Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal
Modified by
Council Regulation (EC) No 1455/2001of 28 June 2001amending Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal, 301R1455, July 21, 2001
Council Regulation (EC) No 1512/2001of 23 July 2001amending Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal, 301R1512, July 26, 2001
Council Regulation (EC) No 806/2003of 14 April 2003adapting to Decision 1999/468/EC the provisions relating to committees which assist the Commission in the exercise of its implementing powers laid down in Council instruments adopted in accordance with the consultation procedure (qualified majority), 303R0806, May 16, 2003
Actconcerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded, 103T, September 23, 2003
Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003of 29 September 2003establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers and amending Regulations (EEC) No 2019/93, (EC) No 1452/2001, (EC) No 1453/2001, (EC) No 1454/2001, (EC) 1868/94, (EC) No 1251/1999, (EC) No 1254/1999, (EC) No 1673/2000, (EEC) No 2358/71 and (EC) No 2529/2001, 303R1782, October 21, 2003
Council Regulation (EC) No 1913/2005of 23 November 2005amending Regulations (EEC) No 2759/75, (EEC) No 2771/75, (EEC) No 2777/75, (EC) No 1254/1999, (EC) No 1255/1999 and (EC) No 2529/2001 as regards exceptional market support measures, 305R1913, November 25, 2005
Corrected by
Corrigendum to Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal, 399R1254R(03), October 18, 2000
Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999of 17 May 1999on the common organisation of the market in beef and vealTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 36 and 37 thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the CommissionOJ C 170, 4.6.1998, p. 13.,Having regard to the opinion of the European ParliamentOpinion delivered on 6 May 1999 (not yet published in the Official Journal).,Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ C 407, 28.12.1998, p. 196.,Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the RegionsOJ C 93, 6.4.1999, p. 1.,Having regard to the opinion of the Court of AuditorsOJ C 401, 22.12.1998, p. 3.,(1)Whereas the operation and development of the common market in agricultural products should be accompanied by the establishment of a common agricultural policy to include in particular a common organisation of agricultural markets which may take various forms depending on the product;(2)Whereas the aim of the common agricultural policy is to attain the objectives set out in Article 33 of the Treaty; whereas, in the beef and veal sector, in order to stabilise markets and to ensure a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, provision should be made for internal market measures comprising, in particular, direct payments to beef producers, private storage aid and a public storage scheme;(3)Whereas, in order to rebalance meat consumption in the Community to the benefit of the beef sector and to improve the competitiveness of these products on the international markets, the level of market support should be gradually reduced; whereas, given the consequences for producers, the level of income aid provided for under the common market organisation should be adapted and reshaped; whereas, to that end, it is appropriate to establish a comprehensive scheme of direct payments for producers; whereas the amounts of these payments should develop in parallel with the gradual reduction of market support;(4)Whereas, given the variety of stockfarming enterprises, direct payments should include a special premium for producers of bulls and steers, a premium for maintaining suckler cow herds and a slaughter premium available for all types of bovine animals including dairy cows and calves; whereas the granting of the premiums should not be reflected by an increase in overall production; whereas, to that end, the number of male bovine animals and suckler cows eligible for special and suckler cow premiums should be limited by applying respectively regional and individual ceilings and, in the case of the special premium, a headage limit per holding which Member States should have the power to modulate in the light of their specific situation; whereas, as regards the slaughter premium, national ceilings should be established on the basis of historic production figures;(5)Whereas the conditions of steer production usually differ from those of bull production; whereas it is therefore justified to set the special premium for steers at a different level per animal than for bulls; whereas, however, the special premium for steers should be split into two payments for specific age brackets;(6)Whereas slaughtering too great a number of steers during the slaughtering season in Member States where this type of production is particulary important, could disturb the stability of the market and, in particular, lead to a fall in market prices; whereas to encourage the slaughter of steers outside the annual "off grass" period, an additional premium should be granted, subject to certain conditions, in addition to the special premium for animals slaughtered out of season during the first 23 weeks of the year;(7)Whereas, in order to give more flexibility to producers, eligibility for suckler cow premium should be extended to heifers meeting the same breeding requirements as suckler cows; whereas, however, the number of eligible heifers in suckler cow herds should be limited to the normal ratio of replacement; whereas Member States where more than 60 % of the animals eligible to suckler cow premium are kept in mountain areas, should be authorised to manage the premium separately for suckler cows and heifers and, as regards heifers, to operate a separate national premium ceiling within the above ratio;(8)Whereas the suckler cow premium should in principle be restricted to producers who do not supply milk to dairies under the additional levy scheme provided for by Council Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92 of 28 December 1992 establishing an additional levy in the milk and milk products sectorOJ L 405, 31.12.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) 1256/1999 (See page 73 of this Official Journal).; whereas, however, income support may also needed in the case of holdings with a dairy herd and a suckler cow herd; whereas suckler cow premium should therefore also be granted for small and medium-sized mixed holdings with a total individual milk reference quantity of not more than 120000 kilograms; whereas, given the variety of production structures in the Community, Member States should have the power to change or waive this quantitative limitation on the basis of objective criteria;(9)Whereas, as regards the suckler cow premium, it is appropriate to maintain individual ceilings for producers; whereas some of the premium rights conferred by the individual ceilings have not been used in the past; whereas these unused rights would be likely to encourage production and increase expenditure, in particular, as a consequence of heifers becoming fully eligible for suckler cow premium; whereas to avoid such an effect, the total number of suckler cow premium rights of each Member State should be fixed on the basis of the premium payments actually made in respect of historical reference years, increased by a certain margin for maintaining the national reserve; whereas Member States should take the necessary measures to ensure the respect of their national ceilings; whereas, if necessary, they should adjust the individual ceilings of their producers without compensation according to certain objective criteria; whereas these criteria should ensure, in particular, equal treatment of the producers concerned and the protection of legitimate expectations;(10)Whereas a producer's level of production may vary because of changes in stock or production capacity; whereas it is therefore advisable to provide for the possibility of transferring suckler cow premium rights acquired in respect of individual ceilings to other producers, under certain conditions, either together with the holding or without retaining the link between premium rights and land farmed;(11)Whereas new producers and existing producers whose individual ceilings do not correspond, for various reasons, to changed circumstances of their suckler cow herds should not be excluded from rights to premium; whereas provision should therefore be made to operate national reserves to be stocked and administered in accordance with Community criteria; whereas, for the same reason, it is appropriate to subject the transfer of rights to premium without the transfer of the associated holding to rules whereby part of the rights transferred shall be withdrawn without compensatory payment and allocated to that national reserve;(12)Whereas it is opportune to allow Member States to establish a link between sensitive zones or localities and the production of suckler cows so as to ensure the maintenance of such production especially in areas where there is no other alternative;(13)Whereas, given the trend towards intensification of beef and veal production, premiums for stockfarming should be limited with regard to the forage capacity of each holding in relation to the numbers and species of animals held; whereas, to avoid excessively intensive types of production, the grant of such premiums should be subject to compliance with a maximum stocking density on the holding; whereas, however, the situation of small producers should be taken into consideration;(14)Whereas, to strengthen incentives to extensify production with a view to improving their effectiveness in relation to environmental objectives, an additional amount should be granted to producers who comply with severe and genuine stocking density requirements; whereas, to avoid a major change in the global level of support and ensure reasonable control of expenditure, provision should be made for adjusting the additional amount, if necessary;(15)Whereas the conditions for beef production and the income situation of producers varies significantly in different production areas of the Community; whereas a Community-wide scheme with uniform payments to all producers would be too rigid to respond adequately to the structural and natural disparities and the diverse needs resulting therefrom; whereas, therefore, it is appropriate to provide for a flexible framework of additional Community payments to be determined and made by Member States within fixed global amounts and in accordance with certain common criteria; whereas the global amounts should be allocated to the Member States on the basis of their share in Community beef production; whereas the common criteria are intended, inter alia, to prevent additional payments from producing discriminatory effects and to take full account of the relevant multilateral commitments of the Community; whereas, in particular, it is essential that Member States be obliged to use their discretionary powers exclusively on the basis of objective criteria, to pay full regard to the concept of equal treatment and to avoid market and competition distortions; whereas it is appropriate to provide for the forms that additional payments may take; whereas these forms should be headage payments for certain categories of bovine animals and area payments;(16)Whereas, as regards additional headage payments, certain quantitative limits are required to ensure a reasonable level of production control; whereas, moreover, the concept of applying stocking density requirements should be followed by Member States;(17)Whereas additional area payments should only be granted for permanent pasture which does not benefit from other Community market support measures; whereas area payments should be applied within the limits of regional base areas of permanent pasture which should be established by Member States according to historical reference data; whereas the maximum amount of area payments which may be granted per hectare, including additional area payments under the common market organisation for milk and milk products, should be comparable to the average support per hectare under the support system for producers of certain arable crops;(18)Whereas direct payments should be subject to compliance by the keepers of the animals concerned with the relevant Community rules on identification and registration of bovine animals; whereas, in order to achieve the desired economic impact, direct payments must be granted within certain time limits;(19)Whereas the use of certain substances in beef production is prohibited under Community law; whereas appropriate penalties should apply where the relevant provisions are not respected;(20)Whereas under the price and income support arrangements provided for in this Regulation, the existing public intervention in the form of buying-in by intervention agencies and public storage is no longer indispensable to balance the market but would cause considerable expenditure; whereas it should, therefore, be phased out gradually; whereas, however, in order to contribute to stabilising the market prices around the basic price which represents the desired market support level aid for private storage should be provided for; whereas, to that end, the Commission should be authorised to decide the grant of private storage aid when the market price falls below 103 % of the basic price; whereas, moreover, a "safety net" intervention scheme should be established with a view to support the beef and veal market in Member States or regions of Member States where market prices fall short of a critical price level; whereas provision should be made for the private storage aid and the intervention scheme to be implemented on the basis of the grading scale laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1208/81 of 28 April 1981 determining the Community scale for the classification of carcases of adult bovine animalsOJ L 123, 7.5.1981, p. 3. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1026/91 (OJ L 106, 26.4.1991, p. 2).;(21)Whereas the creation of a single Community market for beef and veal involves the introduction of a single trading system at the external frontiers of the Community; whereas a trading system including import duties and export refunds, in addition to the internal market measures, should, in principle, stabilise the Community market; whereas the trading system should be based on the undertakings accepted under the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations;(22)Whereas, in order to monitor the volume of trade in beef with third countries, provision should be made for a system of import and export licences for certain products, which includes the lodging of a security to guarantee that the transactions for which such licences are granted are effected;(23)Whereas in order to prevent or counteract adverse effects on the Community market which could result from imports of certain agricultural products, imports of one or more such products should be subject to payment of an additional import duty, if certain conditions are fulfilled;(24)Whereas it is appropriate, under certain conditions, to confer on the Commission the power to open and administer tariff quotas resulting from international agreements concluded in accordance with the Treaty or from other acts of the Council;(25)Whereas provisions for granting a refund on exports to third countries, based on the difference between prices within the Community and on the world market, and falling within the WTO Agreement on AgricultureOJ L 336, 23.12.1994, p. 22., should serve to safeguard Community participation in international trade in beef and veal; whereas these refunds should be subject to limits in terms of quantity and value;(26)Whereas compliance with the limits in terms of value should be ensured at the time when refunds are fixed through the monitoring of payments under the rules relating to the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund; whereas monitoring can be facilitated by the compulsory advance fixing of refunds, while allowing the possibility, in the case of differentiated refunds, of changing the specified destination within a geographical area to which a single refund rate applies; whereas, in the case of a change of destination, the refund applicable to the actual destination should be paid, with a ceiling of the amount applicable to the destination fixed in advance;(27)Whereas ensuring compliance with the quantity limits calls for the introduction of a reliable and effective system of monitoring; whereas, to that end, the granting of refunds should be made subject to an export licence; whereas refunds should be granted up to the limits available, depending on the particular situation of each product concerned; whereas exceptions to that rule should only be permitted in the case of food-aid operations, which are exempt from any limit; whereas monitoring of the quantities exported with refunds during the marketing years as referred to in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture should be carried out on the basis of export licences issued for each marketing year;(28)Whereas, in addition to the system described above, and to the extent necessary for its proper working, provision should be made for regulating or, when the situation on the market so requires, prohibiting the use of inward-processing arrangements;(29)Whereas the customs duty system makes it possible to dispense with all other protective measures at the external frontiers of the Community; whereas, however, the internal market and duty mechanism could, in exceptional circumstances, prove defective; whereas, in such cases, so as not to leave the Community market without defence against disturbances which may arise therefrom, the Community should be able to take all necessary measures without delay; whereas those measures should be in accordance with the obligations derived from the relevant WTO agreements;(30)Whereas, in order to ensure proper application of the instruments provided for in this Regulation, the Commission should be fully informed about the development of prices on the common market for beef and veal; whereas, therefore, provision should be made for a system for recording the prices of bovine animals and meat of such animals;(31)Whereas it is appropriate to provide for measures to be taken when a substantial rise or fall in prices disturbs or threatens to disturb the Community market; whereas these measures may also include ad hoc intervention buying-in;(32)Whereas restrictions on free movement resulting from the application of measures intended to prevent the spread of animal diseases could cause difficulties on the market of one or more Member States; whereas provision should be made for the introduction of exceptional market support measures in order to remedy such situations;(33)Whereas the establishment of a single market based on common prices would be jeopardised by the granting of certain aids; whereas, therefore, the provisions of the Treaty which allow the assessment of aids granted by Member States and the prohibition of those which are incompatible with the common market should apply in the common market organisation for beef and veal;(34)Whereas it is necessary that, as the common market in beef and veal develops, the Member States and the Commission should keep each other supplied with the information necessary for applying this Regulation;(35)Whereas, in order to facilitate implementation of the proposed measures, a procedure should be provided for establishing close cooperation between Member States and the Commission within a Management Committee;(36)Whereas expenditure incurred by the Member States as a result of the obligations arising out of the application of this Regulation should be financed by the Community in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 1258/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the financing of the common agricultural policySee page 103 of this Official Journal.;(37)Whereas the common organisation of the market in beef and veal should take appropriate account, at the same time, of the objectives set out in Articles 33 and 131 of the Treaty;(38)Whereas the common organisation of the market in beef and veal laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 805/68OJ L 148, 28.6.1968, p. 24. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1633/98 (OJ L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 17). has been amended several times; whereas, by reason of their number, their complexity and their dispersal among several Official Journals, these texts are difficult to use and thus lack the clarity which should be an essential feature of all legislation; whereas, under these circumstances, they should be consolidated in a new regulation and the aforementioned Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 should be repealed; whereas Council Regulations (EEC) No 98/69 of 16 January 1969 laying down general rules for the disposal of frozen beef and veal by intervention agenciesOJ L 14, 21.1.1969, p. 2., (EEC) No 989/68 of 15 July 1968 laying down general rules for granting private storage aid for beef and vealOJ L 169, 18.7.1968, p. 10. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 428/77 (OJ L 61, 5.3.1977, p. 17). and (EEC) No 1892/87 of 2 July 1987 on the recording of market prices in the beef and veal sectorOJ L 182, 3.7.1987, p. 29., the legal base of which was Regulation (EEC) No 805/68, are replaced by new arrangements in this Regulation and should therefore be repealed;(39)Whereas the change from the arrangements in Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 to those in this Regulation could give rise to difficulties which are not dealt with in this Regulation; whereas, in order to deal with that eventuality, provision should be made for the Commission to adopt the necessary transitional measures; whereas the Commission should also be authorised to solve specific practical problems,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: