30.10.2004 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 328/77
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1903/2004
of 29 October 2004,
amending Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 laying down detailed rules for the supply of food from intervention stocks for the benefit of the most deprived persons in the Community
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3730/87 of 10 December 1987 laying down the general rules for the supply of food from intervention stocks to designated organisations for distribution to the most deprived persons in the Community (1), and in particular Article 6 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 (2) lays down the application rules of Regulation (CEE) No 3730/87 for the supply of food from intervention stocks for the benefit of the most deprived persons in the Community by charitable organisations designated by the Member States.
(2) In order to ensure more standardised implementation in the Member States participating in this scheme, the concepts of ‘beneficiaries’ and ‘final recipients’ of the measure need to be clarified. In order to facilitate the management and control of the implementation of the annual plan as laid down in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 3149/92, the charitable organisations designated by the competent national authorities can be deemed final recipients if they are actually engaged in the local distribution of the foodstuffs (in various forms) where the most deprived persons live.
(3) Implementation of the plan in each participating Member State must be programmed, phased and regular both as regards withdrawals of the products from intervention stocks and the performance of the later phases until distribution to the beneficiaries or final recipients, in order to satisfy both the aim of the Community measure and the requirement to manage intervention stocks well. To this end, most withdrawals from intervention stocks should occur before 1 July of the year in which the plan is implemented. In the case of milk products, the characteristics of this sensitive market and in particular the impact of re-introducing products onto the market require provision to be made for limiting withdrawals of these products from public storage as part of the measure concerned, during periods when buying-in by intervention agencies is possible and, with effect from the implementation of the 2006 plan, even during the weeks preceding these buying-in periods. Appropriate measures must be implemented by the Member States, to include sanctions in line with the length of the delay in taking over the products.
(4) The most appropriate types of check of the implementation of the annual plan should be specified and in particular the rate of checks to be made by the competent authorities. The annual reports of plan implementation should include information allowing both the outcome of the checks and the plan’s implementation to be assessed. The checks must be carried out with due regard to the application of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3002/92 laying down common detailed rules for verifying the use and/or destination of products from intervention (3).
(5) Regulation (EEC) No 3149/1992 should be amended accordingly. These amendments should apply from the start of the 2005 annual plan period.
(6) The relevant Management Committees have not delivered opinions within the time limits set down by their chairmen,
Regulation (EC) No 3149/92 is hereby amended as follows:
1. The following paragraph is added to Article 1:
2. Article 3 is replaced by the following:
3. The following Article 5a is inserted:
4. Article 9 is replaced by the following:
(a) the intervention products and, where appropriate, grants for mobilising foodstuffs on the market, are put to the use and serve the purposes laid down in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 3730/87;
(b) the goods which are not delivered in bulk to the beneficiaries have the following inscription on their packaging “EC aid”;
(c) the designated charitable organisations for implementing the measures maintain appropriate accounts and supporting documents and allow the competent authorities access to them to carry out whatever checks they deem necessary;
(d) the invitations to tender are in accordance with Articles 3 and 4 and the supplies are implemented in accordance with this Regulation; in particular, the Member States shall establish the applicable penalties if the products have not been withdrawn in the period laid down in Article 3(2).
5. The second paragraph of Article 10 is replaced by the following:
6. The following Article 10a is inserted:
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from the 2005 annual plan.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.