Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 is hereby amended as follows:

1. 1..

   In Article 1(1), ‘15 February’ is replaced by ‘1 February’;

2. 2..

   Article 3 is amended as follows:

   1. (a)

      in paragraph 2, the fourth subparagraph is replaced by the following subparagraphs:

      ‘If the time limits provided for in the first, second and third subparagraphs are exceeded, the costs of storing the intervention products shall no longer be covered by the Community. This provision shall not apply to products which have not been withdrawn from intervention stocks on 30 September of the year of implementation of the plan.

      The products to be withdrawn must be removed from intervention stocks within sixty days of the date on which the successful tenderer to whom the supply is assigned signs the contract or, in the case of transfers, within sixty days from the notification by the Member State of destination to the competent authority of the supplier Member State.’;

   2. (b)

      the following paragraph 2a is inserted:

      ‘2a.

      Payment operations for products to be supplied by the operator must, in the case of products to be mobilised on the market under Article 2(3)(c) and (d), be closed before 1 September of the year of implementation of the plan.’;

3. 3..

   Article 4 is amended as follows:

   1. (a)

      paragraph 1 is replaced by the following paragraphs 1 and 1a:

      ‘1.

      Implementation of the plan shall comprise:

      (a)

      the supply of products withdrawn from intervention stocks;

      (b)

      the supply of products mobilised on the Community market under Article 2(3)(c) and (d);

      (c)

      the supply of processed agricultural products or foodstuffs available or obtainable on the market by supplying for payment products from intervention stocks.

      1a.

      Those products referred to in paragraph 1(b) which are mobilised on the market must belong to the same product group as the product temporarily unavailable in the intervention stocks.

      However, where no rice is available in the intervention stocks, the Commission may authorise the removal of cereals from intervention stocks as payment for the supply of rice or rice products mobilised on the market.

      Similarly, where no cereals are available in the intervention stocks, the Commission may authorise the removal of rice from intervention stocks as payment for the supply of cereals or cereal products mobilised on the market.

      A given product may be mobilised on the market only if all the quantities of product in the same group to be withdrawn from intervention stocks for supply purposes in application of Article 2(3)(1)(b), including quantities to be transferred in application of Article 7, have already been allocated. The competent national authority shall inform the Commission of the opening of mobilisation procedures on the market.’

   2. (b)

      paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

      1. i))

         point (a) is amended as follows:

         • the third indent of the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

           • ‘or the quantity of processed agricultural products or foodstuffs available or obtainable on the market by supplying for payment products from intervention stocks; these foodstuffs must contain an ingredient belonging to the same group of products as the intervention product supplied as payment.’;

         • the fifth subparagraph is replaced by the following text:

           ‘Where the supply involves the processing and/or packaging of the product, the invitation to tender shall refer to the obligation of the successful bidder to lodge a security, before taking over the products, for the intervention agency in accordance with Title III of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85^f1, for an amount equal to the intervention price applicable on the day fixed for taking over the product plus 10 % of that price. For the purposes of Title V of that Regulation, the primary requirement shall be to supply the product at the stipulated destination. In the event of delivery after the end of the implementation period of the plan specified in Article 3(1), the security forfeited shall be 15 % of the secured amount. The remainder of the security shall also be forfeited at an additional 2 % per day of delay. This subparagraph shall not apply where the product withdrawn from the intervention stocks is made available to the supply contractor as payment for supply already carried out.’;

      2. ii))

         the following is added to the first subparagraph of point (b):

         ‘The supply contract is awarded to the selected tenderer subject to the latter depositing a security equivalent to 110 % of the amount of his tender and established in the name of the intervention agency, in accordance with Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85’.

   3. (c)

      paragraph 2a is replaced by the following:

      ‘2a.

      Products from intervention or mobilised on the market under Article 2(3)(c) and (d) or point c of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article may be incorporated into or added to other products mobilised on the market for the manufacture of food to be supplied for the purposes of implementing the plan.’;

   4. (d)

      in paragraph 4, the second subparagraph is deleted;

4. 4..

   Article 7 is amended as follows:

   1. (a)

      in paragraph 2, the third sentence is replaced by the following:

      ‘The expenditure shall be set off against the appropriations referred to in Article 2(3)(2).’;

   2. (b)

      paragraph 5 is replaced by the following:

      ‘5.

      In the case of transfer, the Member State of destination shall provide the supplier Member State with the name of the person contracted to carry out the operation.

      The intervention agency of the Member State supplying the products shall make them available to the person contracted to carry out the supply or his/her duly authorised agent, on presentation of a removal order issued by the intervention agency of the Member State of destination.

      The competent authority shall ensure that the goods have been insured appropriately.

      Dispatch declarations issued by the intervention agency of the supplier Member State shall include one of the entries given in Annex I.

      The intervention agency of the supplier Member State shall, as soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the Member State of destination of the date on which the withdrawal operation is to end.

      Intra-Community transport costs shall be paid by the Member State of destination of the products concerned for the quantities actually taken over.’

5. 5..

   The following paragraphs are added to Article 8a:

   ‘However, in the event of serious flaws in the supporting documents, the time limit provided for in the second paragraph may be suspended by notification in writing to the operator or the organisation designated to distribute products. The time limit shall continue to run from the date of receipt of the documents requested, which must be forwarded within 30 calendar days. If these documents are not sent within this period, the reduction specified in the first paragraph shall apply.

   Except in cases of force majeure and taking account of the option of suspension provided for in the third paragraph, failure to comply with the time limit of two months stipulated in the second paragraph shall result in a reduction in the amount to be reimbursed to the Member State in accordance with the rules laid down in Article 9 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 883/2006^f2.’;

6. 6..

   Article 9 is amended as follows:

   1. (a)

      paragraph 1(b) is replaced by the following:

      1. (b)

         ‘the words “EC aid”, accompanied by the European Union flag following the instructions given in Annex II, shall be clearly visible on the packaging of goods which are not delivered in bulk to the beneficiaries;’;

   2. (b)

      the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

      2.

      ‘Checks by the competent authorities shall be carried out when the products are taken over on their release from intervention storage or, where appropriate, as from the mobilisation of the products on the market under Article 2(3)(c) and (d) or Article 4(1)(c) at all stages of implementation of the plan and at all levels of the distribution chain. The checks shall be performed throughout the plan implementation period, at all stages including the local level.’;

   3. (c)

      paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

      ‘3.

      The Member States shall take all the measures needed to ensure that the plan is properly implemented and to anticipate and penalise irregularities. To this end they may, in particular, suspend the participation of operators in the competitive tendering procedure or organisations designated for distribution in the annual plans, depending on the nature and seriousness of the shortcomings or irregularities found.’;

7. 7..

   The Annex becomes Annex I and its title is replaced by the following:

   ‘Entries referred to in the fourth subparagraph of Article 7(5)’;

8. 8..

   The Annex to this Regulation is added as Annex II.