Commission Regulation (EC) No 1433/2007 of 5 December 2007 amending Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard to market mechanisms
Date: 2007-12-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: award of contract, common organisation of markets, distillation, intervention agency, motor spirit, viticulture

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Official Journal of the European Union

6.12.2007

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1433/2007

of 5 December 2007

amending Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council
Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard
to market mechanisms

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17
May 1999 on the common organisation of
in
wine (1), and in particular Article 33(1) thereof,

the market

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Article 31(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 stipulates
that alcohol taken over by the intervention agencies is
disposed of either by public sale or by tendering
procedures.

Tendering procedures for alcohol are the only sales from
intervention in the agricultural sector for which the
Commission manages the decision on and opens each
sale of this product. In the interests of simplifying legis-
lation and with a view to harmonising measures to
manage agricultural markets under the single common
organisation of
the market, a standing invitation to
tender for the sale of alcohol should be opened by the
Commission as well as partial
invitations to tender
opened by the Member States.

To ensure that the information on the partial invitations
to tender in the Member States is accessible by all
infor-
approved undertakings in the Community,
mation should be published in electronic form.

that

To prevent all the alcohol in stock from being sold all at
once or for the benefit of
the
maximum quantity that may be put up for sale under
each partial invitation to tender should be limited.

just one undertaking,

is disposed of regularly and
To ensure that alcohol
optimally, and taking account of
the slack period
during the summer and at Christmas, a deadline for
the partial
invitations to tender should be laid down
once a month, except in July and December.

(6)

(7)

(8)

The various stages and characteristics of the partial invi-
tations to tender should be specified.

Recent experience has shown that plans of the plants
where the alcohol
is processed into absolute alcohol
are not essential for approval of undertakings that may
participate in the sale of alcohol for use in the form of
bioethanol in the Community. That requirement should
therefore be removed from the list of documents to be
provided for approval.

To protect the interests of tendering undertakings during
the partial invitations to tender, provision should be laid
down to limit the physical movement of alcohol put up
for sale between the time when the notice for the partial
invitation to tender is published and its removal by the
undertaking awarded the contract.

(9)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 (2) should
therefore be amended accordingly.

(10)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Title III, Chapter IV is amended as follows:

(a) in subsection III, Articles 92 to 94(d) shall be replaced by

the following:

‘Article 92

Standing invitation to tender

A standing invitation to tender

is
1.
hereby issued for exclusive use in the fuel sector in the
form of bioethanol in the Community.

for alcohol

(1) OJ L 179, 14.7.1999, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

(2) OJ L 194, 31.7.2000, p. 45. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1234/2007 (OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1).

lation (EC) No 923/2007 (OJ L 201, 2.8.2007, p. 9).

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A notice of a standing invitation to tender shall be

2.
published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(e) the formalities for obtaining samples;

Article 92a

Partial invitations to tender

shall

agencies

organise

Intervention

partial
1.
the
tendering rounds during the term of validity of
standing invitation to tender. To that end, intervention
agencies shall publish notices of invitation to tender and
ensure that they are properly publicised, in particular by
displaying them at their head offices and on their website
or the website of the competent ministry.

2.
The notice of invitation to tender shall indicate in
particular the time limit and place for the submission of
tenders. Each partial
invitation to tender shall cover a
maximum quantity of 100 000 hl.

The time limit for the submission of tenders for
3.
each partial
shall be the last
working day of each month at 13.00 Brussels time. No
tenders shall be submitted in July and December.

invitation to tender

4.
The first partial invitation to tender shall take place
in the month following that in which the standing invi-
tation to tender is published.

5.
Each Member State whose stocks of Community
wine alcohol reach or exceed 100 000 hl shall open a
partial
invitation to tender within the meaning of this
Article.

Article 93

Notices of partial invitations to tender

For the quantities of alcohol which they hold,
inter-
vention agencies shall indicate, in addition to the infor-
mation referred to in Article 92a(2):

(a) the special rules applicable to the tendering procedure
and the location of the stores in which the alcohol to
be sold is stored;

(b) the quantity of alcohol, expressed in hectolitres of
covered by the partial

at 100 % vol.,

alcohol
tendering procedure;

(c) the lots;

(d) the payment terms;

(f)

the amount of the tendering security referred to in
subparagraph of Article 94(1) and the
the first
performance guarantee referred to in Article 94c(3).

Article 93a

Approval of undertakings

1.
The alcohol shall be awarded to undertakings estab-
lished in the Community and must be used for the
purposes laid down in Article 92.

For

the purpose of

2.
the award referred to in
paragraph 1, Member States shall approve undertakings
deemed eligible by them which have submitted an appli-
cation accompanied by the following documents:

(a) a declaration by the undertaking stating that it is
capable of using at least 50 000 hl of alcohol a year;

(b) the

location of

the undertaking’s

administrative

offices;

(c) the names and addresses of the plants where the
is processed into absolute alcohol, and an

alcohol
indication of their annual processing capacity;

(d) a copy of the permit granted by the national auth-
orities of the Member State concerned to operate the
plants;

(e) an assurance by the undertaking that all

final
purchasers of the alcohol will only use it for the
production of fuel
in the Community in the form
of bioethanol.

Approval by a Member State

3.
throughout the Community.

shall be valid

4.
Undertakings approved by 9 December 2007 shall
be considered to have been approved for the purposes of
this Regulation.

5. Member States
inform the Commission
without delay of any new approval or withdrawal of
approval, indicating the exact date of the decision.

shall

6.
After each amendment, the Commission shall make
an updated list of the approved undertakings available to
the Member States without delay.

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Article 93b

Rule applicable to alcohol

Intervention agencies shall take the necessary steps to
in the vats to which the sale
ensure that the alcohol
relates is not physically moved until a removal order
covering it has been issued, except
in the case of a
substitution decided by the intervention agency for
the conditions for which shall be
logistical
clearly set out in the notice of partial invitation to tender.

reasons,

Article 93c

Submission of tenders

1.
Undertakings approved by the date of publication
of the notice of partial invitation to tender may submit
tenders in writing either by delivery by hand to the
intervention agency holding the alcohol against proof
of receipt, or by any other written means of telecom-
munication against proof of receipt.

2.
Tenderers may submit only one tender in response
to a lot. If a tenderer submits more than one, none of
those tenders shall be admissible.

Article 94

Rules applicable to tenders

tenders, when
1.
To be eligible for consideration,
submitted, must be accompanied by proof
that a
tendering security of EUR 4 per hectolitre of alcohol at
100 % vol. has been lodged with the intervention agency
holding the alcohol concerned.

Intervention agencies shall send this information to

2.
the Commission in the form of an anonymous list.

If no tenders have been submitted,

intervention
3.
agencies shall communicate this to the Commission
within the same time limit.

Article 94b

Award of contracts

tenders

On the basis of

the
the
1.
Commission, acting in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 75 of Regulation (EC) No
1493/1999,
to award
shall decide whether or not
contracts.

submitted,

the most

Should a contract be awarded,

the Commission
2.
shall accept
favourable tender per lot and
shall set the sale price for each lot. If for the same lot
several tenders quote the same price, the intervention
body shall allocate the quantity concerned either by
sharing the quantity between these tenderers, with their
agreement, or by drawing lots.

3.
The Commission shall notify the decisions taken
under this Article to those Member States and inter-
vention agencies holding alcohol to which tenders have
been submitted.

The Commission shall publish the results of the
4.
tendering procedure in a simplified form in the Official
Journal of the European Union.

To that end, the intervention agencies concerned shall
immediately issue tenderers with a statement certifying
that the tendering security has been lodged for the quan-
tities for which each agency is responsible.

Article 94c

Statement of award

2.
The primary requirements within the meaning of
Article 20 of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 shall be that
tenders are not withdrawn after the closing date for their
submission, that a performance guarantee is lodged and
that the price is paid.

Article 94a

Notifications relating to tenders

The intervention agency shall inform tenderers in
1.
writing, without delay against a receipt, of the decision
taken on their tenders.

2. Within two weeks of the date of receipt of the
information notice referred to in paragraph 1, the inter-
vention agency shall issue each successful tenderer with a
statement of award certifying that their tender has been
accepted.

On the day following the closing date referred to in
1.
inform the
intervention agencies shall
Article 92a(3),
Commission of
the lots and the prices offered by
tenderers and the quantity of alcohol making up each
Intervention agencies shall also indicate whether
lot.
any tenders have been rejected and,
if so, the reasons
for such rejection.

3. Within two weeks of the date of receipt of the
information notice referred to in paragraph 1, each
successful tenderer shall provide proof that they have
lodged with the
intervention agency concerned a
performance guarantee of EUR 40 per hectolitre of
alcohol at 100 % vol.
the alcohol
awarded is used for the purposes laid down in Article 92.

to ensure that all

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Article 94ca

Article 94e

Notifying the Commission

Release of the tendering security

Within five working days of receipt of
the decision
the intervention agency
referred to in Article 94b(3),
shall inform the Commission of the name and address
of the tenderer for each tender submitted.

Where a tender has been unsuccessful,
provided for
mediately.’

the security
in Article 94(1) shall be released im-

Article 94d

Removal of the alcohol

The intervention agency holding the alcohol and
shall agree on a provisional

1.
the successful
timetable for the staggered removal of the alcohol.

tenderer

2.
The alcohol may be removed on presentation of a
removal order issued by the intervention agency once the
quantity to be removed has been paid for. That quantity
shall be determined to the nearest hectolitre of alcohol at
100 % vol.

Each removal order shall cover a quantity of at least
1 500 hectolitres, except in the case of the last removal
in each Member State.

be

removed

The removal order shall state the date by which the
alcohol must
from the
physically
warehouse of the intervention agency concerned. The
deadline for removal shall not be more than eight days
from the day following the date of issue of the removal
order. However, where the removal order covers a
quantity in excess of 25 000 hectolitres, that deadline
may be more than eight days, but not more than 15
days.

3.
Ownership of the alcohol covered by a removal
order shall be transferred on the date indicated in the
order, which may not be after its date of validity, and the
quantities concerned shall be deemed to have been
the purchaser
removed on that date. From then on,
shall be responsible for any theft,
loss or destruction
and for
the storage costs of any alcohol awaiting
removal.

4.
Physical removal of the alcohol must be completed
six months after the date of receipt of the notification of
acceptance referred to in Article 94c(1).

The alcohol must be fully used within two years

5.
from the date of first removal.

(b) in subsection IV, Articles 95 and 96 shall be replaced by

the following:

‘Article 95

Rules applicable to public sales of alcohol

1. With a view to drawing up the rules for opening a
public sale of alcohol, the Commission shall request each
Member State concerned to inform it of:

(a) the quantity of alcohol, expressed in hectolitres of
alcohol at 100 % vol., that may be offered for sale;

(b) the type of alcohol concerned;

(c) the quality of

laying down
the lots of alcohol,
maximum and minimum values for the characteristics
referred to in Article 96(4)(d)(i) and (ii) of this Regu-
lation.

No more than 12 days after receiving this request, the
Member States concerned shall inform the Commission
of the exact location and references of the various vats of
alcohol meeting the quality requirements and containing
a total quantity of alcohol not less than that referred to
in (a) in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

2.
Once the information referred to in the second
subparagraph of paragraph 1 has been forwarded to
the Commission,
in the vats concerned
may not be moved until a removal order covering it
has been issued.

the alcohol

This prohibition shall not relate to alcohol in vats not
covered by the notices of public
sale of alcohol
concerned or not specified in the Commission decision
referred to in Articles 83 to 93.

reasons

logistical

in particular,

For
the intervention
agencies holding the vats of alcohol specified in the
notification from the Member States
referred to in
paragraph 1 may replace the alcohol concerned with
other alcohol of the same type or mix it with other
alcohol delivered to the intervention agency until a
removal order is issued for the alcohol concerned. The
intervention agencies of the Member States shall notify
the Commission that the alcohol has been replaced.

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Article 96

Rules applicable to lots

1.

The alcohol shall be sold in lots.

2.
A lot shall consist of a quantity of alcohol of suf-
ficiently uniform quality, which may be contained in
several vats and kept at several locations.

Each lot shall be numbered. The letters “EC” shall

3.
precede the numbers of the lots.

Each lot shall be described. The following infor-

4.
mation at least shall be given:

(a) the

location of

reference
lot,
identifying each vat containing the alcohol, and the
quantity of alcohol in each vat;

including a

the

2. Article 101(4) is replaced by the following:

‘4. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, when the alcohol is
exported to third countries for end use in the motor fuel
sector only, the checks on its actual use shall be carried out
up to the moment when the alcohol
is mixed with a de-
naturing agent in the country of destination.

Where the alcohol is disposed of for use as bioethanol in the
Community, those checks shall be carried out up to the
moment when the alcohol
is delivered to an approved
firm as indicated in Article 93a.

In the cases provided for in the first and second subpara-
graphs, the alcohol concerned must remain under the super-
vision of an official body which guarantees its use in the
motor fuel sector under special
tax arrangements which
require that enduse.’

(b) the total quantity, expressed in hectolitres of alcohol
at 100 % vol. The quantity may vary by up to 1 %
and may not exceed 50 000 hectolitres;

3. Article 102 shall be replaced as follows:

(c) the minimum alcoholic strength of the alcohol

in

each vat, expressed in % vol.;

‘Article 102

(d) if possible, the quality of the lot, specifying upper and

lower limits for the following:

(i) the acidity, expressed in grams of acetic acid per

hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % vol.;

(ii) the methanol content, expressed in grams per

hectolitre of alcohol at 100 % vol.;

Use of surveillance firms

The partial notice of
invitation to tender referred to in
Article 92a(1) may stipulate that an independent surveillance
firm is to be used to check on the proper conduct of the
tendering procedure, particularly the final destination and/or
end use of the alcohol. The cost of such services shall be
borne by the successful tenderer, as shall the cost of analysis
and verification pursuant to Article 99 of this Regulation.’

(e) reference to the intervention measure which gave rise
to the production of
the alcohol, specifying the
relevant Article of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999.’

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

Article 2

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

Done at Brussels, 5 December 2007.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission