Commission Regulation (EC) No 2813/2000 of 21 December 2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as regards the grant of private storage aid for certain fishery products

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2813/2000
of 21 December 2000
laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as regards the grant of private storage aid for certain fishery products
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 of 17 December 1999 on the common organisation of the market in fishery and aquaculture products(1), and in particular Article 25(6) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, which repealed Council Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92(2) with effect from 1 January 2001, provides for private storage aid to be granted to producer organisations in respect of the products listed in Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 104/2000. These rules differ from the previous scheme provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1690/94 of 12 July 1994 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3759/92 as regards the granting of private storage aid for certain fishery products(3) because of the introduction of a Community selling price. Regulation (EC) No 1690/94 should therefore be replaced in order to take account of these changes.
(2) The producer organisations should contribute to the costs related to the implementation of the private storage aid mechanism and therefore, the amount of aid should be fixed on the basis of the real technical cost and financial costs of storage operations. The technical costs should be defined on the basis of the immediate costs incurred under the mechanism. In order to avoid burdensome information requirements from the industry and complicated annual calculations, the financial costs should be a flat-rate sum adjusted on the basis of the interest rate determined in accordance with Article 5 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1883/78 of 2 August 1978 laying down general rules for the financing of interventions by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund, Guarantee Section(4), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1259/96(5).
(3) In order to ensure product quality and to facilitate the disposal of products on the market, the requirements to be satisfied by operations qualifying for private storage aid should be laid down, together with requirements relating to storage and return to the market of the products concerned.
(4) In order to guarantee normal conditions of competition between producer organisations making use of the margin of tolerance provided for in Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, it is necessary to lay down rules which relate to its application and are consistent with other intervention mechanisms. The relevant provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2509/2000 of 15 November 2000 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as regards granting financial compensation for withdrawal of certain fishery products(6) should therefore apply.
(5) The beneficiaries of aid should be obliged to keep stock records to increase the efficiency of checks and must communicate this information to the Member State. It is sufficient for the purposes of good management of the mechanism to require stock records during the minimum storage periods.
(6) The procedure for submitting applications for the payment of private storage aid should be laid down as well as the procedure for the granting of advance payments and the amount of the relevant security.
(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fishery Products,