Without prejudice to specific provisions of this Regulation or other Community legislation, Member States shall introduce checks and measures in so far as they are necessary to ensure the proper application of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 and this Regulation. They shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive so that they provide adequate protection for the Communities’ financial interests.
In particular, Member States shall ensure that:
all eligibility criteria established by Community or national legislation or the national framework can be checked;
the competent authorities responsible for carrying out checks have a sufficient number of suitably qualified and experienced staff to carry out the checks effectively;
provision is made for checks to avoid irregular duplicated financing of measures under this Regulation and other Community or national schemes;
the checks and measures are in line with the nature of the support measure concerned. Member States shall define methods and means for verification and specify who shall be subject to checks;
controls are carried out either systematically or by sampling. In the case of sampling, Member States shall ensure that by their number, nature and frequency controls are representative of the whole of their territory and correspond, where applicable, to the volume of wine-sector products marketed or held with a view to their marketing;
the operations admitted to community financing are genuine and comply with the Community legislation.
1.Verification shall be by administrative and where appropriate on-the-spot checks.
2.Administrative checks shall be systematic and shall include cross-checks with, inter alia, data from the integrated administration and control system provided for in Chapter 4 of Title II of Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003.
3.Except for the cases where systematic on the spot checks are foreseen by Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 or by this Regulation, the competent authorities shall perform on-the-spot checks by sampling an appropriate percentage of beneficiaries/producers on the basis of a risk analysis in accordance with Article 79 of this Regulation.
4.Concerning the measures foreseen by Articles 16, 17, 18 and 19 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008 the sample size shall be at least 5 % of aid applications. The sample must also represent at least 5 % of the amounts covered by the aid.
5.Concerning measures foreseen by Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, Articles 26, 27 and 28 of Regulation (EC) No 1975/2006(1) shall apply mutatis mutandis.
6.Article 26(3) and (4) of Regulation (EC) No 796/2004 shall apply to on-the-spot checks provided for in this Article.
7.In all appropriate cases, Member States shall make use of the integrated administration and control system (IACS).
1.On-the-spot checks shall be unannounced. However, provided that the purpose of the check is not compromised, advance notice limited to the strict minimum necessary may be given. Such notice shall not exceed 48 hours, except in duly justified cases or for those measures where systematic on the spot checks are foreseen.
2.Where applicable, the on-the-spot checks provided for in this Regulation shall be carried out in conjunction with any other checks provided for by Community legislation.
3.The aid application or applications concerned shall be rejected if beneficiaries or their representatives prevent an on-the-spot check from being carried out.
1.Control samples for on-the-spot checks under this Regulation shall be selected by the competent authority on the basis of a risk analysis and — where controls specifically concern community financing — of representativeness of the aid applications submitted. The effectiveness of risk analysis shall be assessed and updated on an annual basis:
(a)by establishing the relevance of each risk factor;
(b)by comparing the results of the risk based and randomly selected sample referred to in the second subparagraph;
(c)by taking into account the specific situation in the Member State.
To provide the element of representativeness, the Member States shall select randomly between 20 and 25 % of the minimum number of beneficiaries/producers to be subjected to on-the-spot checks.
2.The competent authority shall keep records of the reasons why specific beneficiaries/producers were selected for on-the-spot checks. The inspector performing the on-the-spot check shall be informed of those reasons before beginning the check.
1.Every on-the-spot check shall be the subject of a control report which makes it possible to review the details of the checks carried out.
As far as controls concern community financing the report shall indicate in particular:
(a)the aid schemes and applications checked;
(b)the persons present;
(c)where applicable the agricultural areas checked, the agricultural areas measured, the results of the measurements per parcel measured and the measuring methods used;
(d)the verification whether the given area has been properly tended in the case of grubbing-up scheme;
(e)the quantities which are covered by the check and their results;
(f)whether advance notice was given to the beneficiary/producer of the visit and, if so, how much;
(g)any further control measures carried out.
2.Where discrepancies are found between the information in the application and the actual situation found during the check carried out on the spot or by remote sensing, the grower shall receive a copy of the control report and shall have the opportunity to sign it before the competent authority draws its conclusions from the findings with regard to any resulting reductions or exclusions.
1.For the purpose of verification of compliance with the provisions on production potential laid down in Title V of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, including the compliance with the prohibition on new planting laid down in Article 90(1) of that Regulation, Member States shall make use of the vineyard register.
2.When granting replanting rights as foreseen in Article 92 of Regulation (EC) No 479/2008, areas shall be systematically verified before and after the execution of the grubbing up. The plots checked shall be those for which replanting right is to be granted.
The control before the grubbing-up shall include verification of the existence of the vineyard concerned.
This control shall be carried out via a classical on-the-spot check. However, if the Member State disposes of a reliable updated computerised vineyard register, the control can be carried out administratively and the obligation of a control on the spot before grubbing-up can be limited to 5 % of the applications (on annual basis) in order to confirm the reliability of the administrative control system. Should on-the-spot checks reveal significant irregularities or discrepancies in a region or part of a region, the competent authority shall appropriately increase the number of on-the-spot checks during the year concerned and the following year.
3.Areas receiving grubbing-up premium shall be systematically verified before and after the execution of the grubbing up. The plots verified shall be those which are the subject of an application for aid.
The control before the grubbing-up shall include verification of the existence of the vineyard concerned, the area planted determined in accordance with Article 75 and whether the given area has been properly tended.
This control shall be carried out via a classical on-the-spot check. However, if the Member State disposes of a graphical tool that allows measurement of the parcel in accordance with Article 75 in the computerised vineyard register and of reliable updated information about the parcel being properly tended, the control can be carried out administratively and the obligation of a control on the spot before the grubbing-up may be limited to 5 % of the applications in order to confirm the reliability of the administrative control system. Should on-the-spot checks reveal significant irregularities or discrepancies in a region or part of a region, the competent authority shall increase the number of on-the-spot checks appropriately during the year concerned.
4.Verification that grubbing-up has actually taken place shall be done by a classical on-the-spot control or, in the case of grubbing up the entire vineyard parcel or if the resolution of the remote sensing is equal or better than 1 m2, may be carried out by remote sensing.
5.In case of areas receiving grubbing-up premium, without prejudice to paragraph 3, third subparagraph and paragraph 4, at least one of the two controls mentioned in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 shall be carried out via a classical on-the-spot check.
1.Where a Member State designates several competent bodies to check compliance with the rules governing the wine sector, it shall coordinate the work of those bodies.
2.Each Member State shall designate a single liaison body responsible for contacts with the liaison bodies of other Member States and with the Commission. In particular, the liaison body shall receive and forward requests for cooperation with a view to implementing this Title, and shall represent its Member State vis-à-vis other Member States or the Commission.
Each Member State shall take all appropriate measures to facilitate the work of the officials of its competent bodies. It shall ensure in particular that such officials, where appropriate in conjunction with officials of other departments which it authorises for the purpose:
have access to vineyards, wine-making and storage installations, installations for processing wine-sector products and vehicles for transporting those products;
have access to the commercial premises (or warehouses) and vehicles of anyone holding with a view to sale, marketing or transporting wine-sector products or products which may be intended for use in the wine sector;
may undertake an inventory of wine-sector products and substances or products which may be used for the preparation of such products;
may take samples of wine-sector products, substances or products which may be used for the preparation of such products and products held with a view to sale, marketing or transport;
may study accounting data and other documents of use in control procedures, and make copies or extracts thereof;
may take appropriate protective measures regarding the preparation, holding, transport, description, presentation and marketing of a wine-sector product or a product intended for use in the preparation of such a product, if there is reason to believe that there has been a serious infringement of Community provisions, in particular in the case of fraudulent treatment or risks to health.
OJ L 368, 23.12.2006, p. 74. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1396/2007 (OJ L 311, 29.11.2007, p. 3).