Article 18

The sum to be paid to the supplier shall not exceed the amount of the tender plus any costs provided for in Article 19, less any reduction provided for in paragraph 3, sums forfeit as provided for in Article 22 (8), additional costs relating to checking mentioned in Articles 12 to 16 or costs resulting from the measures mentioned in Article 13 (4).

Where the invitation to the tender is for the supply of a maximum quantity of a given product, the sum to be paid shall not exceed the sum indicated in the tender notice, without prejudice to the application of such reductions, forfeitures or costs mentioned above or to payment of the costs provided for in Article 19.

Payment shall be made in respect of the net quantity shown in the taking-over certificate or the delivery certificate. However, in the event of discrepancy between the taking-over certificate and the final certificate of conformity, the latter shall take precedence, and shall be the basis for the payment.

Where the quality, the packaging or the marking of the goods is found at the delivery stage not to correspond to the specifications, without being such as to have prevented the taking over of the goods or issue of a certificate of delivery, the Commission, in calculating the sum to be paid, may apply reductions. Where reductions are imposed on a supplier, Article 2 (2) may apply.

In the case of delivery free at port of landing or free at destination, and at the supplier's request, advance payment of up to 90 % of the tender amount may be made as follows:

Irrespective of the number of partial advance payments made for the lot in question, the Commission shall make only one balance payment per lot, save in exceptional circumstances acknowledged by the Commission.

The sum to be paid shall be payable at the supplier's request submitted in duplicate:

A request for payment of the full tender amount or balance thereof shall be accompanied by the following documents:

A request for payment of an advance shall be accompanied by the following documents:

No advance may exceed 90 % of the amount of the tender. The advance shall only be paid on submission of a guarantee in respect of the advance lodged in favour of the Commission for an amount equal to the amount of the advance plus 10 %. This guarantee shall be lodged in accordance with the second and third paragraphs of Article 8. The period of validity of the guarantee shall be at least one year and shall be extended on request by the Commission.

Each copy must be certified as conforming to the original and must be signed by the supplier.

All requests for payment of the full tender amount or balance thereof shall be presented to the Commission within three months of the date of issue of the taking-over certificate or certificate of delivery. Except in cases of force majeure, presentation of requests after this deadline shall result in 10 % of the payment being withheld.

All payments shall be made within 60 days of the receipt by the Commission of the complete request for payment presented in accordance with paragraph 5.

Payments made later than the specified period, for reasons not attributable to additional inspections or investigations, shall attract post-maturity interest at the monthly rate applied by the European Monetary Institute, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Communities. The interest rate applicable shall be that for the month in which the day following expiry of the deadline referred to in the first subparagraph falls. Where payment is more than a month late, the interest rate applicable shall be an average weighted by the number of days on which each such rate prevailed.