Commission Regulation (EC) No 1572/2006 of 18 October 2006 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

20.10.2006 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 290/29
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1572/2006
of 18 October 2006
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 establishing the European Community,
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 and the second paragraph of Article 24(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The conditions under which cereals are offered to and taken over by the intervention agencies must be as uniform as possible throughout the Community in order to avoid any discrimination between producers. Commission Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 (2) does not explicitly specify the deadline for taking over cereals offered into intervention. This deadline should be specified in order to avoid any ambiguity.
(2) Cereals of inadequate quality for use or storage should not be accepted into intervention. To this end, account should be taken of the new situation regarding intervention, in particular the long-term storage of certain cereals and its effects on product quality.
(3) Therefore, in order to protect intervention products from deterioration and to maintain their suitability for subsequent use, the quality criteria for maize set out in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 should be upgraded. To this end, the maximum moisture content and the maximum percentage of broken grains and grains overheated during drying should be reduced. Given the agronomic similarities of sorghum and maize, and in the interests of consistency, the same measures should be laid down for sorghum. Moreover, in the interests of consistency with the other cereals that are eligible for the intervention scheme, a new specific minimum weight criterion should be laid down for maize.
(4) The level of price increases and reductions applicable to maize and sorghum set out in Tables I, II and III of Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 should also be amended accordingly.
(5) Details should be given of the information that Member States must forward to the Commission so that a fortnightly statistical report on the state of intervention stocks of cereals can be compiled.
(6) Specific information should be obtained and listed on a standard regional basis, in the interests of sound management of the cereals intervention scheme. To this end, the regional levels set out in council Regulation (EEC) No 837/90 of 26 March 1990 concerning statistical information to be supplied by the Member States on cereals production (3) should be used, and Member States should be asked to forward this information to the Commission.
(7) In the interests of sound management of the system, the information required by the Commission should be sent by electronic means.
(8) Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(9) The amendments provided for in this Regulation should apply to cereals offered into intervention as from 1 November 2006. This Regulation should therefore enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
(10) The Management Committee for Cereals has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,