Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1240Show full title

CHAPTER II Buying-in of products into intervention

Section 1 General provisions

Article 5 Minimum quantities of products offered or tendered

1. The minimum quantity of products offered or tendered for buying-in shall be:

(a) for common wheat, barley and maize: 160 tonnes;

(b) for durum wheat: 20 tonnes;

(c) for rice: 40 tonnes;

(d) for beef: 20 tonnes;

(e) for butter: 30 tonnes;

(f) for skimmed milk powder: 30 tonnes.

Member States with an average annual production of cereals of less than 20 million tonnes may decide to apply a minimum quantity of 120 tonnes for common wheat, barley and maize.

2. A paying agency may set a minimum quantity higher than that provided for in paragraph 1 if justified by the conditions and practices of the wholesale trade or environmental rules in force in the Member State concerned.

Article 6 Level of the security for buying-in of products

The level of the security required in accordance with Article 4(a) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238 when submitting an offer or tender for the buying-in of products into public intervention shall be:

(a)

for cereals: EUR 20/tonne;

(b)

for rice: EUR 30/tonne;

(c)

for beef: EUR 300/tonne;

(d)

for butter: EUR 50/tonne;

(e)

for skimmed milk powder: EUR 50/tonne.

Article 7 Submission and admissibility of offers and tenders

1. An offer or tender shall be admissible if it complies with the requirements laid down in Article 2 and, in the case of a tendering procedure, in the Implementing Regulation opening the tendering procedure referred to in Article 12. It shall also meet the following conditions:

(a) it includes at least the following information:

(i)

for rice, an indication of the type and variety;

(ii)

except for beef, the place where the product is held at the time of the offer or tender;

(iii)

for cereals and rice, the storage place for which the offer or tender is made;

(iv)

for cereals and rice, the year of harvest and the area or areas of production in the Union;

(v)

for butter and skimmed milk powder, the date of production;

(vi)

for butter and skimmed milk powder, the name and approval number of the approved undertaking in which it was produced;

(b) the operator has lodged a security in accordance with Article 4(a) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238;

(c) for cereals and rice, the operator has declared:

(i)

that the products are of Union origin;

(ii)

that the offer or tender refers to a homogeneous lot which, for rice, must comprise paddy rice of the same variety;

(iii)

whether any post-harvest treatment has been carried out or not, and, where appropriate, the name of the product used, that it has been applied in conformity with the conditions of use, and that the product is authorised under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1).

2. For products other than beef, the operator may request on the form referred to in Article 2(2) that the product be taken over at the storage place where it is held at the time the offer or tender is submitted provided that the storage place fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 7(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238 and in Article 3 of this Regulation.

Article 8 Verification of offers and tenders by the paying agency

1. The paying agencies shall decide on the admissibility of offers and tenders on the basis of the requirements laid down in Articles 2 and 7.

Where the paying agency decides that an offer or tender is inadmissible, it shall inform the operator concerned within three working days of the receipt of the offer or tender. For offers, if the operator does not receive such information, the offer is considered as being admissible.

2. As regards cereals and rice, the declarations referred to in Article 7(1)(c) may be checked for compliance by administrative means after the paying agency has verified that the offers or tenders are admissible, if necessary with the assistance of the paying agency competent for the storage place indicated by the operator, in accordance with Article 57(2).

Article 9 Notifications of offers and tenders to the Commission

1. Member States shall notify the Commission of all admissible offers and tenders within the following time limits:

(a) in the case of offers, notifications shall be submitted not later than 12.00 (Brussels time) each Tuesday and shall relate to the quantities of the products which, during the preceding week, have been the subject of an admissible offer, and of the related information.

When the quantities offered approach the limits fixed in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1370/2013, the Commission shall inform Member States as of which date they shall notify the Commission on each working day.

As from that date, Member States shall notify the Commission, not later than 14.00 (Brussels time) each working day, of the quantities offered for intervention during the preceding working day.

(b) in the case of tenders, the time limits laid down in the Implementing Regulation opening the tendering procedure shall apply.

2. The notifications provided for in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 shall not contain the operator's name, address and VAT registration number and, in the case of butter and skimmed milk powder, the name and approval number of the approved undertaking.

3. Where a Member State does not notify the Commission of an admissible offer or tender within the time limits referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1, it shall be deemed to have notified the Commission of a nil return.

Section 2 Buying-in at fixed price

Article 10 Submission of offers for buying-in of common wheat, butter and skimmed milk powder at fixed price

Offers may be submitted to the paying agency from the beginning of the public intervention periods laid down in Article 12 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

Article 11 Measures for respecting the quantitative limitations

1. In order to comply with the quantitative limitations fixed in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1370/2013, the Commission shall decide as provided for in Article 3(6)(a) of that Regulation:

(a) to close intervention buying-in at fixed price;

(b) where acceptance of the full quantity offered would lead to the maximum quantity being exceeded, to set an allocation coefficient applicable to the total quantity in the offers received and notified to the Commission from each operator on the day of the decision;

(c) where appropriate, to reject pending offers submitted to the paying agencies of the Member States.

The Commission shall decide within two working days of the notification referred to in the first subparagraph of point (a) of Article 9(1), and within five working days of the notification referred to in the third subparagraph of point (a) of Article 9(1).

For the purposes of this Article, when a date of notification is a public holiday for the Commission the counting of the deadline shall start on the first working day after that public holiday. If such public holidays are included in the time period for the Commission's decision, only working days shall be counted.

2. By way of derogation from Article 2(6), an operator to whom an allocation coefficient as referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1 applies may withdraw his offer within five working days of the date of entry into force of the decision setting the allocation coefficient.

Section 3 Buying-in via a tendering procedure

Article 12 Tendering procedure

1. A tendering procedure for the buying-in of products referred to in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall be opened by way of an Implementing Regulation opening the tendering procedure, which shall contain, in particular, the following information:

(a) the products covered, and:

(i)

for rice, an indication of the type and variety;

(ii)

for beef, whether the tender is for the bought-in carcasses to be deboned or for storage without deboning;

(b) the period covered (‘tendering period’) and, if necessary, the different sub-periods during which the tenders can be submitted.

2. The Commission may open a tendering procedure for buying-in of beef by category and Member State, or region thereof, as provided for in Article 13(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, on the basis of the two most recent weekly market prices recorded. The Commission may close that tendering procedure, as provided for in Article 13(2) of that Regulation, on the basis of the most recent weekly market prices recorded.

3. If the Commission opens a restricted tendering procedure as referred to in Article 3(3) of Regulation (EU) No 1370/2013, the Implementing Regulation opening that procedure shall refer to the specific Member State or region(s) of a Member State covered by the tendering procedure.

4. With regard to rice, the tendering procedure may be restricted to specific varieties or one or more types of paddy rice, namely ‘round grain rice’, ‘medium grain rice’, ‘long grain rice A’ or ‘long grain rice B’, as defined in points (a), (b) or (c) of point I.2 of Part I of Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013.

5. With regard to beef, the following rules shall apply:

(a) the average market price by eligible category in a Member State or in a region thereof shall take account of the prices for qualities U, R and O, expressed in quality R3 using the conversion coefficients set out in Part II of Annex III in the Member State or the intervention region concerned;

(b) the average market prices shall be recorded in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008(2);

(c) the average market price by eligible category in a Member State or a region thereof shall be the average of the market prices for all the qualities referred to in point (b), weighted by the proportion each quality represents in the total number of slaughterings in that Member State or region.

The United Kingdom shall consist of two intervention regions as follows:

(i)

region I: Great Britain;

(ii)

region II: Northern Ireland.

Article 13 Submission and admissibility of tenders

1. In addition to the general conditions laid down in Articles 2 and 7, a tender shall only be admissible if it indicates a proposed price in euro per unit of measurement of the product rounded to no more than two decimal places, exclusive of VAT.

In the case of cereals and rice, the price tendered per tonne of products shall be a price corresponding to the minimum quality for cereals defined in Part II of Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238 or to the standard quality for rice defined in Section A of Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, delivered to the storage place, not unloaded.

In the case of butter and skimmed milk powder, the tendered price shall be the price per 100 kg of products delivered to the loading bay of the storage place.

In the case of beef, tenders shall state the price quoted in accordance with Article 12(5)(a), expressed per tonne of products of quality R3, and if it relates to bone-in meat intended for deboning, or for storage without deboning.

2. Without prejudice to Article 15(2) of this Regulation, the price tendered shall not exceed the level of the public intervention price set out in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1370/2013.

Article 14 Decisions on the buying-in price

1. On the basis of the tenders notified in accordance with Article 9, the Commission shall decide:

(a) not to fix a maximum buying-in price; or

(b) to fix a maximum buying-in price.

2. The decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 15 Individual decisions on tenders

1. Where no maximum buying-in price has been fixed, all tenders shall be rejected.

2. Where a maximum buying-in price has been fixed, the paying agency shall accept tenders which are equal to or lower than that amount. All the other tenders shall be rejected.

The paying agency shall only accept tenders that have been notified to the Commission in accordance with Article 9.

3. The paying agency shall take the decisions referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article after the publication of the decision of the Commission referred to in Article 14(1).

The paying agency shall notify the operators of the outcome of their participation in the tendering procedure within three working days of the entry into force of that decision of the Commission.

This notification shall not be necessary when the tender is accepted, if the paying agency issues a delivery order as referred to in Article 17 within five working days of the entry into force of that decision of the Commission. In case of such acceptance, no further extension of the time limit for the issue of the delivery order, as referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 17(1), may be granted.

Article 16 Limitation of buying-in for beef

Where the paying agencies are offered beef in quantities greater than they are able to take over, they may limit the buying-in to the quantities they can take over in their territory or in one of their intervention regions referred to in Article 12(5).

Paying agencies shall ensure equal access for all parties concerned in the event of such limitation.

Section 4 Deliveries and transport costs

Article 17 Delivery order

1. After the paying agency has checked the admissibility of the offer or tender in accordance with Articles 8 and 13, it shall issue the delivery order within five working days of the deadline referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 11(1) or of the entry into force of the decision referred to in Article 14(1).

The paying agency may decide to extend the time limit for the issue of the delivery order when it is necessary due to high quantities of cereals or rice accepted. However, the final date for delivery of the products shall not be later than 65 days after the deadline or entry into force referred to in the first subparagraph. In such cases the paying agency shall inform the affected operators.

2. The delivery order shall be dated and numbered and shall contain the following information:

(a) the quantity to be delivered;

(b) the final date for delivery of the products;

(c) the storage place to which the products shall be delivered;

(d) the price at which the offer or tender is accepted.

3. The delivery order shall be issued only for quantities notified to the Commission as provided for in Article 9.

Article 18 Specific provisions for the delivery of cereals and rice

1. The paying agency shall designate the storage place to which the cereals or rice shall be delivered at lowest cost.

2. Delivery to the storage place shall occur not later than 60 days following the date of issue of the delivery order. However, depending on the quantities accepted, the paying agency may extend that period by up to 14 days. In such cases the delivery period referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 17(1) may be extended accordingly. The paying agency shall inform the affected operators.

3. The operator shall bear the costs relating to the following tests carried out for cereals in accordance with the methodology referred to in Part IV of Annex I:

(i)

the amylasic activity (Hagberg) test;

(ii)

the test for the determination of the protein content of durum wheat and common wheat;

(iii)

the Zeleny test;

(iv)

the machinability test;

(v)

analyses of contaminants.

Article 19 Transport costs for cereals and rice

1. The cost of transporting the cereals or rice from the place where the product was stored at the time of the offer or tender to the storage place specified in the delivery order shall be borne by the operator, where the distance involved is equal to or less than 50 km.

Beyond that maximum distance, the additional transport costs shall be borne by the paying agency and reimbursed by the Commission at a rate per tonne and per kilometre of EUR 0, 05.

2. Where the paying agency which buys-in the cereals or rice is in a Member State other than the one in whose territory the product is stored, no account shall be taken, in calculating the maximum distance referred to in paragraph 1, of the distance between the store of the operator and the border of the Member State of the purchasing paying agency.

Article 20 Specific provisions for the delivery of beef

1. The buying-in price for beef shall be the price of the beef delivered to the entrance weighing point of the storage place or, where the meat is to be deboned, at the cutting plant.

2. The costs of unloading shall be borne by the operator.

3. Operators shall deliver the products not later than 15 days following the date of issue of the delivery order. However, depending on the quantities awarded, the paying agency may extend that period by up to seven days. In such cases the paying agency shall inform the affected operators.

Article 21 Specific provisions for the packing, delivery and storage of butter and skimmed milk powder

1. Butter shall be packed and delivered in blocks of 25 kilograms net in accordance with the requirements laid down in Part II of Annex IV.

2. Skimmed milk powder shall be packed and delivered in bags of a net weight of 25 kilograms in accordance with the requirements laid down in Part II of Annex V.

3. The operator shall deliver the butter or skimmed milk powder to the loading bay of the storage place within 21 days of the date of issue of the delivery order. However, depending on the quantities accepted, the paying agency may extend that period by up to seven days. In such cases the paying agency shall inform the affected operators.

The butter and skimmed milk powder shall be delivered on pallets of a quality suitable for long-term storage, to be exchanged against equivalent pallets. Alternatively, an equivalent system may be approved by the paying agency.

The costs incurred in unloading the butter or skimmed milk powder at the loading bay of the storage place shall be borne by the paying agency.

4. The paying agency shall require that butter and skimmed milk powder be placed and kept in storage on pallets in such a way as to create easily identifiable and readily accessible lots.

Article 22 Delivery

1. The date of delivery shall be:

(a) for cereals, rice, butter and skimmed milk powder: the date on which it is confirmed that the whole of the quantity referred to in the delivery order entered the designated storage place. This date cannot be earlier than the day following the date of issue of the delivery order;

(b) for each consignment of beef: the date of entrance at the weighing point of the intervention storage place or, where the meat is to be deboned, at the cutting plant.

2. The paying agency may decide that the takeover of cereals, rice, butter or skimmed milk powder takes place in the storage place where the products are held at the time the offer or tender is submitted, provided that the storage place fulfils the requirements laid down in Article 7(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238 and in Article 3 of this Regulation. In that case, the date of delivery shall be the day following the date of issue of the delivery order and shall serve as the relevant date for the purposes of Article 18(2)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 908/2014.

3. The products shall be taken over by the paying agency or its representative, who shall be independent from the operator.

Section 5 Control and takeover

Article 23 The takeover record

1. The takeover record shall be issued by the paying agency after the required checks and analyses have established that the eligibility requirements laid down in Article 3 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238 are fulfilled. It shall indicate at least:

(a) the quantities delivered and, for rice, the variety;

(b) the characteristics of the products as resulting from the analyses in so far as this is relevant for the calculation of the price;

(c) if applicable, the quantities that have not been taken over. In this case, the operator shall be notified accordingly.

2. The takeover record shall be dated and sent to the operator and to the storekeeper.

Article 24 Obligations of the operator

The products shall meet the eligibility requirements set out in Article 3 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1238. Where the required checks show that the products do not fulfil the eligibility requirements, the operator shall:

(a)

take back at his expense the products concerned;

(b)

pay the associated costs from the date of entry of the products into the storage place until the date of their removal from storage.

The costs to be paid by the operator shall be determined on the basis of standard amounts for entry, removal and storage costs in accordance with Article 3 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014(3).

Article 25 Deboning requirement for beef

Where deboning is required as a condition of the tendering procedure, the paying agency shall have all the beef that is bought-in deboned in accordance with Part III of Annex III.

Section 6 Price adjustments and payments

Article 26 Price adjustments for cereals and rice

1. The price adjustment as provided for in Articles 2(2) and 3(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1370/2013 shall be made in accordance with:

(a) Parts V and VI of Annex I to this Regulation in the case of cereals;

(b) Part II of Annex II to this Regulation in the case of rice.

2. If the paying agency takes over and stores cereals and rice at the storage place in accordance with Article 22(2), a reduction of EUR 5/tonne shall be made to the buying-in price.

Article 27 Payments

1. Payments for the quantities stated in the takeover record shall be made no later than the 65th day following the date of delivery referred to in Article 22, unless an administrative inquiry is under way.

2. Only the quantity actually delivered and accepted shall be paid for. However, if that quantity is greater than the quantity stated in the delivery order, only the quantity specified in the delivery order shall be paid for.

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC (OJ L 309, 24.11.2009, p. 1).

(2)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1249/2008 of 10 December 2008 laying down detailed rules on the implementation of the Community scales for the classification of beef, pig and sheep carcases and the reporting of prices thereof (OJ L 337, 16.12.2008, p. 3).

(3)

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 906/2014 of 11 March 2014 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to public intervention expenditure (OJ L 255, 28.8.2014, p. 1).