CELEX: 32001R0690
Language: en
Date: 2001-04-03 00:00:00
Title: Commission Regulation (EC) No 690/2001 of 3 April 2001 on special market support measures in the beef sector

L 95/8                  EN                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                         5.4.2001
                                           COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 690/2001
                                                               of 3 April 2001
                                       on special market support measures in the beef sector
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                         examined by one of the approved rapid tests listed in
                                                                                    Annex IV(A) to Commission Decision 98/272/EC of 23
                                                                                    April 1998 on epidemio-surveillance for transmissible
                                                                                    spongiform encephalopathies and amending Decision
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                               94/474/EC (5), as last amended by Decision 2000/764/
Community,                                                                          EC, as of 1 July 2001 at the latest.
                                                                            (4)     In the light of the foregoing, it is appropriate to provide
                                                                                    for a new special purchase scheme for meat from tested
Having regard to the Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999                           animals which would allow Member States to store meat
of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in                          as an alternative to destruction as of 1 July 2001 at the
beef and veal (1), and in particular Article 38(2),                                 latest but which would be applicable earlier in Member
                                                                                    States which wish to apply it before that date or in
                                                                                    Member States which are authorised to cease to apply
                                                                                    Regulation (EC) No 2777/2000.
Whereas:
                                                                            (5)     In view of the extent of the BSE crisis and in particular
                                                                                    of its probable duration, and consequently of the magni-
                                                                                    tude of the efforts needed to support the market, it
(1)     The Community beef market is currently going through                        would be appropriate for such efforts to be shared
        a deep crisis due to a lack of consumer confidence in                       between the Community and the Member States espe-
        beef created by the appearance of new cases of bovine                       cially in view of the large number of animals expected to
        spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Consumption as well                        be purchased under the scheme as well as the limited
        as production have recently fallen to unprecedented                         nature of the budgetary resources available for
        levels followed by substantial reduction of producer                        Community financing.
        prices. It is estimated that the crisis is likely to continue
        still for some time. Article 38(1) of Regulation (EC) No            (6)     This Regulation need not apply in the United Kingdom
        1254/1999 provides that when a substantial rise or fall                     since Commission Regulation (EC) No 716/96 of 19
        in prices is recorded on the Community market and this                      April 1996 adopting exceptional support measures for
        situation is likely to continue, thereby disturbing or                      the beef market in the United Kingdom (6), as last
        threatening to disturb the market, the necessary meas-                      amended by Regulation (EC) No 1176/2000 (7), already
        ures may be taken.                                                          provides for a special scheme in that Member State with
                                                                                    regard to animals over 30 months of age.
                                                                            (7)     Dispatches of meat from the United Kingdom and
(2)     Such a measure was taken by Commission Regulation
                                                                                    Portugal continue to be subject to Council Decision
        (EC) No 2777/2000 of 18 December 2000 adopting
                                                                                    98/256/EC of 16 March 1998 concerning emergency
        exceptional support measures for the beef market (2), as
                                                                                    measures to protect against bovine spongiform ence-
        amended by Regulation (EC) No 111/2001 (3), which
                                                                                    phalopathy, amending Decision 94/474/EC and
        provides for a purchase scheme for destruction of
                                                                                    repealing Decision 96/239/EC (8), as last amended by
        animals aged more than 30 months and primarily
                                                                                    Commission Decision 98/692/EC (9), in the case of the
        animals which at slaughter are not tested for BSE.
                                                                                    United Kingdom, and to Commission Decision 98/653/
                                                                                    EC of 18 November 1998 concerning emergency meas-
                                                                                    ures made necessary by the occurrence of bovine spon-
                                                                                    giform encephalopathology in Portugal (10), as last
(3)     Regulation (EC) No 2777/2000 is applicable until 30                         amended by Decision 2000/104/EC (11).
        June 2001 at the latest. Commission Decision 2000/
        764/EC of 29 November 2000 on the testing of bovine
        animals for the presence of bovine spongiform ence-                 (8)     To guarantee a proper functioning of the scheme it is
        phalopathy and amending Decision 98/272/EC on the                           essential that speculative movements of meat and
        epidemio-surveillance for transmissible sprongiform                         animals are avoided. In this context, a retention period
        encephalopathies (4) provides that Member States shall                      for the animals concerned should be determined.
        ensure that all bovine animals over 30 months of age
        subject to normal slaughter for human consumption are               (5) OJ L 122, 24.4.1998, p. 59.
                                                                            (6) OJ L 99, 20.4.1996, p. 14.
                                                                            (7) OJ L 131, 1.6.2000, p. 37.
(1) OJ L  160, 26.6.1999, p. 21.                                            (8) OJ L 113, 15.4.1998, p. 32.
(2) OJ L  321, 19.12.2000, p. 47.                                           (9) OJ L 328, 4.12.1998, p. 28.
(3) OJ L  19, 20.1.2001, p. 11.                                             (10) OJ L 311, 20.11.1998, p. 23.
(4) OJ L  305, 6.12.2000, p. 35.                                            (11) OJ L 29, 4.2.2000, p. 36.
 ---pagebreak--- 5.4.2001               EN                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                         L 95/9
(9)     Products bought in might be sold after 1 January 2002,                   meat concerned. Where the meat is intended for storage
        when the system of compulsory labelling based on                         Member States should determine appropriate methods of
        origin laid down by Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 of                      storage.
        the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 July
        2000 establishing a system for the identification and            (15)    In order to avoid market disturbance placing on the
        registration of bovine animals and regarding the label-                  market of the products stored should be subject to prior
        ling of beef and beef products and repealing Council                     approval from the Commission acting in accordance
        Regulation (EC) No 820/97 (1), will apply. The labels of                 with the Management Committee procedure. Where
        the products should therefore be required to include an                  products are released for purposes of humanitarian aid
        indication of the country or countries of birth and                      compliance with international agreements should be
        fattening of the animals concerned, in accordance with                   guaranteed.
        Article 13(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000,
        together with the indications laid down in Article 2(2) of
        Commission Regulation (EC) No 1825/2000 (2) laying               (16)    Taking into consideration the costs under the scheme to
        down detailed rules for the application of Regulation                    be financed by national authorities it is appropriate to
        (EC) No 1760/2000, as appropriate.                                       provide that receipts from sales of products stored
                                                                                 should belong to Member States.
                                                                         (17)    Provision should be made for Commission experts to
(10)    In order to obtain the best result in terms of cost
                                                                                 check compliance with the conditions as specified.
        efficiency, purchases should be limited to categories of
        animals over 30 months securing the withdrawal from
        the market at the lowest possible costs. For the same            (18)    The Management Committee for Beef and Veal has not
        reason and with a view to increasing the necessary flexi-                delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its
        bility of the management of the scheme, purchases                        Chairman,
        should be decided following a tendering procedure.
(11)    The market prices for the categories eligible under the          HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
        scheme and in particular the prices for cows which is
        the most representative category differ largely from
        Member State to Member State. It is thus appropriate to
        determine whether in a Member State the market situa-                                          Article 1
        tion for cows is so weak that it justifies exceptional
        support of the market. To this end, a system of national         1.     Member States shall purchase chilled carcasses or half
        trigger prices should apply. Such trigger prices should be       carcasses from bovine animals over 30 months of age of the
        by taking into account the average market prices for a           following categories as defined in Article 3(1) of Council Regu-
        representative quality in the three most recent years with       lation (EEC) No 1208/81 (3):
        normal market situation.
                                                                         — Category B,
                                                                         — Category D, and
(12)    In order to ensure the highest possible impact on the            — Category E.
        market it should be provided that different maximum
        tender prices are fixed per Member State being eligible
        for purchases in application of the trigger price system.        2.     Chilled carcasses and half carcasses may be bought in
        In fixing the maximum price account should be taken of           only where they:
        an amount corresponding to the net costs created by the          — come from animals which at slaughter have been tested
        slaughter for human consumption. No maximum price                     negatively by one of the approved rapid tests listed in
        should be fixed which exceeds the prevailing market                   Annex IV to Decision 98/272/EC,
        price increased by the abovementioned amount.
                                                                         — have obtained the health mark referred to in Chapter XI of
                                                                              Annex I to Council Directive 64/433/EEC (4),
(13)    Provisions should be laid down in respect of conditions          — come from animals which have been present on one or
        of delivery and payment of the quantity awarded. It is                several holdings located in the Member State concerned
        appropriate within certain limits to adjust the payments              during at least 6 months prior to slaughter,
        to the successful tenderer where his actual deliveries of        — come from animals slaughtered not more than six days
        meat differ from the reference quality subject of the                 previously,
        tender.
                                                                         — are presented in accordance with Article 2 of Regulation
                                                                              (EEC) No 1208/81. Where appropriate, Article 1(2) and (3)
                                                                              of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 563/82 (5) shall apply
(14)    Member States should be free to decide whether the                    when determining the weight of the carcasse. Member
        meat taken over should be stored or destroyed. In the                 States may lay down further specific conditions with regard
        latter case, Member States should take all necessary                  to presentations of carcasses,
        measures to guarantee the final destination for all the
                                                                         (3) OJ L 123, 7.5.1981, p. 3.
(1) OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.                                           (4) OJ 121, 29.7.1964, p. 2012/64.
(2) OJ L 216, 26.8.2000, p. 8.                                           (5) OJ L 67, 11.3.1982, p. 23.
 ---pagebreak--- L 95/10                EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                        5.4.2001
— are classified correctly in accordance with the Community               3.     A decision may be taken to make no award.
    scale provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81,
— are identified by slaughter number and by a stamped                     4.     Rights and obligations arising under invitations to tender
    marking indicating the category and the conformation,                 shall not be transferable.
— are labelled in accordance with the system introduced by
    Regulation (EC) No 1760/2000 including the indications                                              Article 4
    laid down in Article 13(5) of that Regulation.
                                                                          1.     The competent authorities shall inform the individual
                                                                          tenderers immediately of the outcome of their tenders.
                              Article 2
                                                                          At the same time the successful tenderers shall be informed of
1.     The purchase price for chilled carcasses to be bought in a         the quantity to be delivered and the price at which the award
Member State under this Regulation shall be determined                    was made.
following a tender procedure.
                                                                          2.     Delivery of the quantity awarded shall take place within
2.     Tendering shall be opened in a Member State which for              17 calendar days from the day of publication of the Regulation
two consecutive weeks have recorded the average market price              fixing the maximum buying-in price. The Member State may in
for the reference class of category D equal to or below the               exceptional cases extend that period by a maximum of one
trigger price listed in Annex I in respect of the Member State            week.
concerned.
                                                                          Taking into account the provisions of paragraph 3 the Member
Tendering shall be suspended in a Member State which for two              State shall determine the point of take-over and publish it in
consecutive weeks have recorded the average market price for              the notice of invitation to tender referred to in Article 2(5).
the reference class of category D above the trigger price listed
in Annex I in respect of the Member State concerned.                      3.     Carcasses delivered shall be accepted and taken over
                                                                          subject to verification by the competent authority that they
The Commission shall decide on the opening and the suspen-                comply with the requirements laid down in this Regulation.
sion referred to above.                                                   The competent authority shall furthermore systematically check
                                                                          and record the weight and classification of each carcasse and
3.     The reference class shall be 04 in Ireland and 03 in other         keep the records produced.
Member States.
                                                                          4.     If the quantity actually delivered and accepted is less than
4.     The conditions for tendering are laid down in Annex II.            the quantity awarded, the security shall:
5.     The provisions of this Regulation shall serve as a perma-           (a) be released in full where the difference is not more than
nent general notice of invitation to tender. For each individual               5 %;
tender, the intervention agencies concerned shall draw up a
notice of invitation to tender for publication no later than              (b) except in cases of force majeure, be forfeited;
Friday before the closing date for submission of tenders, indi-
                                                                               — in part, corresponding to the quantities not delivered or
cating in particular the address of the competent body author-
                                                                                    not accepted where the difference is not more than
ised to receive tenders. The deadline for submission of tenders
                                                                                    15 %,
shall be 12 noon (Brussels time) on the dates indicated in
Annex III.                                                                     — in full in other cases.
Within 24 hours of the deadline for the submission of tenders,
the intervention agencies shall notify the Commission of the                                            Article 5
tenders they have received.
                                                                          1.     The competent authority shall pay successful tenderers
                                                                          the price quoted in their tenders no later than 65 days after
                              Article 3                                   completion of take-over of the products concerned.
1.     In the light of the tenders received under each individual         2.     Only the quantity actually delivered and accepted shall be
invitation to tender and in accordance with the procedure laid            paid for within the limit of the quantity awarded.
down in Article 43 of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 a
maximum buying-in price relating to the reference class shall             3.     Where carcasses of classification classes other than O are
be fixed. A different price may be set per Member State.                  taken over, the price to be paid to the successful tenderer for
                                                                          the carcasses concerned shall be adjusted by applying the coef-
The maximum price shall not exceed the trigger price plus                 ficients fixed in Annex IV.
EUR 14 per 100 kg carcasse weight.
                                                                          4.     The rate to be applied to the maximum buying-in price
2.     Tenders shall be rejected                                          and the price at which the award is made shall be the exchange
                                                                          rate applicable on the day of entry into force of the Regulation
— if the price quoted is higher than the prevailing price for             fixing the maximum buying-in price under the invitation to
    the reference class of category D plus EUR 14 per 100 kg              tender concerned.
    carcasse weight,
— if the price quoted is higher than the maximum price                    5.     The Community shall finance 70 % of the price of the
    referred to in paragraph 1.                                           meat purchased under this Regulation.
 ---pagebreak--- 5.4.2001               EN                      Official Journal of the European Communities                                        L 95/11
The Member State concerned shall finance the remaining 30 %               2.     Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure
as well as all costs related to the operations under Articles 6, 7,       that the products released under the last three indents of
8 and 9.                                                                  paragraph 1 are used for the purpose intended.
                                                                          3.     Release of the products under the first three indents of
                              Article 6                                   paragraph 1, shall be made in a way which avoids both distur-
After taking over the meat the competent authority may use                bance of the market and direct competition with disposal of
the products concerned in conformity with Article 9 or elimi-             intervention products.
nate them in accordance with Article 7, with or without prior
storage.                                                                  4.     Release of the products under paragraph 1 can only be
                                                                          made upon prior approval from the Commission acting in
                                                                          accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 43 of
                              Article 7                                   Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999.
Where the option of elimination is applied the competent                  5.     Where a Member State intends to release stored products
authority shall take all necessary measures to ensure that all the        with a view to providing humanitarian aid to a third country it
meat concerned is processed through rendering and that the                shall ensure that all relevant provisions under international
products subsequently obtained cannot be used for food or                 agreements are complied with.
feed purposes.
                              Article 8                                                               Article 10
1.     Where a Member State decides to store the meat it may              Proceeds from sales of products in conformity with this Regu-
be stored in bone-in or boneless form or in form of canned                lation shall belong to the Member State concerned.
products. The Member State concerned shall determine specifi-
cations related to cutting, deboning, canning, storage and/or
any other operations linked to the products and their storage.                                        Article 11
2.     Member States shall notify to the Commission at the end            Without prejudice of Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No
of each month, in respect of the preceding month, the quant-              1258/1999 (1), Commission experts accompanied where
ities and characteristics of the stored products.                         appropriate by experts from Member States may carry out
                                                                          on-the-spot checks to verify compliance with all the provisions
3.     During storage, the competent authority shall conduct              of this Regulation.
regular checks in particular with a view to ensuring the perma-
nent presence in stocks of the products.
                                                                                                      Article 12
                              Article 9
                                                                          This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
1.     Where meat is intended to be used for purposes other               following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
than under Article 7, it may be released:                                 Communities.
— without a specific destination or use,
                                                                          It shall apply in all Member States except the United Kingdom
— with a specific destination or use on the Community
                                                                          from 1 July 2001 until 31 December 2001. However, from the
     market,
                                                                          entry into force of this Regulation:
— for commercial export, or
                                                                          — it shall apply in Member States which no longer apply
— for the purpose of a specific humanitarian aid operation in
                                                                              Regulation (EC) No 2777/2000 in application of Article
     a third country.
                                                                              3(4) of that Regulation,
Where the meat is used in accordance with the third or fourth             — it may be applied in other Member States which shall
indent above no export refunds shall be granted on the quant-                 inform the Commission if and from which time they wish
ities concerned.                                                              to apply it.
                      This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
                      Done at Brussels, 3 April 2001.
                                                                                       For the Commission
                                                                                         Franz FISCHLER
                                                                                   Member of the Commission
                                                                          (1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 103.
 ---pagebreak--- L 95/12          EN Official Journal of the European Communities                                        5.4.2001
                                        ANNEX I
                      Trigger prices referred to in Article 2(2)
                                                                           (EUR/100 kg carcasse weight)
                                     Until 30 June 2001          1 July to 31 December 2001
        Belgium                            180,0                             167,3
        Denmark                            178,2                             165,6
        Germany                            177,7                             165,2
        Greece                             158,0                             146,9
        Spain                              158,0                             146,9
        France                             218,3                             202,9
        Ireland                            193,3                             179,6
        Italy                              158,0                             146,9
        Luxembourg                         188,2                             174,9
        Netherlands                        185,2                             172,1
        Austria                            161,5                             150,1
        Portugal                           158,0                             146,9
        Finland                            169,4                             157,4
        Sweden                             205,7                             191,1
 ---pagebreak--- 5.4.2001            EN                        Official Journal of the European Communities                                             L 95/13
                                                                  ANNEX II
                                                            Tendering conditions
         Tenders
         1. Only the following may submit tenders:
             (a) slaughterhouses for bovine animals approved in accordance with Article 3(1)(A)(a) of Directive 64/433/EEC,
                  whatever their legal status; and
             (b) livestock or meat traders who have slaughtering undertaken therein on their own account and who are entered in a
                  national VAT register.
         2. In response to invitations to tender, interested parties shall submit their tenders to the competent authorities of the
             Member States where they have been issued, either by lodging a written bid against a receipt or by any other written
             means of communication accepted by the said authority, with advice of receipt.
         3. Interested parties may submit only one tender in response to each invitation to tender.
             The Member States shall ensure that tenderers are independent of each other in the terms of their management,
             staffing and operations.
             Where there are serious indications to the contrary or that tenders are not in line with economic facts, tenders shall be
             deemed admissible only where the tenderer presents suitable evidence of compliance with the second subparagraph.
             Where it is established that a tenderer has submitted more than one tender, all the tenders from that tenderer shall be
             deemed inadmissible.
         4. Tenders shall state:
             (a) the name and address of the tenderer;
             (b) one total quantity, expressed in tonnes, of the products of the eligible categories;
             (c) the price expressed per 100 kg of products of the reference class of category D in euro rounded off to not more
                  than two decimal places.
         5. Tenders shall be valid only if:
             (a) they relate to at least 10 tonnes;
             (b) they are accompanied by a written undertaking from the tenderer to comply with all the provisions relating to the
                  invitation to tender concerned; and
             (c) proof is furnished that by the closing date for the submission of tenders the tenderer has lodged a tendering
                  security as provided for below in respect of the invitation to tender concerned.
         6. Tenders may not be withdrawn after the expiry of the deadline for submission.
         7. Tenders shall be confidential.
         Securities
         1. The maintenance of tenders after the deadline for the submission of tenders and the delivery of the products at the
             designated point of take-over within the time limit laid down in Article 4(2) shall constitute primary requirements, the
             fulfilment of which shall be ensured by the lodging of a security of EUR 25 per 100 kg.
             Securities shall be lodged with the competent authority in the Member State in which the tender is submitted.
         2. Securities shall be lodged in the form of cash deposits as defined in Article 13 and Article 14(1) and (3) of Commission
             Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 (1) or in one of the forms provided for in Article 8(2) of that Regulation.
         3. In the case of tenders which are not accepted, securities shall be released as soon as the outcome of the invitation to
             tender is published.
             In the case of tenders which are accepted, securities shall be released on completion of take-over of the products,
             without prejudice to Article 4(4).
         (1) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.
 ---pagebreak--- L 95/14          EN                            Official Journal of the European Communities          5.4.2001
                                                                       ANNEX III
                                                        Dates referred to in Article 2(5)
                                                                    17 April 2001
                                                                    30 April 2001
                                                                    14 May 2001
                                                                    28 May 2001
                                                                    11 June 2001
                                                                    25 June 2001
                                                                      9 July 2001
                                                                     23 July 2001
                                                                  27 August 2001
                                                                 10 September 2001
                                                                 24 September 2001
                                                                   8 October 2001
                                                                  22 October 2001
                                                                 12 November 2001
                                                                 26 November 2001
                                                                 10 December 2001
                                                                       ANNEX IV
                                                     Coefficients referred to in Article 5(3)
                                                                 Classification class
                                                        SEUR                                O     P
        Belgium                                          1,13 (1)                          1,00 0,74
        Denmark                                          1,24                              1,00 0,78
        Germany                                          1,12                              1,00 0,74
        Greece                                           1,15                              1,00 0,98
        Spain                                            1,27                              1,00 0,67
        France                                           1,22                              1,00 0,88
        Ireland                                          1,07                              1,00 0,91
        Italy                                            1,17                              1,00 0,89
        Luxembourg                                       1,20 ( )
                                                               1
                                                                                           1,00 0,83
        Netherlands                                      1,07                              1,00 0,92
        Austria                                          1,09                              1,00 0,87
        Portugal                                         1,17                              1,00 0,83
        Finland                                          1,15                              1,00 0,84
        Sweden                                           1,09                              1,00 0,76
        (1) Where carcasses delivered are classified as S or E the coefficient shall be 1,65.