Document ID: 32003R0625

Commission Regulation (EC) No 625/2003
of 2 April 2003
amending Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine with regard to market mechanisms
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine(1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2585/2001(2), and in particular Articles 26, 33 and 36 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Chapter I of Title I of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1795/2002(4), lays down the detailed rules for applying the aid scheme for the use of grapes, grape must, concentrated grape must or rectified concentrated grape must. Experience has shown that the comestible products not eligible under the scheme should be specified in greater detail, the administrative burden placed on users and processors of juice should be lightened and adequate arrangements should be introduced to ensure that proper use of the juice is monitored. The percentage of quantities of comestible products which must be checked must be higher than under other schemes because the product is often used in a Member State other than the one where the aid is paid.
(2) Under the aid scheme for must used to increase the alcoholic strength of wine products, the reference to the method of determining alcoholic strength should be corrected. To facilitate the work of the Member States, they should be responsible for the administration of aid applications. To allow detailed and effective checks, checking arrangements should be specified.
(3) To ensure that problem cases are treated equally, the provisions relating to payment of the aid provided for under the various aid schemes covered by Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 should be harmonised.
(4) To allow detailed and effective checks to be carried out in the case of aid for the private storage of wine, checking arrangements should be laid down and the tolerance margins for verifying the alcoholic strength of grape must, concentrated grape must and rectified concentrated grape must should be clarified. To facilitate the payment of advances under this measure, the related administrative procedure must be changed.
(5) As regards the arrangements for the distillation of by-products of wine-making, it is fair to modulate aid and prices according to the type of by-product concerned. The flat-rate aid and the flat-rate price should therefore be abolished. In addition, in order to respond to structural changes in the sector, the Member States concerned should be allowed to extend the exemption from the obligation to deliver by-products for distillation to certain categories of producers.
(6) If a Member State decides to vary the buying-in price paid to producers according to yield under the distillation arrangements referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, it should be possible to extend the deadline by which the aid is to be paid to distillers.
(7) To ensure that financial transactions under crisis distillation as provided for in Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 are properly implemented, it should be confirmed that the advance on the price to be paid to distillers by the intervention agency is to be treated the same as the aid provided for in the case of other distillations.
(8) For all distillation measures, the provision relating to the use of part of the wine checked as being representative of all wine delivered for distillation should be abolished. In addition, the advances paid for crisis distillation and treated as aid should be included in the system of penalties, and the same arrangements should be introduced for all the different distillations to ensure that producers are paid the minimum price for their wine where the distiller fails to do so.
(9) Experience has shown that the arrangements for disposing of alcohol obtained under the different distillation measures and held by the intervention agencies should be adjusted. The deadlines for removing alcohol should therefore be fixed on a case-by-case basis where large quantities are involved. To enhance marketing opportunities the present geographical limitations on sales of alcohol should be removed. The conditions for checking the destination of alcohol used in the fuel sector should also be specified.
(10) Since managing the intervention measures requires the Member States to provide the Commission with a great deal of information, the rules for doing so should be laid down.
(11) Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 should therefore be amended.
(12) Some amendments aim to clarify existing provisions or to provide additional information and are favourable to market operators. They should therefore apply retroactively.
(13) Other amendments aim to improve the conditions governing isolated measures for disposing of alcohol. They should therefore apply from the publication of this Regulation.
(14) By far the majority of amendments provide for technical changes in market management measures. To avoid disrupting the current wine year, these amendments should apply from the next wine year.
(15) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000 is hereby amended as follows:
1. Chapter I of Title I is replaced by the following:
"CHAPTER I
MANUFACTURE OF GRAPE JUICE
Article 3
Purpose of the aid
Aid under Article 35(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 shall be granted to processors who:
(a) being themselves producers or groups of producers, process or have processed on their behalf grapes from their own harvest and grape must and concentrated grape must obtained entirely from their own grape crop into grape juice; or
(b) buy directly or indirectly from producers or groups of producers grapes produced in the Community and grape must and concentrated grape must for the purpose of processing them into grape juice.
The grape must and concentrated grape must used must come from grapes produced in the Community.
Article 4
Manufacture of other comestible products from grape juice
The grape juice or concentrated grape juice obtained may be processed into any comestible products other than wine products as referred to in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 or the products referred to in Article 35(1)(b) and (c) of that Regulation.
Article 5
Technical requirements relating to products
1. The raw materials for the manufacture of grape juice referred to in Article 3 must be of sound and fair merchantable quality and suitable for processing into grape juice.
2. The grape must used and the must obtained from grapes used must have a density at 20 °C of between 1,055 and 1,100 grams per cubic centimetre.
3. At the time it is used to manufacture comestible products, the grape juice must comply with Council Directive 2001/112/EC(5).
Article 6
Administrative rules applicable to processors for inspection purposes
1. Processors who undertake operations for the manufacture of grape juice throughout the current wine year shall submit, before the start of each wine year, a grape juice processing schedule to the competent authority of the Member State. If the processor is undertaking operations for the manufacture of grape juice for the first time after the start of a wine year the schedule must be drawn up before operations commence.
The schedule shall contain the following information:
(a) the type of the raw materials intended for processing (grapes, grape must or concentrated grape must);
(b) the place where the grape must and concentrated grape must intended for processing are stored;
(c) the place where processing is to be carried out.
2. Processors who carry out operations for the manufacture of grape juice only on specified dates shall submit, at least three working days before the operations are to start, a processing statement to the competent authority of the Member State.
The processing statement shall contain the following information:
(a) the information required under the second subparagraph of paragraph 1;
(b) the quantity of grapes, grape must or concentrated grape must intended for processing;
(c) the density of the grape must and concentrated grape must;
(d) the starting date and probable duration of processing operations.
The statement must cover a minimum quantity of:
(a) 1,3 tonnes for grapes;
(b) 10 hectolitres for grape must;
(c) 3 hectolitres for concentrated grape must.
3. In addition to the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, Member States may ask processors to provide further information.
4. The competent authority of the Member State shall stamp the schedules and statements provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2 and return a copy to the processor.
5. As an exception to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3, Member States may introduce simplified procedures for processors who use no more than 5 tonnes of grapes or 40 hl of grape must or 12 hl of concentrated grape must each wine year.
6. Processors shall keep stock records showing the following information taken from the accompanying documents or registers referred to in Article 70 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999:
(a) the quantities and the density of the raw materials entering their premises each day and, where applicable, the name and address of the seller;
(b) the quantities and density of raw materials used each day;
(c) the quantities of grape juice produced each day;
(d) the quantities of grape juice leaving their premises each day and the name and address of the consignee, or the quantities of grape juice used each day by the processor.
The supporting documents relating to the stock records shall be made available to the inspection authorities on the occasion of any checks.
Article 7
Administrative rules applicable to users for inspection purposes
1. For the purposes of this Chapter, 'user' means any operator carrying out one of the following operations: bottling, packaging or presenting the grape juice or concentrated grape juice, storing with a view to sale to one or more undertakings responsible for carrying out the preceding or following operations, or preparing other comestible products from that juice.
Such operations may also be carried out by processors as referred to in Article 3.
2. Users shall submit to the competent authority of the place of unloading a written undertaking not to process the grape juice into the wine products referred to in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 or the products referred to in Article 35(1)(b) and (c) of that Regulation.
The Member States shall lay down the requirements for submitting such undertakings. However, the undertaking must be submitted before the grape juice or concentrated grape juice is used, and no later than four months after the submission of the aid application referred to in Article 8 of this Regulation.
Export shall be regarded as compatible with such undertakings.
3. Where processors dispatch the grape juice to a user within the Community:
(a) processors shall indicate on the accompanying document referred to in Article 70(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 whether the manufacture of the grape juice has been or will be subject to an aid application from them and the actual or planned date of submission of the application;
(b) users shall send the accompanying document to the competent authority of the place of unloading no later than 15 days after receipt of the product;
(c) where users dispatch the juice they have received to another operator within the Community they shall ensure that that operator signs their written undertaking and shall submit it to the competent authority within the time limit set in the second subparagraph of paragraph 2;
(d) the competent authority, after having received the written undertaking, shall stamp the accompanying document and send a copy of the stamped accompanying document to the processor of the grape juice in question no later than 30 days after receipt of the undertaking.
4. Under Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2729/2000(6), during the wine year the competent authorities shall check by sampling, on the basis of a risk analysis, to ensure that the undertaking referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article has been respected. The checks shall relate to at least 10 % of the quantities covered by applications for the stamping of the accompanying documents provided for in paragraph 3(d) of this Article received during the previous wine year.
Article 8
Aid applications
1. Processors as referred to in Article 6(1) shall submit aid applications to the competent authority of the Member State no later than six months after the end of the wine year. These shall be accompanied by the following documents:
(a) a copy of the processing schedule referred to;
(b) a copy of the stock records referred to in Article 6(6) or a summary thereof; the Member States may require such copies and summaries to be certified by an authority responsible for inspections.
Member States may require further documentation.
2. Processors as referred to in Article 6(2) shall submit aid applications to the competent authority of the Member State no later than six months after the end of the processing operations. These shall be accompanied by the following documents:
(a) a copy of the processing statement referred to;
(b) a copy of the stock records referred to in Article 6(6) or a summary thereof; the Member States may require such copies and summaries to be certified by an authority responsible for inspections.
Aid applications shall indicate the quantity of raw materials actually processed and the day on which the processing operations were completed.
3. The processor shall submit to the competent authority of the Member State, no later than six months after submitting the aid application:
(a) a copy of the accompanying document stamped by the competent authority as laid down in Article 7(3)(d);
(b) a copy of the accompanying document bearing the customs stamp certifying export.
4. As an exception to paragraphs 1 and 2, Member States may introduce simplified procedures for processors who use no more than 5 tonnes of grapes or 40 hl of grape must or 12 hl of concentrated grape must each wine year. These procedures must be completed no later than six months after the end of the wine year.
Article 9
Aid amounts and rules
1. Aid for the use of grapes, grape must and concentrated grape must shall be fixed per unit of quantity of raw material actually used as follows:
TABLE
2. Except in cases of force majeure, no aid shall be payable on quantities of raw materials in excess of the following ratio between the raw material and the grape juice obtained:
(a) 1,3 for grapes, in 100 kg per hl;
(b) 1,05 for must, in hl per hl;
(c) 0,30 for concentrated must, in hl per hl.
Where the product obtained is concentrated grape juice, those ratios shall be multiplied by five.
Article 10
Payment of the aid
The competent authority shall pay the aid within three months of the date of presentation of the required documentation referred to in Article 8.
Article 11
Advance payments
1. Processors may request advance payment of an amount equal to the aid referred to in Article 9 calculated for the raw materials which they can prove have entered their premises, provided they have lodged a security with the competent authority. That security shall be 120 % of the amount of the advance.
2. Advances shall be paid by the competent authority within three months of presentation of proof that the security has been lodged. However, no advances shall be paid before 1 January of the wine year concerned.
3. After the competent authority has checked the required documentation referred to in Article 8 the security referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be released in full or in part in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85.
Article 11a
Penalties and cases of force majeure
1. If the processor presents the required documentation referred to in Article 8 late, but within six months of expiry of the deadline referred to in that Article, the aid shall be reduced by 30 %.
If the processor presents the documentation after the six months referred to above have elapsed, no aid shall be paid.
2. If a check reveals that the user has not complied with the undertakings referred to in Article 7(2) and (3) the aid shall be recovered from the processor. If the user is domiciled in a Member State other than that where the processor is domiciled the Member State concerned shall notify the Member State where the processor is domiciled of the non-compliance without delay.
3. Except in cases of force majeure, if processors are found not to have complied with the obligations imposed on them under this Chapter other than the obligation to process into grape juice the raw materials covered by the aid application the aid shall be reduced. The Member State concerned shall set the rate of that reduction.
4. If the quantity of raw material actually used is between 95 % and 99,9 % of the quantity for which the advance was paid the security referred to in Article 11 shall be forfeit for the quantity not processed during the wine year.
Except in cases of force majeure, if the quantity of raw material actually used is less than 95 % of the quantity for which the advance was paid, the security shall be forfeit in its entirety.
5. In cases of force majeure, the competent authority of the Member State shall determine the measures which it deems appropriate in the light of the reasons invoked and shall inform the Commission thereof."
2. Article 13(2) is replaced by the following:
"2. The potential alcoholic strength of the products listed in paragraph 1 shall be determined by applying the figures in the table of equivalence in Annex I hereto to the readings at 20 °C from a refractometer used in accordance with the method laid down in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 558/93(7).
A tolerance of 0,2 shall be allowed in checks by the competent authorities."
3. The following third paragraph is added to Article 14:"However, the Member States may provide for several aid applications to be submitted covering some of the operations to increase alcoholic strength."
4. The following Article 14a is added:
"Article 14a
Checks
1. The competent authorities of the Member States shall take all necessary steps to ensure the checks needed in order to verify in particular the identity and volume of the product used to increase the alcoholic strength and compliance with Annex V, points C and D, to Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999.
2. Producers shall be obliged to allow the checks referred to in paragraph 1 at any time."
5. Article 16 is replaced by the following:
"Article 16
Payment of the aid
The competent authority shall pay the aid no later than 31 August following the end of the current wine year."
6. Article 29(1)(c) is replaced by the following:
"(c) the reading obtained at a temperature of 20 °C with a refractometer used in accordance with the method referred to in the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 558/93. A tolerance shall be permitted of 0,5 for grape must and 1 for concentrated grape must and rectified concentrated grape must."
7. Article 34(2) is replaced by the following:
"2. Without prejudice to paragraph 6, products under contract may undergo only such oenological treatments and processes as are necessary for their preservation. A variation shall be permitted in the volume entered in the contract which may not exceed 2 % for wine and 3 % for grape must, concentrated grape must and rectified concentrated grape must. When there has been a change of vat, the variation permitted is set at 3 % to 4 % respectively."
8. The following Article 35a is added:
"Article 35a
Checks
1. The competent authorities of the Member States shall take any measures required to ensure the checks necessary to verify the identity and volume of the product covered by the contract and compliance with Article 34.
2. Producers shall be obliged to allow the checks referred to in paragraph 1 at any time."
9. Article 37 is replaced by the following:
"Article 37
Payment of the aid
1. The competent authority shall pay the aid no later than three months after the expiry date of the storage contract.
2. In cases where a contract has been terminated in accordance with Articles 33 or 35, the aid payable shall be in proportion to the actual duration of the contract. The competent authority shall pay the aid no later than three months after the day on which the contract is terminated."
10. Article 38 is replaced by the following:
"Article 38
Advance payments
1. Producers may request that an advance be paid to them provided that they have lodged a security for 120 % of the advance in favour of the intervention agency. Without prejudice to Article 32, the amount of the advance shall be calculated on the basis of the amount of the aid for the product in question, as referred to in Article 25.
2. Advances shall be paid by the competent authority within three months of presentation of proof that the security has been lodged.
3. Once the aid is paid by the competent authority, the security referred to in paragraph 1 shall be released.
Where entitlement to the aid is lost in accordance with Article 36(1)(a), the whole security shall be forfeit.
Where the application of Article 36(1)(b) results in an aid amount that is lower than the sum already paid, the security shall be reduced by 120 % of the amount paid in excess of the aid due. Securities reduced in this way shall be released not later than three months after the date of expiry of the contract.
The Member States shall make the necessary adjustments where the clause provided for in Article 29(5)(i) is applied."
11. The third paragraph of Article 43 is replaced by the following:"For the purposes of the distillation operations referred to in this Title, Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure compliance with the obligation laid down in the second subparagraph."
12. Article 45 is amended as follows:
(a) In paragraph 1 the following second subparagraph is added:"The Member States may stipulate that this delivery must take place before the date referred to in the first subparagraph."
(b) Paragraph 2 is deleted.
13. Article 46(3)(a)(ii) is replaced by the following:
"(ii) in wine-growing zone C: two litres of pure alcohol, by actual or potential strength/100 kilograms where it is obtained from varieties listed in the classification of vine varieties for the administrative unit concerned as varieties other than wine-grape varieties; litres of pure alcohol, by actual or potential strength/100 kilograms where it is obtained from varieties listed in the classification for the administrative unit concerned solely as wine-grape varieties;".
14. Article 48 is replaced by the following:
"Article 48
Aid to be paid to distillers
1. The aid referred to in Article 27(11)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 shall be fixed, per % vol. of alcohol and per hectolitre of product obtained by distillation, as follows:
(a) for neutral alcohol:
- obtained from marc: EUR 0,8453,
- obtained from wine and wine lees: EUR 0,4106;
(b) for spirits distilled from marc and distillates or raw alcohol obtained from marc having an alcoholic strength of at least 52 % vol.: EUR 0,3985;
(c) for wine spirits and raw alcohol obtained from wine and wine lees: EUR 0,2777.
Where the distiller provides evidence that the distillate or raw alcohol obtained by distillation of marc was used otherwise than as spirits distilled from marc, a further amount of EUR 0,3139/% vol./hl shall be paid.
2. No aid shall be due for quantities of wine delivered for distillation exceeding the producer's obligation as provided for in Article 45 by more than 2 %."
15. Article 49 is amended as follows:
(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
"2. Producers who, during the wine year in question, do not produce more than 25 hectolitres of wine or must themselves on their own premises shall be free not to deliver any quantities."
(b) the following paragraph 4 is added:
"4. Under Article 27(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States may provide, in respect of all or part of their territory, that producers who do not exceed a production level to be established, and produced by themselves on their own premises, may discharge their obligation to deliver the by-products referred to in paragraphs 3 and 6 of that Article by withdrawing those products under supervision. However, that production level may not exceed 80 hl of wine or must."
16. The first paragraph of Article 58 is replaced by the following:"Producers subject to one of the obligations referred to in Articles 45 and 54 who have delivered at least 90 % of the quantity of product which they are obliged to deliver before 15 July of the current wine year may discharge their obligation by delivering the remaining quantity before a date to be fixed by the competent national authority, which may not be after 31 July of the following wine year."
17. Article 60 is amended as follows:
(a) in paragraph 5 the following second subparagraph is added:"In the case of distillation as referred to in Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, and where the Member State differentiates the buying-in price according to yield per hectare as provided for in Article 55(2), the period referred to in the first subparagraph shall be seven months."
(b) paragraph 6 is deleted.
18. Article 62 is amended as follows:
(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
"2. The price to be paid to the distiller by the competent authority for the product delivered shall be fixed in % vol./hl as follows:
(a) distillation under Article 27 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999:
- raw alcohol obtained from marc: EUR 1,872,
- raw alcohol obtained from wine and wine lees: EUR 1,437;
(b) distillation under Article 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999:
- raw alcohol obtained from wine: EUR 1,799.
Where alcohol is stored on the premises where it has been produced, the above prices shall be reduced by EUR 0,5 per hectolitre of alcohol."
(b) paragraph 3 is deleted.
19. The following third paragraph is added to Article 67(1):"The advance on the price to be paid to distillers by the intervention agency, which may be provided for under the distillation referred to in Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, shall be the same as the aid provided for in the second subparagraph."
20. Article 73(2) is deleted.
21. Article 74 is amended as follows:
(a) paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
"4. The intervention agency shall recover from the producer an amount equal to all or part of the aid or the advance to be paid to the distiller in cases where a producer does not meet the requirements laid down by the Community rules for the distillation operation in question, for one of the following reasons:
(a) failure to present the harvest, production or stock declaration within the time allowed;
(b) presentation of a harvest, production or stock declaration found by the competent authority of the Member State to be incomplete or inaccurate, where the missing or incorrect data are essential for application of the measure concerned;
(c) failure to meet the obligations laid down in Article 37 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 where the infringement is detected or notified to the distiller after payment of the minimum price on the basis of previous declarations.
In the case provided for in point (a) of the first subparagraph the amount to be recovered shall be determined in accordance with the rules laid down in Article 12 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001(8).
In the case provided for in point (b) of the first subparagraph the amount to be recovered shall be determined in accordance with the rules laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1282/2001.
In the case provided for in point (c) of the first subparagraph the amount to be recovered shall be all the aid or the advance paid to the distiller."
(b) the following paragraph 5 is added:
"5. If it is found that the distiller has not paid the purchase price to the producer within the deadline laid down in Article 65(7), the intervention agency shall pay the producer, before 1 June following the wine year concerned, an amount equal to the aid or advance, where appropriate through the intermediary of the intervention agency in the producer's Member State. In that case, no aid or advance shall be due to the distiller."
22. Article 86 is replaced by the following:
"Article 86
Opening tendering procedures
The Commission, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 75 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, may issue one or more invitations to tender every quarter for export to certain third countries for end-use in the motor-fuel sector only. The alcohol concerned must be imported and dehydrated in a third country for end-use in the motor-fuel sector in a third country only."
23. Article 91 is amended as follows:
(a) the third subparagraph of paragraph 7 is replaced by the following:"The removal order shall state the date by which the alcohol must be physically removed from the storehouse of the intervention agency concerned. The deadline for removal may not be more than eight days from the date of issue of the removal order. However, where a removal order covers more than 25000 hl the deadline may be more than eight days later but no more than 15 days later."
(b) paragraph 10 is replaced by the following:
"10. The alcohol must be physically removed from the storehouses of each intervention agency concerned by a deadline to be fixed when the invitation to tender is issued in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 75 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999."
24. Article 93(6) is replaced by the following:
"6. The alcohol must be physically removed from the storehouses of each intervention agency concerned by a deadline to be fixed when a public sale is opened, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 75 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999."
25. Article 95(3) is deleted.
26. The following paragraph 4 is added to Article 101:
"4. Without prejudice to paragraph 1, when the alcohol is exported to third countries for end-use in the motor-fuel sector only, the checks on its actual use shall be carried out up to the moment when the alcohol is mixed with a denaturing agent in the country of destination.
Where the alcohol is disposed of for use as bio-ethanol in the Community, those checks shall be carried out up to the moment when the alcohol is delivered to an oil undertaking using bio-ethanol or to an approved firm as indicated in Article 92, where the supervision referred to in subparagraph 3 is guaranteed from the moment when the alcohol is delivered to that approved firm.
In the cases provided for in the first and second subparagraphs, the alcohol concerned must remain under the supervision of an official body which guarantees its use in the motor fuel sector under special tax arrangements which require that end-use."
27. The following Article 102a is added to Title IV:
"Article 102a
Derogation from the payment deadlines
As an exception to the provisions governing the payment deadlines granted to the competent authority of the Member States pursuant to this Regulation, if that authority has justified doubts as to the eligibility of the beneficiary to the aid, it shall carry out the necessary checks and payment shall not be effected until eligibility to the aid has been acknowledged."
28. Article 103 is replaced by the following:
"Article 103
Notifications to the Commission
1. In the case of aid for the private storage of wine and must under Title III, Chapter I, of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States shall communicate:
(a) no later than 31 December of the wine year following that in which the contracts were concluded, the quantities of grape must processed into concentrated grape must or rectified concentrated grape must during the period of validity of the contract, and the quantities so obtained;
(b) by 5 March of the current wine year at the latest, the quantities of products under contract at 16 February.
2. In the case of distillation under Articles 27, 28 and 30 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States shall communicate at the end of October, December, February, April, June and August:
(a) the quantities of wine, wine lees and wine fortified for distillation that have been distilled in the previous two months;
(b) the quantities of alcohol, broken down into neutral alcohol, raw alcohol and spirits distilled from wine,
- produced during the previous period,
- taken over by the intervention agencies during the previous period,
- disposed of by the intervention agencies during the previous period and the percentage of those quantities exported and the selling prices charged,
- held by the intervention agencies at the end of the previous period.
3. Concerning the disposal of alcohol taken over by the intervention agencies, as referred to in Article 31 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States shall communicate at the end of each month:
(a) the quantities of alcohol physically removed during the previous month under a tendering procedure;
(b) the quantities of alcohol physically removed during the previous month following a public sale.
4. In the case of distillation under Article 29 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States shall communicate at the end of each month:
(a) the quantities of wine distilled during the previous month;
(b) the quantities of alcohol which qualified for secondary aid during the previous month.
5. In the case of aid for concentrated and rectified concentrated must used for enrichment as provided for in Article 34 of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States shall communicate no later than 31 December of the wine year following the current one:
(a) the number of producers who have received aid;
(b) the quantities of wine enriched;
(c) the quantities of concentrated grape must and rectified concentrated grape must used for enrichment, expressed in terms of potential alcoholic strength by volume per hectolitre and broken down by the wine-growing zone of origin.
6. In the case of aid for manufacturing grape juice and other comestible products from such grape juice as provided for in Article 35(1)(a) in Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States shall communicate no later than 30 April in respect of the previous wine year:
(a) the quantities of raw materials covered by aid applications, broken down by type;
(b) the quantities of raw materials on which aid has been granted, broken down by type.
7. In the case of aid for manufacturing certain products in the United Kingdom and Ireland as provided for in Article 35(1)(b) and (c) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, the Member States shall communicate no later than 30 April in respect of the previous wine year:
(a) the quantities of grape must and concentrated grape must covered by aid applications, broken down by wine-growing zone of origin;
(b) the quantities of grape must and concentrated grape must on which aid has been granted, broken down by wine-growing zone of origin;
(c) the prices paid by manufacturers and operators for the grape must and concentrated grape must.
8. The Member States shall communicate:
(a) no later than 30 April for the previous wine year, the cases where distillers and makers of fortified wine for distillation have failed to fulfil their obligations and the action taken in consequence;
(b) 10 days before the end of each quarter, the action taken in response to appeals on the grounds of force majeure and the steps taken in those instances by the competent authorities in cases covered by this Regulation."
29. The title of Annex I is replaced by the following:
"Table of equivalence between the potential alcoholic strength and the readings obtained at 20 °C with a refractometer used in accordance with the method laid down in the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 558/93."
30. Annex IV is replaced by the text in the Annex to this Regulation.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Article 1(7), (16), (19), (20), (21) and (29) shall apply from 1 August 2000.
Article 1(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (8), (9), (10), (11), (12), (13), (14), (15), (17), (18), (27) and (28) shall apply from 1 August 2003.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 2 April 2003.

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