CHAPTER IGENERAL RULES ON THE SCHOOL SCHEME
Article 1Scope and definitions
1.
This Regulation lays down rules supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 as regards F1... aid for the supply and distribution of fruit and vegetables, processed fruit and vegetable products and fresh products of the banana sector (‘school fruit and vegetables’), and for the supply and distribution of milk and milk products (‘school milk’) to children in educational establishments, for accompanying educational measures and for certain related costs in the framework of the scheme referred to under Article 23 of that Regulation (‘the school scheme’).
2.
F2(3.
In this Regulation—
(a)
‘constituent nation’ means England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, as the case may be;
(b)
‘relevant authority’ means:
(i)
in relation to England, the Secretary of State;
(ii)
in relation to Wales, the Welsh Ministers;
(iii)
in relation to Scotland, the Scottish Ministers;
(iv)
in relation to Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs;
(c)
‘school scheme aid’ means aid granted under Article 23(1) of Regulation 1308/2013.
Article 2F3School scheme strategy
F41.
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2.
If F5the relevant authority does not make products under the school scheme available free of charge, it shall explain in its strategy F6(as referred to in Article 23(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013) the arrangements it has put in place to ensure that F7school scheme aid is reflected in the price at which those products are made available.
F83.
The relevant authority must publish its strategy online by 30 April preceding the first school year covered by the strategy, or as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter.
F94.
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Article 3Accompanying educational measures
1.
The accompanying educational measures referred to in Article 23(10) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 shall be directly linked to the objectives of the school scheme.
2.
Accompanying educational measures shall support the distribution of school fruit and vegetables and school milk and, in the event that they include agricultural products other than those referred to in Article 23(3), (4) and (5) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, the measures shall provide for the tasting of those other products.
3.
Accompanying educational measures may involve also parents and teachers.
Article 4Eligible costs
1.
The following costs are eligible for F10school scheme aid:
(a)
the costs of the products supplied under the school scheme and distributed to children in educational establishments referred to in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, which may include the costs of purchasing, renting, hiring and leasing of equipment used in the supply and distribution of products, as provided for in the strategy F11...;
(b)
the costs of accompanying educational measures, including:
- (i)
costs of organising tasting classes, setting up and maintaining school gardens, organising visits to farms and similar activities aimed at reconnecting children with agriculture;
- (ii)
costs of measures aimed at educating children about agriculture, healthy eating habits, local food chains, organic production, sustainable production, and combating food waste;
(c)
the costs of publicity for the school scheme, which shall be directly aimed at informing the wider public about the school scheme, including:
- (i)
the cost of the poster referred to in Article 12 of this Regulation;
- (ii)
the cost of information campaigns by means of broadcasting, electronic communications, newspapers and similar means of communication;
- (iii)
the cost of information sessions, conferences, seminars and workshops dedicated to informing the wider public about the school scheme and similar events;
- (iv)
the cost of information and promotion material such as letters, leaflets, brochures, gadgets and similar;
(d)
the costs of networking measures to exchange experiences and best practices on implementation of the school scheme;
(e)
(f)
the costs of transport and distribution of the products supplied under the school scheme, insofar as they are not covered by point (a) of this paragraph.
F142.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.
Value added tax (VAT) is not eligible for F15school scheme aid.
F164.
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Article 5General conditions for the granting of aid and selection of aid applicants
1.
F17School scheme aid shall be distributed to those applicants F18... that have been approved by the F19relevant authority in accordance with Article 6 and whose application relates to the implementation of one or more of the following:
(a)
the supply or distribution of products to children in educational establishments under the school scheme;
(b)
accompanying educational measures;
(c)
monitoring or evaluation actions;
(d)
publicity.
2.
F20The relevant authority shall select aid applicants from among the following bodies:
(a)
educational establishments;
(b)
educational authorities;
(c)
suppliers or distributors of products;
(d)
organisations acting on behalf of one or more educational establishments or educational authorities that are specifically established for the purpose of management and provision of any of the activities referred to in paragraph 1;
(e)
any other public or private body which is engaged in the management and provision of any of the activities referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 6Conditions for approval of aid applicants
1.
Aid applicants shall be approved by the F21relevant authority in which the educational establishment to which the products are supplied and/or distributed is located. Approval shall be subject to the following written commitments made by the applicants:
(a)
to ensure the products financed by F22school scheme aid are made available for consumption by the children in educational establishment or establishments in respect of which they will apply for aid;
(b)
to use the aid allocated for accompanying educational measures, monitoring, evaluation, and publicity, in accordance with the objectives of the school scheme;
(c)
to reimburse any aid unduly paid for the quantities concerned, if it has been found that the products have not been distributed to the children or are not eligible for F23school scheme aid;
(d)
to reimburse any aid unduly paid for accompanying educational measures, monitoring, evaluation, publicity measures, if it has been found that those measures or activities have not been properly carried out;
(e)
to make supporting documents available to the F24relevant authority on request;
(f)
to permit the F25relevant authority to conduct any necessary checks, in particular the scrutiny of records and physical inspection.
Where applications for aid concern activities subject to public procurement procedures, F26the relevant authority may consider approval as granted where the commitments set out at the first subparagraph are included in the conditions for participating in the public procurement procedures.
2.
In the case of aid applications relating to the supply and/or distribution of products only, points (b) and (d) of paragraph 1 shall not apply. Applicants shall make an additional written commitment to keep a record of the names and addresses of the educational establishments or educational authorities in receipt of their products and a record of the quantities of the specific products sold or supplied.
3.
In the case of aid applications relating to accompanying educational measures only, points (a) and (c) of paragraph 1 shall not apply. F27The relevant authority may specify any additional written commitments to be undertaken by applicants, in particular as regards:
(a)
accompanying educational measures carried out in schools, when those schools are not aid applicants;
(b)
accompanying educational measures that include the distribution of products.
4.
In the case of aid applications relating to monitoring, evaluation and publicity only, points (a) and (c) of paragraph 1 shall not apply.
F285.
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Article 7Suspension and withdrawal of approval
1.
If an approved aid applicant fails to comply with the obligations laid down under the school scheme, the F29relevant authority shall suspend the approval of the applicant for a period of between 1 and 12 months or withdraw it, depending on the seriousness of the non-compliance and according to the principle of proportionality.
2.
Suspension and withdrawal shall not be imposed in cases referred to in points (a) to (d) of Article 64(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 or if the non-compliance was of a minor nature.
3.
At the applicant's request and if the reasons for withdrawal have been remedied, the F30relevant authority may restore the approval of the applicant for aid after a minimum period of 12 months from the date on which the reasons for withdrawal have been remedied.
Article 8Administrative penalties
In cases of non-compliance with the obligations laid down under the school scheme, except those referred to in points (a) to (d) of Article 64(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, the applicant shall, in addition to the recovery of unduly paid amounts, pay an administrative penalty equal to the difference between the amount initially claimed and the amount the applicant is entitled to.
Article 9Monitoring and evaluation
1.
F31The relevant authority shall provide for appropriate structures and forms to ensure an annual monitoring of the implementation of the school scheme.
F322.
F33The relevant authority shall evaluate the implementation of the school scheme in order to assess its effectiveness against its objectives of increasing the consumption of fruit, vegetables, milk and milk products by children and educating them about healthy eating habits. The results of that evaluation shall be submitted to the Commission by way of an evaluation report. A Member State that implements the school scheme at regional level may choose to submit a corresponding number of evaluation reports.
3.
The annual monitoring reports by F34the relevant authority shall include information about the funds used for the supply and distribution of each of the product groups listed in Article 23(3), (4) and (5) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 and for the accompanying educational measures, the number of educational establishments and children participating in the school scheme, the average portion size and the average price per portion, the frequency of delivery of products, the quantities of products supplied broken down by product groups and, if applicable, of products other than those listed in Article 23(3), (4) and (5) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 that are included under the accompanying educational measures according to Article 23(7) of that Regulation, the types of communication and accompanying measures implemented, and the authorities and stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of the school scheme.
4.
The annual control reports by F35the relevant authority on the on-the-spot checks carried out and the related findings shall include information on the amount of aid claimed, paid and subject to on-the-spot checks, the reduction of aid after administrative checks, the reduction of aid due to late submission of applications, the amount of aid recovered following on-the-spot checks, and the administrative penalties applied.
F365.
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Article 10Maximum levels of added ingredients
1.
The maximum level of added sugar which may be allowed by F37the relevant authority under the second subparagraph of Article 23(6) in products referred to in Article 23(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 is zero.
2.
The maximum level of added sugar and/or honey which may be allowed by F38the relevant authority pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 23(6) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 in products listed in Annex V to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 is 7 %. For the purpose of this paragraph, sugar shall mean the items listed under CN codes 1701 and 1702. The sugar added to the fruit shall be included in the maximum level of 7 % of added sugar.
3.
Cheese may contain maximum 10 % of non-lactic ingredients.
Article 11Distribution of products in conjunction with regular school meals
In duly justified cases where F39the relevant authority considers it more effective for the achievement of the objectives of their strategy, F40it may allow schools to distribute products receiving F41school scheme aid in conjunction with regular school meals.
In such cases, F42the relevant authority shall ensure that those products:
- (a)
are not used in the preparation of the regular school meals;
- (b)
are not used to replace products that are part of the regular school meals through the financial contribution from public and/or private entities;
- (c)
remain at all times clearly recognisable as part of the school scheme, through suitable communication and publicity measures.
Paragraph (b) shall not apply where educational establishments distribute regular school meals free of charge.
Article 12Publicity
For the purposes of Article 23a(8) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, F43the relevant authority may use a poster fulfilling the minimum requirements laid down in the Annex to this Regulation, which shall be permanently situated at a clearly visible place at the main entrance of the participating educational establishment.