The vocational training measures referred to under (a) in the second paragraph of Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 399/94 shall concern one or more of the following measures:

• specialized seminars for each category of worker,

• training visits,

• the publication and distribution of audiovisual reference material,

• training courses for quality controllers.

The Community shall contribute 90 % towards the financing of the measures.

These measures are indirect action within the meaning of Article 1 (c) of this Regulation.

The measures to improve transport and storage conditions referred to under (b) in the second paragraph of Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 399/94 shall concern one or more of the following measures:

• the establishment of reception and pre-sorting points for dried grapes that have not yet been processed,

• the purchase of stackable plastic transport crates,

• the purchase of pallets,

• the purchase of handling equipment,

• the equipping of sample control laboratories, and

• the purchase of equipment for effective store management.

The Community shall contribute 70 % towards the financing of these measures.

These measures are indirect action within the meaning of Article 1 (c) of this Regulation.

The measures referred to under (c) in the second paragraph of Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 399/94 shall comprise the following measures:

• collating results of research already carried out and making them available to the persons responsible for the enterprises,

• developing effective procedures for carrying out drying, cleaning, sorting and storage operations on the holding or at the plant,

• developing rules for handling and sorting incoming dried grapes; creating a classification system compatible with international practice.

The Community shall contribute 70 % towards the financing of these measures.

These measures shall be submitted and conducted in direct collaboration with institutions and/or bodies competent in these areas.

These measures are indirect action within the meaning of Article 1 (c) of this Regulation.

Each applicant must have his registered place of business in a Member State.

Applications for Community financing shall be lodged, not later than F228 February 1995, with the competent body in the Member State in which the applicant has his registered place of business.

The competent bodies are listed in the Annex hereto.

The competent body shall draw up a list of all the applications for financing which it has received within the time limit laid down in Article 8 (2) and shall send it to the Commission with a reasoned opinion on each of them not later than F231 March 1995.

Having informed the Management Committee for Products processed from Fruit and Vegetables, the Commission shall determine the successful applications at the earliest opportunity.

Applicants shall be informed individually of the outcome of their applications by the competent body as soon as the decision referred to in Article 9 (2) is notified to the Member State.

The competent bodies shall conclude contracts for the selected measures with the successful applicants within one month of notification of the decision to the Member State.

To that end the bodies shall use the standard contract referred to in Article 8 (4) (a).

The contract shall not take effect until a security is lodged in favour of the competent body equal to 15 % of the amount of the Community financing, in order to ensure proper execution.

If proof of the lodging of the security has not been received by the competent body within two weeks of the date of conclusion of the contract, the latter shall be void and shall not have any legal effect.

Securities shall be lodged in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/853.

The primary requirement within the meaning of Article 20 of that Regulation shall be the implementation within the time limits laid down of the measures contained in the contract referred to in paragraph 2.

Failure to comply with the primary requirement or serious failure to comply with the undertakings listed in Article 8 (4) shall result in the contract being terminated.

The applicant may submit a single application for an advance as from the date on which the contract takes effect.

The advance may cover a maximum of 30 % of the amount of Community financing.

Advances shall be paid subject to provision in favour of the competent body of a security equal to 110 % of the advance, lodged in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85.

Payments shall be made on the basis of quarterly invoices submitted together with the relevant supporting documents and an interim report on the performance of the contract up to 70 % of the total Community funding. The first invoices shall be submitted three months after the date on which the contract takes effect.

Applications for the balance shall be submitted to the competent body not later than the end of the fourth month following completion of the measures provided for in the contract. They shall be accompanied by:

• the relevant supporting documents,

• a statement summarizing the measures carried out,

• a report assessing the results achieved to date and the use which may be made thereof.

Except in cases of force majeure, failure to lodge applications for the balance accompanied by the documentation by the final date shall result in a reduction of 3 % of the balance per month of delay.

The balance shall be paid subject to verification of the documents referred to in paragraph 3.

In the event of failure to comply with the primary requirement referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 10 (4), no payment shall be made except in cases of force majeure.

Failure to comply with the other requirements shall result in the balance being reducec in proportion to the extent of the irregularity recorded.

The competent body shall make the payments provided for in this Article within 60 days of receipt of applications for payment of the balance. However, it may defer the payments where further checks are required.

The competent body shall forward the assessment reports referred to in paragraph 3 to the Commission on the 30th day following receipt of the documents referred to in that paragraph, at the latest.

For the amounts fixed within the framework of the measures referred to in Articles 3, 4 and 5, the operative event for the exchange rate shall be that referred to in Article 2(6) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1913/20064.

The competent bodies shall take the necessary measures to verify:

• the correctness of the information and supporting documents supplied,

• fulfilment of all the contractual obligations,

inter alia by means of technical, administrative and accounting checks at the premises of the contracting parties and any of their associates.

Without prejudice to Council Regulation (EEC) No 595/915, they shall inform the Commission immediately in writing of any irregularities discovered.

The Commission may monitor implementation of the measures, in particular by organizing meetings of experts and by means of on-the-spot checks.

In the case of undue payment, the beneficiary shall be obliged to reimburse the amounts in question plus interest calculated on the basis of the time elapsing between payment and reimbursement by the beneficiary.

The interest rate applicable shall be the rate applied by the European Monetary Cooperation Fund to its operations in ecus, as published in the ‘C’ series of the Official Journal of the European Communities, in force on the date of the undue payment, plus three percentage points.

Amounts recovered, together with interest, shall be paid to the disbursing agencies or departments and deducted by the latter from expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund.