Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011Show full title

Section 2 U.K. Requirements applicable to producer organisations

Article 20 U.K. Product coverage

1. Member States shall recognise producer organisations under Article 125b of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the product or the group of products specified in the application for recognition, subject to any decision taken under Article 125b(1)(c) of that Regulation.

2. Member States shall only recognise producer organisations in respect of the product or the group of products solely intended for processing where the producer organisations are able to ensure that such products are delivered for processing, whether through a system of supply contracts or otherwise.

Article 21 U.K. Minimum number of members

When laying down the minimum number of members of a producer organisation pursuant to Article 125b(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, Member States may provide that where an applicant for recognition is wholly or partly made up of members which are themselves legal entities or clearly defined parts of legal entities made up of producers, the minimum number of producers may be calculated on the basis of the number of producers associated with each of the legal entities or clearly defined parts of legal entities.

Article 22 U.K. Minimum length of membership

1. The minimum membership period of a producer shall not be less than one year.

2. Resignation from membership shall be notified to the organisation in writing. The Member States shall lay down the notice periods, which shall not exceed six months, and the dates on which resignation shall take effect.

Article 23 U.K. Structures and activities of producer organisations

Member States shall ensure that producer organisations have at their disposal the staff, infrastructure and equipment necessary to fulfil the requirements laid down in point (c) of the first paragraph of Article 122 and Article 125b(1)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and ensure their essential functioning, in particular as regards:

(a)

the knowledge of their members’ production;

(b)

collecting, sorting, storing and packaging the production of their members;

(c)

commercial and budgetary management; and

(d)

centralised book keeping and a system of invoicing.

Article 24 U.K. Value or volume of marketable production

1. For the purposes of Article 125b(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, the value or volume of marketable production shall be calculated on the same basis as the value of marketed production set out in Articles 50 and 51 of this Regulation.

2. Where one or more members of a producer organisation have insufficient historical data on marketed production for the application of paragraph 1, the value of their marketable production may be calculated as the average value of their marketable production during a period of three years preceding the year in which the application for recognition is submitted and in which the members of the concerned producer organisation were actually producing.

Article 25 U.K. Provision of technical means

For the purposes of Article 125b(1)(e) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, a producer organisation which is recognised for a product for which the provision of technical means is necessary shall be considered to fulfil its obligation where it provides an adequate level of technical means itself or through its members, or through subsidiaries, or by outsourcing.

Article 26 U.K. Producer organisations’ main activities

1. The main activity of a producer organisation shall relate to the concentration of supply and the placing on the market of the products of its members for which it is recognised.

[F1 The placing on the market shall be carried out by the producer organisation, or under the control of the producer organisation in the case of outsourcing as set out in Article 27. It shall include the decision on the product to be sold, the choice of the distribution channel and unless the sale is done by means of auction, the negotiation on its quantity and price.

Producer organisations shall keep records, including accounting documents, for at least 5 years, which demonstrate that the producer organisation concentrated supply and placed on the market members' products for which it is recognized.]

2. A producer organisation may sell products from producers that are not a member of a producer organisation nor of an association of producer organisations, where it is recognised for those products and provided that the economic value of that activity is below the value of its marketed production calculated in accordance with Article 50.

3. The marketing of fruit and vegetables that are bought directly from another producer organisation and of products for which the producer organisation is not recognised shall not be considered as forming part of the producer organisation’s activities.

4. Where Article 50(9) applies, [F2 paragraph 2] of this Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the subsidiaries concerned from 1 January 2012.

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 499/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council by amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 relating to the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors.

F2 Substituted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 594/2013 of 21 June 2013 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 as regards marketing standards in the fruit and vegetables sector and correcting that Implementing Regulation.

[F1 Article 26a U.K. Marketing of the production outside the producer organisation

Where the producer organisation so authorises and where this is in compliance with the terms and conditions laid down by the producer organisation, the producer members may:

(1)

sell no more than a fixed percentage of their production or products directly or outside their holdings to consumers for their personal needs, such percentages being fixed by Member States at not less than 10 %;

(2)

market themselves or through another producer organisation designated by their own organisation, quantities of products which are marginal in relation to the volume of marketable production of their organisation;

(3)

market themselves or through another producer organisation designated by their own organisation products which, because of their characteristics, are not normally covered by the commercial activities of the producer organisation concerned.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Inserted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 499/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council by amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 relating to the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors.

[F3 Article 27 U.K. Outsourcing

1. The activities that a Member State may permit to be outsourced in accordance with Article 155 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) shall relate to the producer organisations' objectives as set out in Article 152(1)(c) of that Regulation and may include, among others, collecting, storing, packaging and marketing the product of the members of the producer organisation.

2. A producer organisation outsourcing an activity shall enter into a commercial arrangement by way of a written contract with another entity, including one or several of its members or a subsidiary, for the purpose of carrying out of the activity concerned. The producer organisation shall remain responsible for ensuring the carrying out of the outsourced activity and overall management control and supervision of the commercial arrangement for the carrying out of the activity.

3. The overall management control and supervision referred to in paragraph 2 shall be effective and require that the outsourcing contract:

(a) enables the producer organisation to issue binding instructions and includes provisions enabling the producer organisation to terminate the contract if the service provider does not meet the terms and conditions of the outsourcing contract,

(b) lays down detailed terms and conditions, including reporting obligations and deadlines which enable the producer organisation to evaluate and practise genuine control over the outsourced activities.

Outsourcing contracts, as well as the reports referred to in point (b) shall be kept by the producer organisation for at least 5 years for the purpose of ex-post checks and be accessible to all members on request.]

Textual Amendments

F3 Substituted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 499/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council by amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 relating to the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors.

Article 28 U.K. Transnational producer organisations

1. A transnational producer organisation’s head office shall be established in the Member State where the organisation has significant holdings or a significant number of members and/or achieves an important level of marketed production.

2. The Member State in which the head office of the transnational producer organisation is located shall be responsible for the following:

(a) recognising the transnational producer organisation;

(b) approving the transnational producer organisation’s operational programme;

(c) establishing the necessary administrative collaboration with the other Member States in which the members are located with respect to compliance with the terms of recognition and the system of checks and sanctions. Those other Member States shall be obliged to give all necessary assistance to the Member State in which the head office is located within a reasonable period of time; and

(d) providing, on request of other Member States, all relevant documentation, including any applicable legislation available to the other Member States in which the members are located, translated into an official language of the requesting Member States.

Article 29 U.K. Mergers of producer organisations

1. Where producer organisations have merged, the producer organisation resulting from the merger shall replace the merging producer organisations. The new entity shall assume the rights and obligations of the merging producer organisations.

The newly merged entity may operate the programmes in parallel and separately until 1 January of the year following the merger or merge the operational programmes from the moment of the merger. The operational programmes shall be merged in accordance with Articles 66 and 67.

2. By way of derogation from the second subparagraph of paragraph 1, Member States may authorise producer organisations which so request, for duly substantiated reasons, to continue implementing separate operational programmes in parallel until they reach their natural conclusion.

Article 30 U.K. Non-producer members

1. Member States may determine whether and on what conditions any natural or legal person who is not a producer may be accepted as a member of a producer organisation.

2. When setting the conditions referred to in paragraph 1, the Member States shall ensure, in particular, compliance with point (a)(iii) of the first paragraph of Article 122 and Article 125a(3)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007.

3. The natural or legal persons referred to in paragraph 1 shall not:

(a) be taken into account for the recognition criteria;

(b) benefit directly from the measures financed by the Union.

Member States may restrict or prohibit the natural or legal persons’ right to vote on decisions relating to operational funds, in line with the conditions laid down in paragraph 2.

[F3 Article 31 U.K. Democratic accountability of producer organisations

1. Member States shall set a maximum percentage of voting rights and shares which any individual or legal person may hold in a producer organisation. The maximum percentage of voting rights and shares must be below 50 % of the total voting rights and below 50 % of the shares. In duly justified cases, Member States may set a higher maximum percentage of shares that a legal person may hold in a producer organisation provided that abuse of power of such legal person in any case is avoided.

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, in the case of producer organisations implementing an operational programme on 17 May 2014 , the maximum percentage of shares fixed by the Member State in application of the first subparagraph shall only apply after the end of the operational programme.

2. Member States' authorities shall carry out checks on voting rights and shareholdings, including checks on the identities of the individuals or legal persons holding the shares of the members of the producer organisation which are legal persons themselves.

3. Where a producer organisation is a clearly defined part of a legal entity, Member States shall adopt measures to restrict or prohibit the powers of that legal entity to modify, approve or reject decisions of the producer organisation.]

Textual Amendments

F3 Substituted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 499/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council by amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 relating to the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors.

(1)

[F3 Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/01 and (EC) No 1234/2007 ( OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671 ).]

Textual Amendments

F3 Substituted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 499/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council by amending Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 relating to the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors.