Commission Regulation (EC) No 258/2009 of 26 March 2009 amending Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003 establishing a levy in the milk and milk products sector

27.3.2009 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 81/19
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 258/2009
of 26 March 2009
amending Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003 establishing a levy in the milk and milk products sector
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (1), and in particular Article 69(2), Article 80(1) and Article 85, in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 (2) provides for the way the fat content of milk is taken into account when drawing up the definitive statement of deliveries.
(2) The adjustment coefficients applied to milk deliveries where the fat content is greater or lower than the reference level have remained the same since 1989. In view of many changes in the nature of the support regime for the milk sector since then, it is appropriate to reduce the degree of adjustment applied to milk delivered with fat content greater than reference fat content. The coefficient to be applied when the real fat content of deliveries is less than the reference fat should remain unchanged.
(3) In view of those differential adjustment rates, it is also appropriate to modify the information provided by Member States to the Commission in the annual questionnaire so that it shows details on both the upward and downward adjustments.
(4) Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 requires that each year the Commission has to divide the national quota for each Member State between deliveries and direct sales, based on communications from the Member States. Those communications concern the requests for conversions made by producers. Additional quota allocated to Member States is allocated to the national reserve in the first instance and then divided by Member States between deliveries and direct sales according to foreseeable needs. However, there is no formal provision whereby the Commission is informed of this division. Therefore, it is appropriate to require the Commission to take this division into account in the annual adaptation and to provide Member States with the mechanism to inform the Commission of the division of such quota.
(5) In a number of Member States, deliveries have been substantially lower than the deliveries part of the national quota for a number of years. The possibility of the quota being exceeded will be further reduced as national quotas are increased. Experience shows that as the risk of incurring a levy is reduced, the risk that operators would understate or conceal the quantity of deliveries would also fall. It is therefore appropriate to reduce accordingly the intensity of controls to take place in such Member States in order to optimise the use of control resources.
(6) In accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 19(3) of Regulation (EC) No 595/2004, Member States are required to complete all control reports relating to a 12-month period within 18 months of the end of the period concerned. Where Member States avail themselves of the option now provided to implement a reduced rate of control intensity in certain circumstances, it is appropriate to reduce the maximum time allowed for the completion of all reports.
(7) In order to allow the Member States to benefit from a less burdensome situation resulting from the adjusted intensity of control, and taking into account that according to Article 19(2) of Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 controls are carried out partly during the 12-month period in question, partly after the 12-month period, it is appropriate to apply the adjusted intensity of controls as from the 12-month period 2008/2009, i.e. the period starting on 1 April 2008 and finishing on 31 March 2009.
(8) In order to support the Commission’s supervision of the implementation of the quota system and in particular in the context of the reports to be provided by the Commission to the Council before the end of 2010 and 2012, it is appropriate to provide for more detailed information on the extent of quota utilisation, the distribution of the unused quota to producers, and where relevant, on the collection of levy due from producers.
(9) Regulation (EC) No 595/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(10) The Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its Chairman,