CHAPTER ISPECIFIC SUPPLY ARRANGEMENTS
SECTION 2 Functioning of the supply arrangements
Article 2Fixing and granting of aid
1.
For the purposes of Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013, Greece shall determine within the context of the programme the amount of the aid to be granted for each product in order to compensate for remoteness, insularity and distant location, taking into account:
(a)
the specific needs of the smaller islands and the precise quality requirements;
(b)
traditional trade flows with ports in mainland Greece and between the islands in the Aegean Sea;
(c)
the economic aspect of the proposed aid;
(d)
where applicable, the need not to obstruct the potential development of local products;
(e)
as regards specific additional transport costs, the intermediate reloading costs involved in supplying goods to the smaller islands;
(f)
as regards the specific additional costs involved in local processing, the small size of the market and the need to guarantee security of supply for goods in the smaller islands concerned.
2.
No aid shall be granted for the supply of products in a smaller island which has already benefited from the specific supply arrangements in another smaller island.
Article 3Aid certificate and payment
1.
Aid shall be granted on presentation of a certificate, (hereinafter referred to as ‘aid certificate’), which has been fully utilised.
Presenting an aid certificate to the authorities responsible for making payments shall be tantamount to applying for the aid. Except in cases of force majeure or exceptional climatic conditions, certificates shall be presented within 30 days of the date on which they are charged. Where that time limit is overrun, the aid shall be reduced by 5 % per day of delay.
The aid shall be paid by the competent authorities not later than 90 days after the date on which the utilised certificate is lodged, except in one of the following cases:
(a)
force majeure or exceptional climatic conditions;
(b)
where an administrative enquiry has been opened concerning entitlement to the aid; in such cases, payment shall take place only after entitlement has been recognised.
F12.
The negative tolerance provided for in Article 5(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Article 8(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
3.
The entry ‘aid certificate’ shall be printed or stamped in box 20 (special particulars) of the certificate.
4.
Boxes 7 and 8 of the certificate shall be struck out.
5.
Box 12 of aid certificates shall show the last day of validity.
6.
The amount of the aid applicable shall be that in force on the day on which the application for the aid certificate was lodged.
7.
The competent authority shall issue aid certificates at the request of the parties concerned, subject to the limits of the forecast supply balances.
Article 4Passing on the advantage to the end-user
For the purposes of Article 12(1) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013, the competent authorities shall take all appropriate measures to check that the advantage is actually passed on to the end-user. In doing so, they may assess the trading margins and prices applied by the various operators concerned.
The measures referred to in the first paragraph, and in particular the control points used to determine whether the aid has been passed on, and any amendments made, shall be notified to the Commission in the context of the annual implementation report provided for in Article 20(2) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013.
Article 5Register of operators
1.
In order to be eligible for entry in the register referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 11(1) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013, operators shall undertake to:
(a)
communicate to the competent authorities, at their request, all relevant information about their commercial activities, particularly regarding the prices and profit margins they practise;
(b)
operate exclusively in their own name and on their own account;
(c)
submit certificate applications commensurate with their real capacity to dispose of the products concerned, such capacity being proven by reference to objective factors;
(d)
refrain from acting in any way likely to create artificial shortages of products and from marketing the available products at artificially low prices;
(e)
ensure to the satisfaction of the competent authorities that, when the agricultural products are disposed of in the smaller islands, the advantage is passed on to the end-user.
2.
Operators intending to dispatch to the rest of the Union or export to third countries unprocessed, processed or packaged products under the conditions referred to in Article 11 shall, at the time of applying for entry in the register or later, declare their intention to engage in this activity and indicate the location of the packaging plant where applicable.
3.
Processors intending to export to third countries or dispatch to the rest of the Union processed products under the conditions referred to in Article 11 or 12 shall, at the time of applying for entry in the register or later, declare their intention to engage in this activity, indicate the location of the processing plant and, where applicable, provide analytical lists of the processed products.
Article 6Documents to be presented by operators and validity of aid certificates
1.
The competent authorities shall accept the aid-certificate application presented by operators for each consignment, provided that they are accompanied by the original or a certified copy of the purchase invoice.
The purchase invoice, bill of lading or airway bill shall be drawn up in the name of the applicant.
2.
The period of validity of certificates shall be 45 days. The validity period may be extended by the competent authority in special cases where serious and unforeseeable difficulties affect the transportation time, but may not exceed two months from the date on which the certificate was issued.
Article 7Presentation of certificates and goods
1.
For products covered by the specific supply arrangements aid certificates shall be presented to the competent authorities within no more than 15 working days from the date of the authorisation for unloading the goods. The competent authorities may reduce this maximum time.
2.
The goods shall be presented in bulk or in separate lots corresponding to the certificate presented.
Article 8Quality of products
Conformity of the products with the requirements laid down in Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013 shall be examined no later than the stage of first marketing, in accordance with the standards or practices in force in the Union.
Where a product is considered not to meet the requirements laid down in Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No 229/2013, its entitlement under the specific supply arrangements shall be withdrawn and the corresponding quantity shall be reattributed to the forecast supply balance.
Where aid has been granted in accordance with Article 3 of this Regulation, the aid shall be reimbursed.
Article 9Significant increases in application for aid certificates
1.
If the state of execution of a forecast supply balance indicates a significant increase in applications for aid certificates for a given product which might jeopardise achievement of one or more of the objectives of the specific supply arrangements, Greece shall take all necessary measures, after having consulted the authorities concerned, to ensure that the smaller islands are supplied with essential products, taking account of available supply and the requirements of the priority sectors.
2.
Where, after having consulted the authorities concerned, Greece decides to apply restrictions on the issue of certificates, the competent authorities shall apply a uniform reduction percentage to all pending applications.
Article 10Fixing a maximum quantity per certificate application
Insofar as is strictly necessary to avoid disturbances on the market in the smaller islands, or the pursuit of speculative actions likely to be prejudicial to the smooth functioning of the specific supply arrangements, the competent authorities may fix a maximum quantity per certificate application.
The competent authorities shall notify the Commission immediately of the instances in which this Article is applied.