Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 (repealed)Show full title

Section II Public intervention

Subsection I General provisions

Article 10 Products eligible for public intervention

1. Public intervention shall be applicable in respect of the following products subject to the conditions laid down in this Section and further requirements and conditions to be determined by the Commission in accordance with Article 43:

(a) common wheat, durum wheat, barley, maize and sorghum;

(b) paddy rice;

(c) white or raw sugar provided that the sugar concerned has been produced under quota and manufactured from beet or cane harvested in the Community;

(d) fresh or chilled meat of the beef and veal sector falling within CN codes 0201 10 00 and 0201 20 20 to 0201 20 50;

(e) butter produced directly and exclusively from pasteurised cream in an approved undertaking of the Community of a minimum butterfat content, by weight, of 82 % and a maximum water content, by weight, of 16 %;

(f) skimmed milk powder of top quality made by the spray process and obtained in an approved undertaking of the Community, directly and exclusively from skimmed milk, with a minimum protein-content of 35,6 % by weight of the non-fatty dry extract.

2. Public intervention may be applied in the pigmeat sector, subject to the conditions laid down in this Section and further requirements and conditions to be determined by the Commission in accordance with Article 43, in respect of carcasses or half-carcasses, fresh or chilled, falling within CN code 0203 11 10, bellies (streaky), fresh or chilled, falling within CN code ex 0203 19 15, and unrendered pig fat, fresh or chilled, falling within CN code ex 0209 00 11.

Subsection II Opening and suspension of buying-in

Article 11 Cereals

1. For cereals, public intervention shall be open:

(a) from 1 August to 30 April in the case of Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal;

(b) from 1 December to 30 June in the case of Sweden;

(c) from 1 November to 31 May in the case of the other Member States.

However, buying into public intervention of maize shall only be carried out within the following limits:

(a) 700 000 tonnes for the marketing year 2008/2009;

(b) 0 tonnes as from the marketing year 2009/2010.

2. In the event of the intervention period in Sweden leading to the diversion of such cereals from other Member States into intervention in Sweden, the Commission shall adopt measures to rectify the position.

Article 12 Rice

For paddy rice, public intervention shall be open during the period 1 April to 31 July. However, buying into public intervention shall only be carried out within the limit of 75 000 tonnes per period.

Article 13 Sugar

1. For sugar, public intervention shall be open throughout the marketing years 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. However, public intervention shall only be carried out within the limits of 600 000 tonnes, expressed in white sugar, per marketing year.

2. Sugar stored in accordance with paragraph 1 during a marketing year may not be subject to any other storage measures provided for in Articles 32, 52 or 63.

Article 14 Beef and veal

1. The Commission, without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1), shall open public intervention for beef and veal if, for a period of two consecutive weeks, the average market price in a Member State or in a region of a Member State recorded on the basis of the Community scale for the classification of carcasses provided for in Article 42(1) falls short of EUR 1 560/tonne.

2. The Commission, without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1), shall close the public intervention if, for a period of at least one week, the condition provided for in paragraph 1 is no longer met.

Article 15 Butter

1. The Commission, without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1), shall open public intervention for butter in the Member State or Member States concerned during the period 1 March to 31 August if, over a representative period, market prices for butter in one or more Member States, are less than 92 % of the reference price.

2. Once the market prices of butter in the Member State or Member States concerned, over a representative period, are 92 % or more of the reference price, the Commission, without the assistance of the Committee referred to in Article 195(1), shall suspend buying-in by public intervention.

Moreover, where the quantities offered for intervention during the period laid down in paragraph 1 exceed 30 000 tonnes, the Commission may suspend buying-in by public intervention. In that case, buying-in may be carried out on the basis of a tendering procedure according to specifications to be determined by the Commission.

3. The Commission shall lay down the detailed rules for the establishment of the market prices for butter.

Article 16 Skimmed milk powder

For skimmed milk powder public intervention shall be open during the period 1 March to 31 August.

However, the Commission may suspend public intervention as soon as the quantities offered for intervention in that period exceed 109 000 tonnes. In that case buying-in may be carried out on the basis of a tendering procedure according to specifications to be determined by the Commission.

Article 17 Pigmeat

The Commission may decide to open public intervention in the pigmeat sector when the average Community market price for pig carcasses as established by reference to the prices recorded in each Member State on the representative markets of the Community and weighted by means of coefficients reflecting the relative size of the pig herd in each Member State, is, and is likely to remain, at less than 103 % of the reference price.

Subsection III Intervention Price

Article 18 Cereals

The intervention price for cereals shall be equal to the reference price without prejudice to price increases or reductions for quality reasons.

Article 19 Rice

The intervention price for rice shall be equal to the reference price.

However, if the quality of the products offered to the paying agency differs from the standard quality, defined in point A of Annex IV, the intervention price shall be increased or reduced accordingly.

Moreover, increases and reductions of the intervention price may be fixed by the Commission in order to ensure that production is orientated towards certain varieties.

Article 20 Sugar

The intervention price for sugar shall be 80 % of the reference price fixed for the marketing year following the marketing year during which the offer is lodged.

However, if the quality of the sugar offered to the paying agency differs from the standard quality defined in point B of Annex IV for which the reference price is fixed, the intervention price shall be increased or reduced accordingly.

Article 21 Beef and veal

1. The intervention prices for beef and veal and the quantities accepted for intervention shall be determined by the Commission by means of tendering procedures. In special circumstances, they may be fixed per Member State or per region of a Member State on the basis of recorded average market prices.

2. Only offers equal to or less than the average market price recorded in a Member State or a region of a Member State and increased by an amount to be determined by the Commission on the basis of objective criteria may be accepted.

Article 22 Butter

Without prejudice to the fixing of the intervention price by means of a tendering procedure in the case referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 15(2), the intervention price for butter shall be 90 % of the reference price.

Article 23 Skimmed milk powder

Without prejudice to the fixing of the intervention price by means of a tendering procedure in the case referred to in the second paragraph of Article 16, the intervention price for skimmed milk powder shall be equal to the reference price.

However, if the actual protein content is less than the minimum protein content of 35,6 % by weight fixed in point (f) of Article 10 but not less than 31,4 % by weight of the non-fatty dry extract, the intervention price shall be equal to the reference price less 1,75 % for each percentage point by which the protein content is lower than 35,6 % by weight.

Article 24 Pigmeat

1. The intervention price in the pigmeat sector shall be fixed by the Commission for pig carcasses of standard quality. The intervention price may not be more than 92 % or less than 78 % of the reference price.

2. For products of standard quality other than pig carcasses, the intervention price shall be derived from the intervention price for pig carcasses on the basis of the ratio existing between the commercial value of these products to the commercial value of pig carcasses.

3. For products other than those of standard quality, the intervention price shall be derived from those in force for the relevant standard qualities, by reference to differences in quality in relation to the standard quality. This price shall apply to defined qualities.

Subsection IV Disposal from intervention

Article 25 General principles

Disposal of products bought into public intervention shall take place in such a way as to avoid any disturbance of the market, to ensure equal access to the goods and equal treatment of purchasers and in compliance with the commitments resulting from agreements concluded in accordance with Article 300 of the Treaty.

Article 26 Sugar disposal

As regards sugar bought-in under public intervention, paying agencies may sell it only at a price which is higher than the reference price fixed for the marketing year in which the sale takes place.

However, the Commission may decide that paying agencies:

(a)

may sell the sugar at a price equal to or lower than the reference price referred to in the first paragraph if the sugar is intended:

(i)

for use as animal feed, or

(ii)

for export, either without further processing or after processing into products listed in Annex I to the Treaty or into goods listed in Part III of Annex XX to this Regulation.

(b)

are to make unprocessed sugar held by them available, for human consumption on the internal market of the Community, to charitable organisations — recognised by the Member State concerned or by the Commission in cases where a Member State has not recognised any such organisation — at a price which is lower than the current reference price or free of charge for distribution as part of individual emergency aid operations.

Article 27 Distribution to the most deprived persons in the Community

1. Products which are in intervention stocks shall be made available to certain designated organisations to enable food to be distributed to the most deprived persons in the Community in accordance with an annual plan.

The distribution shall be:

(a) free of charge, or

(b) at a price which is in no case greater than that justified by the costs incurred by the designated organisations in implementing the action.

2. A product may be mobilised on the Community market where:

(a) it is temporarily unavailable in Community intervention stocks during implementation of the annual plan referred to in paragraph 1, to the extent necessary to allow implementation of the plan in one or more Member States, and provided that the costs remain within the limits of the costs provided for in the Community budget for that purpose, or

(b) implementation of the plan would involve the transfer between Member States of small quantities of products in intervention in a Member State other than that or those in which the product is required.

3. Member States concerned shall designate the organisations referred to in paragraph 1 and shall notify the Commission in due time each year if they wish to apply this scheme.

4. The products referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be released free of charge to the designated organisations. The accounting value of such products shall be the intervention price, adjusted by coefficients where necessary to take account of quality differences.

5. Without prejudice to Article 190, the products made available under paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article shall be financed by appropriations in the relevant budgetary heading within the EAGF of the budget of the European Communities. Provision may also be made for this financing to contribute towards the costs of transport of products from intervention centres and for administrative costs for the designated organisations generated by the implementation of the scheme set out in this Article, excluding any costs which may be borne by the beneficiaries within the framework of the application of paragraphs 1 and 2.