F1Article 4

1.

All offers for sale into intervention shall be made in writing to an intervention agency on the basis of the form drawn up by it. To be eligible, the offer must be presented from 1 to 9 April 2004 , 10 to 14 May 2004 and 14 to 18 June 2004 respectively for tranches 1, 2 and 3, as shown in Annex IV, and must contain the following:

(a)

name of the applicant;

(b)

place of storage of the rice offered;

(c)

quantity offered in accordance with Article 1;

(d)

variety;

(e)

main characteristics, including overall yield and whole grain yield after processing;

(f)

year of harvest;

(g)

minimum quantity of the offer 5 , below which the offer is deemed by the applicant not to stand;

(h)

the intervention centre for which the offer is made;

(i)

proof that the applicant has lodged a security of EUR 50 per tonne of paddy rice, or EUR 20 per tonne of paddy rice for producers or producer groups who have met the requirements of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1709/2003 on crop and stock declarations for rice 6 ,

(j)

the declaration that the product is of Community origin, indicating the production region;

(k)

the pesticide treatments carried out, specifying the doses used.

Once submitted, a tender may not be altered or withdrawn.

2.

Where an offer is ineligible, the intervention agency shall inform the relevant trader of that fact within 10 working days of the offer's submission.

3.

By 29 April 2004 and 3 June 2004 respectively for tranches 1 and 2 shown in Annex IV, the competent authority in the Member State shall examine, for each tranche, whether or not the total quantity offered exceeds the quantity available. Where there is an overrun, it shall calculate an award coefficient for the quantities to six decimal places. This award coefficient shall be equivalent to the largest value that ensures that the total quantity awarded, taking into account the minimum quantity for each offer, is below or equal to the quantity available. Where there is no overrun, the award coefficient shall be 1.

Where appropriate, the unused quantity, or the difference between the available quantity and the total quantity awarded, shall be added to the quantity fixed for the following tranche.

The competent authority in the Member State shall inform the Commission of the value of the award coefficient, the total quantity awarded and the quantity unused and carried over to the following tranche, at the latest the day following the date indicated in the first subparagraph. The Commission shall make this information available to the public on its website as quickly as possible.

On the second day following the date given in the first subparagraph at the latest, the competent authority in the Member State shall notify the applicant that the offer has been accepted for a quantity awarded equal to the quantity offered multiplied by the award coefficient. However, if this quantity is below the minimum quantity indicated in the offer, it shall be reduced to 0.

4.

For tranche 3 in Annex IV, the Member States shall inform the Commission, no later than 8 July, of the quantities offered with, where appropriate, the specified minimum quantities. This notification shall include the information shown in Annex V and shall be sent by e-mail using the form provided to this end by the Commission to the Member States. The notification must be made even if no quantity is offered.

The Commission shall collect all the offers presented in the Member States and shall examine whether or not the total quantity offered exceeds the quantity available. Where there is an overrun, it shall calculate an award coefficient for the quantities to six decimal places. This award coefficient shall be equivalent to the largest value that ensures that the total quantity awarded, taking into account the minimum quantity for each offer, is below or equal to the quantity available. Where there is no overrun, the award coefficient shall be 1.

On the third working day after publication of this coefficient in the Official Journal of the European Union at the latest, the competent authority in the Member State shall notify the applicant that the offer has been accepted for a quantity awarded equal to the quantity offered multiplied by the award coefficient. However, if this quantity is below the minimum quantity indicated in the offer, it shall be reduced to 0.

5.

The security referred to in paragraph 1(i) shall be released proportionately to the quantity offered but not awarded. For the quantity awarded, it shall be released in its entirety once 95 % of the quantity has been delivered in accordance with the provisions of Article 6.