THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation)(1), and in particular Article 192(2) in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,
Whereas:
Article 192(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 provides for the exchange between the Member States and the Commission of any information necessary for the application of that Regulation. Commission Regulation (EC) No 562/2005(2) lays down rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999(3) as regards communications between the Member States and the Commission in the milk and milk products sector.
Since Regulation (EC) No 562/2005 has already been amended and some further amendments are needed, notably to update references to other Regulations, it is appropriate, for reasons of clarity, to repeal Regulation (EC) No 562/2005 and to replace it by a new Regulation.
Export refunds and the aid for skimmed milk processed into casein can be fixed only on the basis of information on changes in prices both in the internal market and in international trade.
It is necessary to be able to compare price quotations for products, particularly for the purposes of calculating refunds and aid amounts. It is also necessary to enhance the reliability of those price quotations by weighting the data.
In order to simplify and alleviate the administrative burden of the national authorities, notifications of prices every week should be limited to products for which the information is necessary for the close monitoring of the dairy market. Notifications every month should be provided for other products while notifications for products for which the information is not essential should be abolished.
The notification of the prices for products produced by less than three producers per Member State should be marked as confidential and should be used only by the Commission and should not be disclosed elsewhere.
For the better surveillance of the dairy market, the information on imports of products for which import licence is required, is essential. In accordance with Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 of 14 December 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards the import arrangements for milk and milk products and opening tariff quotas(4), import licences are from 1 July 2008 required only for preferential imports.
Article 11(1)(b) and (c) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1301/2006 of 31 August 2006 laying down common rules for the administration of import tariff quotas for agricultural products managed by a system of import licences(5) provides for notifications to the Commission of the quantities covered by import licences issued and the quantities covered by unused or partly used import licences under import tariff quotas. Those horizontal provisions relate to the same information as that covered so far by Article 7(1) and (6) of Regulation (EC) No 562/2005. The obligation to notify that information should therefore not be included in the new Regulation.
Article 1(2)(a)(i) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 of 23 April 2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products(6) provides for the cases and the products for which the presentation of an import licence is required. Part K of Annex II to that Regulation sets out a list of the dairy products imported under preferential conditions, other than tariff quotas, and submitted to an import licence. For those products, notifications should be made to the Commission.
Chapter III of Title 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 provides for certain import quotas to be administered by means of inward-monitoring arrangement IMA 1 certificates issued by the authorities of third countries. The Member States inform the Commission of the quantity of products for which import licences are issued on the basis of IMA 1 certificates. Experience has shown that such notification is not always sufficient to allow such imports to be monitored closely at every stage. Provision should be laid down for the notification of additional information.
The accurate and regular monitoring of trade flows to assess the effect of refunds requires information on exports of products for which refunds are fixed, particularly the quantities awarded under tendering procedures.
The implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture concluded under the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement on Agriculture’), approved by Council Decision 94/800/EC(7) requires a wide range of detailed information to be provided on imports and exports, in particular with regard to licence applications and the way licences are used, in order to ensure compliance with undertakings under the Agreement on Agriculture. Rapid information on export trends is needed in order to make maximum use of those undertakings.
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1187/2009 of 27 November 2009 laying down special detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards export licences and export refunds for milk and milk products(8) lays down special rules for the export of certain milk products to Canada, the United States and the Dominican Republic. Provision should be made for the relevant information to be notified.
Regulation (EC) No 1187/2009 introduces specific arrangements for the grant of refunds on ingredients of EU origin in processed cheese manufactured under the inward processing arrangements. Provision should be made for the notification of the relevant information.
Experience gained over the years in processing the information received by the Commission has shown that the frequency of some notifications might be reduced without loosing essential information.
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Not later than each Wednesday 12 a.m. (Brussels time), and in respect of ex-factory prices recorded in the previous week for the products listed in Annex I.A, Member States shall notify to the Commission:
prices for each of the products referred to in points 1 to 6, where the national production represents 1 % or more of the EU production;
prices for cheeses representing 4 % or more of the total national cheese production.
The national and EU production of butter referred to in points 4 and 5 of Annex I.A to be taken into account for the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (a), shall be the total production for both products referred to in those points.
Not later than the 15th of each month and in respect of ex-factory prices recorded in the previous month for the products listed in Annex I.B, Member States shall notify to the Commission:
prices for each product, other than cheeses, where the national production represents 2 % or more of the EU production;
prices for cheeses, by type, other than those referred to in paragraph 1(b), representing 8 % or more of the total national cheese production.
Member States shall notify to the Commission as soon as possible but no later than the end of the month:
the price of raw milk, at real fat and protein content, paid to milk producers in their territory, for deliveries in the preceding month;
the estimated price for deliveries in the running month, if available.
For the purpose of paragraphs 1 and 2, ‘ex-factory price’ means the price at which the product is purchased from the enterprise, excluding taxes (VAT) and any other cost (transport, loading, handling, storage, pallets, insurance, etc.).
Member States shall ensure that the notified price is representative of the prevailing market situation. The notified price shall be based on the most adequate available source of information, namely on:
sales that have been invoiced in the reference period;
and/or
contracts concluded in the reference period for deliveries within three months.
The prices notified in accordance with Article 2 shall be expressed as weighted averages, in national currency per 100 kg.
Member States shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the notified information on the prices is representative, accurate and complete. To this end, the Member States shall submit to the Commission, by 15 August 2010, a report on the basis of the model set out in Annex II. A new report shall be submitted each time where an element of the previous report needs to be updated.
The Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that the economic operators concerned provide them with the information required within the relevant time limits.
Before 15 August 2010, the Member States shall transmit to the Commission the following information using the models set out in the Annexes I.A and I.B:
where a price to be notified relates to a product produced by less than three producers in a Member State, the word ‘confidential’ shall appear in the column ‘remarks’ of the Annexes I.A and I.B. Such information shall be considered confidential and shall be used only for aggregate purposes;
for the cheeses, the representative packing unit for which the price is reported;
for the products other than cheeses, where a price corresponds to a different packing unit of the product than the one shown in the column ‘representative packing unit’, the actual packing unit of the product for which the price is reported shall appear in the column ‘remarks’ of the Annexes I.A and I.B.
Member States shall inform the Commission each time where one of the elements referred to in the first subparagraph points (a), (b) and (c) needs to be updated.