Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 (repealed)Show full title

Article 7 U.K.

1. Where a producer organisation is considered to be representative of production and marketing in one or more landing places of a Member State and makes an application to the competent national authorities, the Member State concerned may require producers who are not members of the organisation and who market any of the products referred to in Article 1 within the area of which the producer organisation is representative to comply with:

(a) production and marketing rules introduced by the organisation to attain the objectives set out in Article 5(1)(b);

(b) rules adopted by the organisation on market withdrawal and carry-over for the fresh and chilled products referred to in points (a) and (c) of the second indent of the second paragraph of Article 1.

However, in the case of the products listed in Annex I, these rules may be extended to non-members only in so far as the price applied by the producer organisation is the withdrawal price or the Community selling price, subject to the tolerance provided for in Article 21(1)(a).

The Member State may decide that the extension of the rules referred to in points (a) and (b) shall not apply to certain categories of sales.

2. The rules which are made obligatory under paragraph 1 shall apply up to the first-stage sale of the products on the market for a period not longer than 12 months for a regionally-limited area.

3. Member States shall immediately notify to the Commission the rules which they have decided to make obligatory under paragraph 1.

Where the Commission is unsure as to the validity of the decision in relation to the cases referred to in paragraph 4 where extension must be declared null and void, it may ask the Member State in question within one month of receipt of the said notification to suspend application of the decision in whole or in part. In this case and within two months from that date, the Commission:

• shall confirm that the rules notified may be made obligatory,

  or

• by reasoned decision, shall declare the extension of the rules decided by the Member State null and void, on the basis of one of the circumstances referred to in paragraph 4(a) and (b). In this case, the Commission decision shall apply from the date on which the request to suspend the rules was sent to the Member State.

4. The Commission shall declare the extension referred to in paragraph 1 null and void:

(a) if it finds that the extension in question jeopardises free trade, or that the objectives of Article 33 of the Treaty are thereby endangered;

(b) if it finds that Article 81(1) of the Treaty applies to the rule which it has been decided to extend to other producers.

5. Following ex-post checks, the Commission may at any time identify cases of nullity under paragraph 4 and declare the extension in question null and void.

6. The Commission shall immediately inform the other Member States at each stage of the procedure laid down in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5.

7. Member States shall take all the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the rules referred to in paragraph 1. They shall forthwith inform the Commission of such measures.

8. Where paragraph 1 is applied, the Member State concerned may decide that non-members are liable to the organisation for the equivalent of all or part of the fees paid by member producers in so far as these fees are intended to cover administrative costs resulting from the application of the system referred to in paragraph 1.

9. Where paragraph 1 is applied, Member States shall ensure, where necessary through the agency of the producer organisations, the withdrawal of products not satisfying the marketing rules or which cannot be sold at a price at least equal to the withdrawal price.

10. Detailed rules for the application of this Article shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 38(2).