Commission Regulation (EC) No 878/2008 of 9 September 2008 opening a standing invitation to tender for the resale for industrial use of sugar held by the intervention agencies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden
Date: 2008-09-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, agro-industry, award of contract, intervention agency, sale, sugar

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Official Journal of the European Union

10.9.2008

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 878/2008

of 9 September 2008

opening a standing invitation to tender for the resale for industrial use of sugar held by the
intervention agencies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden

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 (1),
in
conjunction with Article 4 thereof,

and in particular Article 43(d)

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

as

regards

the management

Article 39(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No
952/2006 of 29 June 2006 laying down detailed rules
the application of Council Regulation (EC) No
for
318/2006
the
Community market in sugar and the quota system (2)
provides that the intervention agencies may sell sugar
only after a decision to that effect has been adopted by
the Commission. Given the continued existence of inter­
vention stocks, it is appropriate to provide for the possi­
bility to sell for industrial use sugar held by the inter­
vention agencies.

of

Such a decision was taken by Commission Regulation
(EC) No 1476/2007 of 13 December 2007 opening a
standing invitation to tender for the resale for industrial
sugar held by the intervention agencies of
use of
Belgium,
Italy,
Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden and amending Regu­
lations (EC) Nos 1059/2007 and 1060/2007 (3). Under
that Regulation, tenders may be submitted for the last
time between 10 and 24 September 2008.

the Czech Republic, Spain,

Ireland,

to exist

It is foreseeable that intervention stocks of sugar will
the Member States
in most of
continue
concerned after expiry of that last possibility to submit
tenders. In order to respond to the continued market
is therefore appropriate to open a further
needs,
standing invitation to tender
to make these stocks
available for industrial use.

it

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

(11)

To allow comparison of
tender prices for sugar of
different qualities, the tender price should refer to sugar
of the standard quality as defined in Part B of Annex IV
to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007.

intervention agencies of Belgium,

the Czech
The
Republic, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden
should communicate the tenders to the Commission.
The tenderers should remain anonymous.

To take account of
the situation on the Community
market, provision should be made for the Commission
to fix a minimum selling price for each partial invitation
to tender.

The minimum selling price refers to sugar of the standard
quality. Provision should be made to adjust the selling
price in cases where the sugar is not of this quality.

The quantities available for a Member State that can be
awarded pursuant to this Regulation should take into
account the quantities awarded pursuant to Commission
Regulation (EC) No 877/2008 of 9 September 2008
opening a standing invitation to tender for the resale
on the Community market of sugar held by the inter­
vention agencies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Ireland,
Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden (4).

In order to ensure proper management of sugar in
storage, provision should be made for a communication
from the Member States to the Commission on the quan­
tities actually sold.

records,

The provisions on processor’s
checks and
penalties laid down by Commission Regulation (EC) No
967/2006 of 29 June 2006 laying down detailed rules
for
the application of Council Regulation (EC) No
318/2006 as regards sugar production in excess of the
quota (5) should apply to the quantities awarded under
this Regulation.

(4)

Pursuant
to Article 42(2)(c) of Regulation (EC) No
952/2006, it is appropriate to fix a minimum quantity
per tenderer or per lot.

(12)

To ensure that the quantities awarded pursuant to this
Regulation are used as industrial sugar, financial penalties
must be laid down for tenderers at a dissuasive level to
avoid any risk of these quantities being used for other
purposes.

(1) OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 178, 1.7.2006, p. 39.
(3) OJ L 329, 14.12.2007, p. 17.

(4) See page 3 of this Official Journal.
(5) OJ L 176, 30.6.2006, p. 22.

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(13)

The second paragraph of Article 59 of Regulation (EC)
No 952/2006 provides that Commission Regulation (EC)
No 1262/2001 (1) continues to apply to sugar accepted
into intervention before 10 February 2006. However, for
the resale of intervention sugar, this distinction is un­
necessary and its implementation would create adminis­
trative difficulties for Member States.
is therefore
appropriate to exclude the application of Regulation
(EC) No 1262/2001 to the resale of intervention sugar
pursuant to this Regulation.

It

(14)

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

The intervention agencies of Belgium,
the Czech Republic,
Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia and Sweden listed in Annex I
shall offer for sale by standing invitation to tender for industrial
use a maximum total quantity of 345 539 tonnes of sugar
accepted into intervention and available for sale for industrial
use.

The maximum quantities involved per Member State are set out
in Annex I.

Article 2

The period during which tenders may be submitted in
1.
response to the first partial invitation to tender shall begin on
1 October 2008 and shall end on 15 October 2008 at 15.00
Brussels time.

The periods during which tenders may be submitted in response
to the second and subsequent partial invitations shall begin on
the first working day following the end of the preceding period.
They shall end at 15.00 Brussels time on:

— 29 October 2008,

— 12 and 26 November 2008,

— 3 and 17 December 2008,

— 7 and 28 January 2009,

— 11 and 25 February 2009,

— 11 and 25 March 2009,

— 15 and 29 April 2009,

— 13 and 27 May 2009,

— 10 and 24 June 2009,

— 1 and 15 July 2009,

— 5 and 26 August 2009,

— 9 and 23 September 2009.

The tender price shall refer to white sugar and raw sugar
2.
of the standard quality as defined in Part B of Annex IV to
Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007.

The minimum quantity of the tender per lot referred to in
3.
Article 42(2)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 952/2006 shall be 100
tonnes, unless the available quantity for that lot is less than 100
tonnes. In such cases the available quantity must be tendered.

Tenders shall be lodged with the intervention agency

4.
holding the sugar as set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

Tenders may be submitted only by processors within the

5.
meaning of Article 2(d) of Regulation (EC) No 967/2006.

Article 3

The intervention agencies concerned shall communicate to the
Commission tenders submitted within two hours after
the
expiry of
the submissions laid down in
Article 2(1).

the deadline for

The tenderers shall not be identified.

Tenders submitted shall be communicated in electronic form
according to the model set out in Annex II.

the Member State shall
When no tenders are submitted,
communicate this to the Commission within the time limit
fixed in the first paragraph.

Article 4

1.
The Commission shall fix per Member State concerned the
minimum selling price or decide not to accept the tenders in
accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195 of
Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007.

of

For

intervention sugar which is not of

application mutatis mutandis

2.
the standard
quality, Member States shall adjust the actual selling price by
way
respectively,
Article 32(6) and Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 952/2006.
In this context, the reference, in Article 32 of Regulation (EC)
No 952/2006,
to Council Regulation (EC) No
318/2006 (2) shall be interpreted as a reference to Part B of
Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007.

to Annex I

of,

(1) OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 48. Regulation repealed by Regulation (EC)

No 952/2006.

(2) OJ L 58, 28.2.2006, p. 1. Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 is to be
replaced by Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as from 1 October
2008.

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The available quantity for a lot shall be reduced by the
3.
quantities awarded the same day for that lot by Regulation (EC)
No 877/2008.

Where an award at a minimum selling price set pursuant to
paragraph 1 would result
in the available quantity for the
Member State concerned being exceeded, that award shall be
limited to such quantity as is still available.

Where awards for a Member State to all tenderers offering the
same selling price would result in the quantity for that Member
State being exceeded,
then the quantity available shall be
awarded as follows:

(a) by division among the tenderers concerned in proportion of

the total quantities in each of their tenders;

(b) by apportionment among the tenderers concerned by
reference to a maximum tonnage fixed for each of them; or

(c) by drawing of lots.

On the

fifth working day at

the
4.
Commission fixes the minimum selling price, the intervention
involved shall communicate to the Commission,
agencies
according to the model set out
the quantity
actually sold by partial invitation to tender.

in Annex III,

latest

after

the

Article 5

1.
Articles 11, 12 and 13 of Regulation (EC) No 967/2006
shall apply mutatis mutandis to processors in respect of the
quantities of sugar awarded under this Regulation.

lation (EC) No 967/2006 in place of the same quantity, in white
sugar equivalent, of intervention sugar awarded. The competent
authorities of the Member States concerned shall coordinate
checks and monitoring of such an operation.

Article 6

1.
Each successful tenderer shall supply proof, to the satis­
faction of the competent authorities of the Member State, that
the quantity awarded by a partial invitation to tender has been
used for the purposes of production of the products referred to
in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 967/2006 and in
accordance with the approval referred to in Article 5 of Regu­
lation (EC) No 967/2006. This proof shall consist of
the
computerised recording in the records during or at the end of
the products
the production process of
concerned.

the quantities of

2.
If processors have not supplied the proof referred to in
paragraph 1 by the end of the fifth month following the month
of award, they shall pay, for each day of delay, a sum of EUR 5
per tonne of the quantity concerned.

3.
If processors have not supplied the proof referred to in
paragraph 1 by the end of the seventh month following the
month of award, the quantity concerned shall be considered to
be over-declared for the purposes of applying Article 13 of
Regulation (EC) No 967/2006.

Article 7

By way of derogation from the second paragraph of Article 59
of Regulation (EC) No 952/2006, Regulation (EC) No
1262/2001 shall not apply to the resale, as referred to in
Article 1 of this Regulation, of sugar accepted into intervention
before 10 February 2006.

Article 8

2.
At the request of the successful tenderer, the competent
authority of the Member State which granted his approval as
processor within the meaning of Article 2(d) of Regulation (EC)
No 967/2006 may permit a quantity, in white sugar equivalent,
of sugar produced under quota to be used for the purposes of
production of the products referred to in the Annex to Regu­

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

It shall apply from 1 October 2008. It shall expire on 31 March
2010.

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

Done at Brussels, 9 September 2008.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission

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ANNEX I

Member States holding intervention sugar

Member State

Intervention agency

Belgium

Czech Republic

Ireland

Italy

Hungary

Slovakia

Sweden

Bureau d’intervention et de restitution belge
Rue de Trèves, 82
B-1040 Bruxelles

Tél. (32-2) 287 24 11
Fax (32-2) 287 25 24

Belgisch Interventie- en Restitutiebureau
Trierstraat 82
B-1040 Brussel

Tel. (32-2) 287 24 11
Fax (32-2) 287 25 24

Státní zemědělský intervenční fond
Oddělení pro cukr a škrob
Ve Smečkách 33
110 00 PRAHA 1

Tel.: (420) 222 87 14 27
Fax: (420) 222 87 18 75

Intervention Section
On Farm Investment
Subsidies & Storage Division
Department of Agriculture & Food
Johnstown Castle Estate
Wexford

Tel. (353) 5363437
Fax (353) 9142843

AGEA — Agenzia per le erogazioni in agricoltura
Ufficio ammassi pubblici e privati e alcool
Via Palestro, 81
I-00185 Roma

Tel. (39) 06 49 49 95 58
Fax (39) 06 49 49 97 61

Mezőgazdasági és Vidékfejlesztési Hivatal (MVH)
Soroksári út 22–24.
H-1095 Budapest

Tel. (36-1) 219 45 76
Fax: (36-1) 219 89 05 vagy (36-1) 219 62 59

Pôdohospodárska platobná agentúra
Oddelenie cukru a ostatných komodit
Dobrovičova, 12
SK – 815 26 Bratislava

Tel. (421-2) 57 512 415
Fax (421-2) 53 412 665

Statens jordbruksverk
Vallgatan 8
S-551 82 Jönköping

Tfn (46-36) 15 50 00
Fax (46-36) 19 05 46

Quantities held by the intervention
agency and available for the sale on
the internal market
(in tonnes)

9 360

30 687

12 000

225 014

21 650

34 000

12 762

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ANNEX II

FORM

Model for the communication to the Commission as referred to in Article 3

Standing invitation to tender for the resale of sugar held by the intervention agencies

Quantity
(t)

4

Tender price
EUR/100 kg

5

Member State selling
intervention sugar

1

Regulation (EC) No 878/2008

Numbering of tenderers

Lot No

2

1

2

3

etc.

3

ANNEX III

FORM

Model for the notification to the Commission as referred to in Article 4(4)
Partial invitation to tender of … for the resale of sugar held by the intervention agencies

Regulation (EC) No 878/2008

Member State selling intervention sugar

Quantity actually sold (in tonnes)

1

2