Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2941/80 of 13 November 1980 laying down detailed rules for the application of the system of production aid for olive oil

COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2941/80 of 13 November 1980 laying down detailed rules for the application of the system of production aid for olive oil
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation 136/66/EEC of 22 September 1966 on the establishment of a common organization of the market in oils and fats (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1917/80 (2), and in particular Article 5 (5) thereof,
Whereas under Article 8 of Regulation (EEC No 2529/80 (3), each producer Member State is to set up a system of administrative checks designed to guarantee that the product for which an aid application is submitted is eligible for aid ; whereas, consequently, the crop declarations and aid applications to be presented by applicants must include a minimum amount of information necessary for the carrying out of these checks;
Whereas the checks referred to in Article 3 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2529/80 must embrace a sufficiently representative number of crop declarations by olive growers who are members of organizations ; whereas under Article 5 (2) the organizations can require any supporting documents necessary to establish the amount of their member's production ; whereas the nature of such supporting documents should be defined in order to facilitate uniform application of this system;
Whereas the aid to be granted to growers who are not members of a producer organization must be calculated from the standard olive and oil yields of olive trees ; whereas the use of standard yields is also necessary for determination of the aid to be given to growers who are members of an organization in cases where they sell their olives to a purchaser other than a mill owner;
Whereas, in the interests of good administration, provision should be made for informing the Member States at the end of each marketing year of the number of olive growers whose production is still to be verified by the producer organizations;
Whereas Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 2529/80 requires producer organizations to check the stock records and activity of the mills indicated to them by the Member States ; whereas, in order for the checks to be properly carried out, it should be laid down that the organizations must have access to the mills and to their stock records;
Whereas, in order to ensure that mills collaborate more closely with the running of the aid system, provision should be made for participation by their professional associations in the checks carried out by producer organizations on the mills' premises;
Whereas, in order to ensure that the aid system runs smoothly, the checks referred to in Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 2529/80 and to be carried out in the mills by the producer organizations should be defined;
Whereas to ensure that the aid system functions properly the minimum information to be given in the stock records of each mill and the checks to be made with regard to these records by the Member State concerned should be specified;
Whereas rules for determining the amount of aid to be granted to members of producer organizations who have had their olives pressed in a mill which has not complied with the obligations on stock records should be determined;
Whereas the checks specified in Article 8 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 2529/80 must cover a percentage which provides adequate guarantees that the system will run properly, due account being taken of control possibilities in the Member State concerned;
Whereas it is specified in Article 8 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2529/80 that the producer Member States are to carry out, for each producer organization, random checks on the accuracy of the crop declarations and applications for aid of their members ; whereas these checks must cover a sufficiently representative number of growers, due account being taken of the control guarantees given by the organization;
(1) OJ No 172, 30.9.1966, p. 3025/66.  (2) OJ No L 186, 19.7.1980, p. 1.  (3) OJ No L 259, 2.10.1980, p. 3.   Whereas doubts may arise as to the quantity of oil eligible for aid because of a discrepancy between the quantity for which aid is demanded and that recorded in the stock records of the mill ; whereas principles of good management dictate that the aid should be paid for the smaller quantity;
Whereas in order to ensure that the aid system is correctly applied to growers who are not members of an organization it is necessary that the yields to be used be determined for production zones with given characteristics;
Whereas to facilitate the fixing of yields it is advisable that Commission officials take part in the preparatory work;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Oils and Fats.