PART IIINTERNAL MARKET

TITLE IIRULES CONCERNING MARKETING AND PRODUCTION

CHAPTER IIProducer organisations, interbranch organisations, operator organisations

F1Section IARules concerning producer and interbranch organisations and producer groups in the fruit and vegetables sector

Subsection IVInterbranch organisations in the fruit and vegetables sector

Article 125kRecognition and withdrawal of recognition

1

If warranted by the Member State’s structures, Member States may recognise as interbranch organisations in the fruit and vegetables sector all legal entities established on their territory which make an appropriate application, on condition that:

a

they carry out their activity in one or more regions in the Member State concerned;

b

they represent a significant share of the production of, trade in and/or processing of fruit and vegetables and products processed from fruit and vegetables in the region or regions in question and, where more than one region is involved, they can demonstrate a minimum level of representativeness in each region for each of the branches that they group;

c

they carry out two or more of the activities referred to in Article 123(3)(c);

d

they are not themselves engaged in the production or processing or marketing of fruit and vegetables or products processed from fruit and vegetables;

e

they do not engage in any of the agreements, decisions and concerted practices referred to in Article 176a(4).

2

Before granting recognition Member States shall notify the Commission of the interbranch organisations which have applied for recognition, providing all relevant information about their representativeness and their various activities, together with all other information needed for an assessment.

The Commission may object to recognition within a time limit of two months after notification.

3

Member States shall:

a

decide whether to grant recognition within three months of the lodging of an application with all relevant supporting documents;

b

carry out checks at regular intervals to ascertain that interbranch organisations comply with the terms and conditions for recognition, impose the penalties on such organisations in the event of non-compliance or irregularities concerning the provisions of this Regulation and decide, where necessary, to withdraw recognition;

c

withdraw recognition if:

  1. (i)

    the requirements and conditions for recognition laid down in this subsection are no longer met;

  2. (ii)

    the interbranch organisation engages in any of the agreements, decisions and concerted practices referred to in Article 176a(4), without prejudice to any other penalties to be imposed pursuant to national law;

  3. (iii)

    the interbranch organisation fails to comply with the notification obligation referred to in Article 176a(2);

d

notify the Commission, within two months, of any decision to grant, refuse or withdraw recognition.

4

The Commission shall lay down the terms and conditions on which and the frequency with which the Member States are to report to the Commission on the activities of interbranch organisations.

The Commission may, as a result of checks, request a Member State to withdraw recognition.

5

Recognition shall constitute an authorisation to carry out the activities listed in Article 123(3)(c), subject to the terms of this Regulation.

6

The Commission shall make publicly available a list of recognised interbranch organisations, by the methods it considers appropriate, indicating the economic sphere or the area of their activities and the activities carried out within the meaning of Article 125l. Withdrawals of recognition shall also be made publicly available.