Article 12U.K.
1.Where the aid is granted by tender:
(a)the Regulation issuing the invitation to tender in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 2529/2001 shall specify the general conditions, the products to be stored, the time limit (date and hour) for the submission of tenders and the minimum quantities in respect of which a tender may be submitted;
(b)tenders must be made in euro and submitted to the intervention agency concerned in accordance with Article 3(1) and (2);
(c)tenders shall be examined in private session by the appropriate agencies of the Member States; persons present at the examination shall be sworn to secrecy;
(d)tenders submitted must be forwarded anonymously to the Commission by way of the Member States, to arrive not later than the second working day following the final date for submission as specified in the invitation;
(e)where no tenders are submitted, Member States shall inform the Commission of this within the time limit as specified under (d);
(f)on the basis of the tenders received, the Commission shall decide in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 25(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2529/2001, either to fix a maximum amount of aid, or to make no award;
(g)where a maximum amount of aid is fixed, tenders not exceeding this amount shall be accepted.
2.Within five working days following the day on which the Member States are notified of the Commission's Decision, the intervention agency concerned shall inform all tenderers of the decision taken by registered letter, by telefax, by electronic mail or against written acknowledgement.
Where a tender is accepted, the contract shall be deemed to have been concluded on the date of departure of the information from the intervention agency to the tenderer as referred to in the first subparagraph. The intervention agency shall specify the date referred to in Article 3(3)(c) accordingly.