The specialised control bodies shall bear the responsibility to carry out the controls on the respect of the requirements and standards in question.

The Paying Agencies shall bear the responsibility for the fixing of reductions or exclusions in individual cases in accordance with Chapter II of Title IV of this Regulation.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, Member States may decide that controls in relation to all or certain requirements, standards, acts, or areas of cross-compliance shall be carried out by the Paying Agency provided that the Member State guarantees that the effectiveness of the controls is at least equal to the one achieved in the case where the controls are carried out by a specialised control body.