserted:

‘Article 3a

1. Without prejudice to Article 4 of this Regulation, the
quantities of maize eligible for intervention in accordance
with the second subparagraph of Article 5(1) of Regulation
(EC) No 1784/2003, shall be awarded, for the 2007/08 and
in two periods, “period 1” and
2008/09 marketing years,
“period 2”,
in accordance with the terms and procedures
laid down in paragraphs 2 to 5 of this Article.

(8)

Article 11a(a) of Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 details
the information that Member States must forward to
the Commission so that a weekly statistical report can

(1) OJ L 171, 23.6.2006, p. 35. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 721/2007 (OJ L 164, 26.6.2007, p. 4).

Period 1 shall start on 1 August in Greece, Spain, Italy and
Portugal, 1 December in Sweden and 1 November in the
other Member States and shall run until 31 December, the
final day for the submission of offers for all Member States
for this period.

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Journal of

the European Union of

Period 2 shall start on the day following the publication in
the Official
the quantity
which remains available for intervention in that period, as
referred to in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2. That
day shall be the first day for the submission of offers in all
the Member States and that period shall end not later than
30 April
in Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, 30 June in
Sweden and 31 May in the other Member States.

2.
At the end of period 1, the Commission shall enter in
the accounts the admissible offers for maize submitted by
operators to the intervention agencies of the Member States
by 12.00 (Brussels time) on 31 December, on the basis of
the notifications made each week by the Member States in
accordance with Article 11a(1)(a)(i).

If the total quantity offered exceeds the maximum quantities
laid down in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003,
the Commission shall fix and publish, not later than 25
January, an award coefficient to six decimal places to be
applied to the quantities. If there is no overrun, this award
coefficient shall be 1 and the Commission shall publish the
quantity which remains
intervention in
period 2.

available

for

Not later than 31 January, the intervention agency of the
Member State shall notify the offerer that the offer has been
to the quantity offered
accepted for a quantity equal
multiplied by the award coefficient.

From the first Wednesday in February, the Commission
3.
shall enter in the accounts each week the admissible offers
to the intervention
for maize submitted by operators
agencies of
the
previous week at 12.00 (Brussels time), on the basis of the
notifications made by the Member States in accordance with
Article 11a(1)(a)(i).

the Member States by the Friday of

the Commission shall

Where there is an overrun of the quantity which remains
available for intervention,
fix and
publish not later than the fourth working day following
the deadline for the submission of offers, an award coef-
ficient to six decimal places to be applied to the quantities.
If there is no overrun, this award coefficient shall be 1, the
quantities offered shall be deemed to have been accepted and
each week, by Wednesday at the latest, the Commission shall
post on its
site http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/
markets/crops/index_fr.htm information for operators as to
the remaining quantity available for intervention in the week
in question.

Internet

The offers referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be
intervention

4.
entered in the accounts by the competent
agency on the date of their receipt.

Once submitted, offers may not be altered or withdrawn.

5.
To be admissible, the offers shall be accompanied by
proof that the offerer has lodged a security of EUR 15 per
tonne. This security shall be lodged on submission of the
offer, but may be payable, if lodged during period 1 in the
form of a bank guarantee, only from the day following the
referred to in
submission of offers
for
deadline
paragraph 2.

the

The security shall cover the quantities offered by the

6.
offerer in accordance with paragraphs 2 or 3.

Except in cases of force majeure or in exceptional circum-
the
stances,
Community budget where:

security

forfeit

shall

fully

the

be

to

(a)

the quantities present in the place of storage, between
the submission of the offer and the take-over of the
maize, are below the quantities declared by the offerer
in accordance with Article 4(1), without prejudice to a
5 % margin of tolerance;

(b) the quantities awarded are not in fact supplied by the
take-over by the intervention agency in

offerer
accordance with Articles 2 and 5.

for

For the purposes of applying point (a) of the second sub-
paragraph of this paragraph, the intervention agencies shall
carry out checks on the quantities present in the places of
storage by applying mutatis mutandis the rules and conditions
laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 884/2006 (*),
as regards checks on the physical presence of products
stored under public storage operations, and more specifically
those provided for under point B.III of Annex I to that
Regulation. These controls shall be carried out on at least
5 % of the offers and 5 % of the quantities offered, on the
basis of a risk analysis. These minimal control rates shall
apply only during period 1.

The security shall be released in its entirety:

(a)

for quantities offered but not awarded; and

Not later than the ninth working day following the deadline
for the submission of offers, the intervention agency of the
Member State shall notify the offerer that the offer has been
accepted for a quantity equal
to the quantity offered
multiplied by the award coefficient.

(b) for quantities offered and awarded, from the moment
that 95 % of the quantity awarded has actually been
taken over by the intervention agency.

___________
(*) OJ L 171, 23.6.2006, p. 35.’.

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2. Article 4 is amended as follows:

(a)

in paragraph 1, point (e) is replaced by the following:

this Regulation is applied,

‘(e) the intervention centre for which the offer is made
and, where the second subparagraph of Article 5(1)
of
the offerer's under-
in his relations with the storer,
taking to ensure,
that
and
control provided for under Article 2(2)(a) of Regu-
applied mutatis
lation (EC) No 884/2006 are
mutandis
to the place of storage referred to in
point (c) of this paragraph.’;

and conditions of

storage

rules

the

‘6.
The last take-over shall take place, in the case of
cereals other than maize, at the latest at the end of the
second month following the month of the final delivery
referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 4(4) and,
in the case of maize, not later than the end of the second
month following each of the final deliveries referred to in
the second subparagraph of Article 4(4), and in any
event not later than 31 July in Spain, Greece, Italy and
Portugal and 31 August in the other Member States.’

4. In Article 8(1) the second sentence of the second subpara-

graph is replaced by the following:

(b) in paragraph 3, the third subparagraph is deleted;

‘This provision shall not apply to sorghum offered in August
and September.’

(c)

the following paragraph 4 is added:

5. Article 11a is replaced by the following:

‘4.
In the case of cereals offered into intervention
other than maize, the final delivery shall be made not
later than the end of the fourth month following the
month during which the offer was received, without,
however, being later than 1 July in Spain, Greece, Italy
and Portugal and 31 July in the other Member States.

‘Article 11a

1.
For every cereal listed in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC)
No 1784/2003, each Member State shall forward by elec-
tronic means the information required to manage inter-
vention, and in particular:

later

the delivery shall be made between 1
For maize,
in the case of offers made in
February and 30 April
period 1, and not
the third
month following the month in which the offer was
received in the case of offers made in period 2,
without, however, being later than 1 July in Spain,
Greece,
Italy and Portugal and 31 July in the other
Member States.’

than the end of

3. Article 5 is amended as follows:

(a)

in paragraph 1 the following second and third subpara-
graphs are added:

‘This take-over may take place in the store in which the
cereals are being held at the time of the offer, provided
that the storage is on the premises of a “storer” within
the meaning of Article 2(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No
884/2006 and that the same rules and conditions as
applicable to those premises, after
the
cereals for intervention, apply as from submission of
the offer.

take-over of

For maize, the quantity taken over may not exceed the
quantity awarded in accordance with Article 3a(2)
and (3).’;

(b) paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:

(a) every Wednesday by 12.00 (Brussels time):

(i) the quantities of cereals offered into intervention
than 12.00
submitted by operators not
(Brussels time) on the Friday of the previous week,
in accordance with Articles 4 and 3a of this Regu-
lation;

later

(ii) the quantities of cereals, other than maize, offered
into intervention,
for which the offer has been
withdrawn by the offerer since the start of the inter-
vention period;

(iii) the total quantities of cereals offered for intervention
after the start of the intervention period, net of the
quantities referred to in point (ii);

(iv) the total quantities of cereals taken over since the
start of the intervention period, in accordance with
Article 5 of this Regulation;

(b) on the Wednesday following the publication of the invi-
tation to tender, the quantities of cereals put up for
tender in accordance with Article 2(2) of Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2131/93 (*);

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(c) on the Wednesday following the date on which the
Member State defines the lots concerned, the quantities
of cereals intended for distribution free of charge to the
most deprived persons in the Community in accordance
with Council Regulation (EEC) No 3730/87 (**);

The form and content of the notifications referred to in
3.
paragraph 1 shall be defined on the basis of models made
available by the Commission to the Member States. These
models shall not apply until the Management Committee for
Cereals has been informed.

(d) by the end of

the month following the take-over
deadline referred to in Article 5(6) of this Regulation,
by region set out in Annex III to Council Regulation
(EEC) No 837/90 (***), the average results of specific
weight, moisture content, percentage of broken grains
and protein content recorded for the lots of cereals
taken over.

2.
The notifications referred to in paragraph 1 shall be
made even if no quantity has been offered. In the absence of
any notification of the information referred to in paragraph
1(a)(i), the Commission shall consider that no offer has been
submitted in the Member State concerned.

They shall be adapted and updated by the Commission
under the same conditions.
___________

(*) OJ L 191, 31.7.1993, p. 76.
(**) OJ L 352, 15.12.1987, p. 1.
(***) OJ L 88, 3.4.1990, p. 1.’

Article 2

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

It shall apply from 1 August 2007.

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

Done at Brussels, 26 July 2007.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission