Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2008 of 31 July 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1299/2007 on the recognition of producer groups for hops
Date: 2008-07-31
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, hops, producer organisation

1.8.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

L 205/3

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 753/2008

of 31 July 2008

amending Regulation (EC) No 1299/2007 on the recognition of producer groups for hops

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of
22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agri­
cultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agri­
cultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (1), and in particular
Article 127 in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Council Regulation (EC) No 1952/2005 of 23 November
2005 concerning the common organisation of
the
market in hops (2) is to be repealed from 1 July 2008
(EC)
under
No 1234/2007 (Single CMO Regulation).

Regulation

201(1)(c)

Article

of

Certain provisions relating to the producer groups laid
down in Regulation (EC) No 1952/2005 have not been
incorporated in the Single CMO Regulation. In order to
enable the hops sector to continue to function properly,
in
is necessary to lay down those provisions
it
of
1299/2007
Commission Regulation
6 November 2007 on the recognition of producer
groups for hops (3).

(EC) No

The Single CMO Regulation has laid down in Article 122
the general conditions for the recognition of producer
organisations by the Member States. Those conditions
should be specified for the hops sector. For sake of
consistency, the term ‘producer groups’ should continue
to be used in that sector.

the unity and effectiveness of

To avoid any discrimination between producers and to
any action
ensure
undertaken, conditions should be laid down,
for the
whole of the Community, with which producer groups
must comply in order to be recognised by the Member
States. To achieve an effective centralisation of supply, it
is necessary in particular that the groups should be of an
economically viable size and that the entire output of
producers should be marketed either directly by the
group or by the producers, according to common rules.

(5)

(6)

Regulation (EC) No 1299/2007 should be amended
accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural
Markets,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1299/2007 is amended as follows:

1. Article 1 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 1

1.
The authority competent to recognise producer organ­
isations as provided for in Article 122 of Council Regulation
(EC) No 1234/2007 (*), hereinafter referred to as “producer
groups”, shall be the Member State within whose territory
the producer group has its registered office.

2. Member States shall recognise producer groups which
request
general
fulfil
conditions:

recognition and

following

the

(a)

they have legal personality or sufficient legal capacity to
be subject, under national legislation, to rights and obli­
gations;

(b) they apply common rules for production and the first
marketing stage within the meaning of the second sub­
paragraph;

(c)

their statutes include an obligation for producers who
are members of groups to:

(1) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 510/2008 (OJ L 149, 7.6.2008,
p. 61).

(2) OJ L 314, 30.11.2005, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 289, 7.11.2007, p. 4.

(i) comply with the common rules on production and

decisions on the varieties to be grown;

(ii) market all their produce through the group;

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1.8.2008

(d) they provide proof of economically viable activity;

(e)

they exclude throughout their field of activity any dis­
crimination between Community producers or groups in
respect of,
their nationality or place of
establishment;

in particular,

(a) replace the obligation to have all

their production
in
marketed by the producer group provided for
paragraph 2(c)(ii) by the obligation to market
in
accordance with common rules incorporated in the
the producer group
statutes,
has the right to monitor selling prices, which it must
approve, failure to do so requiring the group to buy
back the hops concerned at a higher price;

in order to ensure that

(f)

they guarantee all producers who undertake to comply
with the statutes, without discrimination, the right to
belong to a group;

(b) market, through the offices of another producer group
chosen by their own group, products which by virtue of
their characteristics are not necessarily covered by them
commercial activities of the latter.

(g) their statutes include provisions aimed at ensuring that
the members of a group who wish to give up their
membership may do so after having been a member
for at least three years and provided that they inform
the group of their intention at least one year before they
leave, without prejudice to the national
laws or regu­
lations designed to protect, in specific cases, the group
or creditors thereof against the financial consequences
to
which might arise from a member
prevent a member from leaving during the financial year;

leaving, or

(h) their statutes include the obligation to keep separate
accounts for the activities in respect of which they
have been recognised;

(i)

they do not hold a dominant position in the
Community.

5.
The common rules referred to in paragraph 2, points
(b) and (c)(i) shall be laid down in writing. These rules shall
comprise at least:

(a) as regards production:

(i) provisions concerning the use of one or more
specified varieties when renewing plantations or
creating new ones;

(ii) provisions

concerning

compliance with certain

methods of cultivation and plant protection;

(iii) provisions concerning harvesting, drying and, where

appropriate, preparation for marketing;

The first marketing stage means the sale of hops by the
producer himself or,
in the case of a producer group, the
sale of hops by its members to the wholesale trade or to the
user industries.

(b) as regards placing on the market, particularly where
concentration and conditions of supply are concerned:

3.
The obligation provided for in paragraph 2(c) shall not
apply to products covered by sales contracts concluded by
producers before they joined the producer group, provided
that the latter was informed of and approved such contracts.

(i) general provisions governing sales by the group;

(ii) provisions

relating to the quantities which the
producers are authorised to sell themselves and the
rules governing these sales.

4.
By way of derogation from paragraph 2(c)(ii), where
the producer group so authorises and under the conditions
it lays down, members of a producer group may:

___________
(*) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.’

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2. In Article 2, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

Article 2

‘2.
In accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 195(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007,
a
Member State may be authorised, on request, to recognise
a
than
60 hectares,
the areas are situated in a recognised
production region covering less than 100 hectares.’

registered areas

group whose

comprise

less

if

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 July 2008.

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

Done at Brussels, 31 July 2008.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission