On 7 August 2014 the Russian government introduced a ban on imports of certain products from the Union to Russia, including dairy products. The most affected dairy product by the ban is cheese, given that exports to Russia represent 33 % of total Union cheese exports. Moreover, Russia is an exclusive trading partner for cheese for Finland and the Baltic countries and a significant destination for other Member States such as Germany, the Netherlands or Poland.

Exports of cheeses to Russia amounted in 2013 to more than 250 000 tonnes, a quantity that risks having to be absorbed by the internal market in an important share, thus resulting in market imbalance and downwards price pressure.

The market intervention measures available under Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 do not appear to be sufficient for the situation recently created, since they are limited to cheeses with a geographical indication.

The threat of a serious imbalance in the cheese market might be mitigated or eliminated by storage. It is therefore appropriate to grant aid for private storage of cheese and to fix the amount of aid in advance.

It is appropriate to exclude fresh cheeses which are not suitable for storage.

As a general rule, to facilitate management and control, private storage aid should be granted only to operators established and registered for VAT purposes in the Union.

To ensure that the arrangements can be monitored properly, the information needed to conclude the storage contract should be specified in this Regulation as well as the obligations of the contracting parties.

In order to make the scheme more effective, contracts should relate to a certain minimum quantity and to the obligations to be fulfilled by the contracting party, in particular those enabling the competent authority responsible for checking storage operations to make an effective inspection of the storage conditions.

Storage of the contractual quantity for the agreed period is one of the primary requirements for the granting of private storage aid. To take account of commercial practice and practical reasons, a margin of tolerance in respect of the quantity subject to aid should be allowed.

To ensure that the storage is properly managed, it is appropriate to adopt provisions for reducing the amount of aid to be paid when the quantity stored during the contractual storage period is less than the contractual quantity and where the storage period is not fully observed.

The amount of aid should be fixed on the basis of storage costs and/or other relevant market elements. It is appropriate to set an aid for fixed storage costs for entry and exit of the products concerned and an aid per day of storage for costs for cold storage and financing.

It is necessary to indicate the conditions under which an advance payment may be granted, the adjustment of the aid in cases where the contractual quantity is not entirely respected, the checks on compliance with entitlement to aid, the possible penalties and the information to be notified to the Commission by the Member States.

It is appropriate to provide for the possibility to set a reduction coefficient for pending applications where that is necessary in order measures not to exceed the volumes for which the private storage aid scheme is set up.

Rules should also be laid down regarding documentation, accounting and frequency and nature of checks.