Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, which come into force on 10th March 1995 and extend to Great Britain, supplement Council Regulation (EEC) No. 866/90 (OJ No. L91, 6.4.90, p.1), as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No. 3669/93 (OJ No. L338, 31.12.93, p.26), which respectively contain measures for improving the processing and marketing conditions of agricultural products.

The above-mentioned Council Regulation empowers the Commission to grant aid from the Guidance Section of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (“the Guidance Fund”) towards investments or projects which fulfil its objectives and towards which the Member States on the territory of which the investments or projects are to be located make a financial contribution.

These Regulations—

(a)

empower Ministers to make grants towards expenditure in respect of investments or projects approved for the payment of aid from the Guidance Fund of amounts sufficient to enable those investments or projects to qualify for that aid (regulation 3);

(b)

lay down procedures for approval of expenditure for the purposes of Community aid and of a grant under the Regulations, and for the payment of such Community aid or grant (regulation 4);

(c)

confer on applicants a duty to retain and produce records of expenditure (regulation 5);

(d)

confer on authorised officers of the appropriate Minister powers to enter upon land and to require the production of documents (regulation 6);

(e)

create an offence in respect of false statements made to obtain Community aid or grant (regulation 7); and

(f)

specify circumstances in which approval of expenditure may be revoked and Community aid or grant may be recovered (regulation 8).

These Regulations revoke the Agricultural Processing and Marketing Grant Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994/3137); the 1994 Regulations, which were made on 7th December and laid before Parliament on 9th December 1994, were erroneously stated to come into force on 1st January 1994. Those Regulations have not been published. The only changes in the text of these Regulations from that of the previous Regulations are—

(a)

the title and coming into force date (regulation 1);

(b)

the insertion of the word “regulation” before “6(2)(b)” (regulation 8(1)(f)(i)); and

(c)

the revocation provision (regulation 9).