Commission Regulation (EC) No 1265/2001 of 27 June 2001 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 as regards granting the production refund on certain sugar products used in the chemical industry
Modified by
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 493/200627 March 2006laying down transitional measures within the framework of the reform of the common organisation of the markets in the sugar sector, and amending Regulations (EC) No 1265/2001 and (EC) No 314/2002, 32006R0493, March 28, 2006
Commission Regulation (EC) No 967/2006of 29 June 2006laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 as regards sugar production in excess of the quota, 32006R0967, June 30, 2006
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1265/2001of 27 June 2001laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 as regards granting the production refund on certain sugar products used in the chemical industryTHE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 of 19 June on the common organisation of the markets in the sugar sectorSee page 1 of this Official Journal., and in particular Article 7(5) thereof,Whereas:(1)Under Article 7(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 it has been decided to grant production refunds on sugar, unprocessed isoglucose and sugar syrups covered by that Regulation and also chemically pure fructose (laevulose) falling within CN code 17025000 as an intermediate product used in the manufacture of certain products of the chemical industry.(2)Arrangements similar to those for white sugar used by the chemical industry should be laid down for unprocessed isoglucose.(3)Where clearly defined intermediate products are, on the one hand, obtained in the Community directly from a basic product excluding any product covered by another production refund scheme and are, on the other hand, used for the manufacture of a chemical listed in Annex I to this Regulation, provision should be made for the possibility of granting a production refund on those intermediate products. That possibility must apply even where the intermediate products are used in a Member State other than that in which they were manufactured. To that end, it should be laid down, on the one hand, that the production refund is to be granted for the basic product having served for the manufacture of the quantity of intermediate product used as indicated above and, on the other, that the refund is to be determined using the same yield coefficients as those established for calculating the export refunds on the same intermediate products.(4)Application of the production refund arrangements to intermediate products requires that those products be defined and that an appropriate verification system be implemented. Such verification, by way of prior approval should cover both the stage of the manufacture of the intermediate product and that of processing into the final chemical product, to ensure that the basic product as defined is actually used for the manufacture of a chemical product listed in Annex I to this Regulation and that any duplicate payment of the production refund is avoided.(5)Sugar can be used as a basic product by the chemical industry in the same way as starch products. A harmonious development should therefore be assured for the use of these basic products. To that end provision should be made for the application of a production refund system that takes account of both the price for sugar on the Community market and the movement of world sugar prices.(6)The arrangements applicable to sugar products used for the manufacture of chemical products are designed to promote, on the one hand, the development of the use of sugar products by the chemical industry and, on the other, the development of biotechnology on the basis of those basic products, by aligning prices on the world market price for sugar. With that in view, the system provides for the progressive application of the principle of establishing production refunds by reference to the world price and the Community price for sugar, with a standard amount of EUR 6,45 per 100 kilograms to be added to the world price. The standard amount corresponds to the forwarding costs for exporting Community sugar, including a flat-rate element intended in particular to avoid the sale of sugar at a price lower than the world market price which, by nature, is very volatile. The experience gained from the operation of the said arrangements shows the need for, on the one hand, placing the Community chemical industry that uses sugar products under conditions comparable to those valid for the chemical industry that obtains its supplies from the world sugar market and, on the other hand, opening up the non-food outlets even further to the Community industry producing sugar products. To that end the arrangements should be maintained, applying in full the exclusive reference to the world and Community markets for sugar.(7)Raw sugar and syrups with a high degree of purity, calculated in accordance with Article 1(5) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1443/82 of 8 June 1982 laying down detailed rules for the application of the quota system in the sugar sectorOJ L 158, 9.6.1982, p. 17., as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 392/94OJ L 53, 24.2.1994, p. 7., should also qualify for the production refunds if used in the chemical industry. The production refund on those basic products should therefore be that for white sugar, adjusted by reference to yield or sucrose content as appropriate. As far as isoglucose is concerned, production refunds should be granted subject to the same conditions as the export refunds on that product.(8)Provision should be made for the production refund to be fixed monthly with, in particular, reference periods to be defined and recordings to be made to determine the price of sugar on the world market. Given the monthly fixing of refunds, reference periods of about one month should be established for that purpose.(9)As the disposal of sugar surpluses on the markets of non-member countries takes place almost entirely by means of tendering procedure, the basis for defining the price of sugar on the world market to be used for fixing the production refund should be the weighted average of export refunds fixed by means of the said tendering procedure during the reference period in question.(10)To prevent abuses, provision should be made for the production refund to be granted only if other uses are excluded by means of controls. If such controls are to be possible, the production refund should be paid only to the processor and on application by the processor. The said controls may, in certain cases, be rendered more effective if they are accompanied by an approval procedure. The Member State on whose territory processing takes place should therefore be free to decide whether or not processors must obtain such approval.(11)The production refund cannot be granted unless precise information is available. Persons who may qualify for the refund should therefore have to submit a prior application in writing giving certain information.(12)Since the basic products in the sugar sector are perfectly interchangeable with basic products in the cereals and rice sector, an unwarranted difference in treatment should be avoided. To that end similar provisions to those contained in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1722/93 of 30 June 1993 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulations (EEC) No 1766/82 and (EEC) No 1418/76 concerning production refunds in the cereals and rice sectors respectivelyOJ L 159, 1.7.1993, p. 112., as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 87/1999OJ L 9, 15.1.1999, p. 8., for the release of the security should be laid down for sugar. Those provisions allow the security to be released in proportion to the quantities for which processing of the basic product has taken place during the period of validity of the production refund certificate.(13)For the purposes of proof and control, a refund certificate must be introduced which is valid for a period which is long enough to allow the trade to make long-term arrangements and gives the information necessary to fix the production refund. In order to ensure that the sugar concerned is used for the purpose for which the refund certificate was issued, it should be provided that only the applicant may claim on the certificate and only after the basic production in question has been processed.(14)Since, on the one hand, final payment of the production refund may be made only after processing has taken place and, on the other, the trade has an interest in being paid as soon as possible, provision should be made for such payment to be effected shortly after processing.(15)The duration of validity of production refund certificates is such that it may cover up to six months of fixing production refunds and such certificates must indicate the production refunds valid on the day of receipt of the application. There may therefore be a change in the intervention price for sugar fixed for the non-deficit areas between the date of receipt of the application for a refund certificate and the date of processing of the basic product in question. Given that the production refund is established on the basis of the Community sugar price and world price movements, a rule for adjusting the said refund should therefore be laid down to take account of any change in the intervention price fixed in euro for sugar between the date of receipt of the application and the date of processing of the basic product in question.(16)In order to make it possible to check that the basic products are put to the intended use, a competent body having access to all necessary information must be set up in each Member State. In order to counteract the effects of delays in payment of the refund, provision should be made for an advance to be paid to the holder of a certificate as soon as the basic products have been placed under control and, in return, the holder should be required to provide a security as guarantee to the Member State concerned should processing of the basic product not be carried out in accordance with the conditions laid down in the refund certificate. However, the Member State concerned should be free to decide on appropriate measures to deal with cases of force majeure which prevent certificate holders from fulfilling their obligations.(17)Experience gained since the new production refund arrangements were implemented on 1 July 1986, and more particularly since they were amended on 1 July 1990, shows the need to ensure that the arrangements are applied more effectively, particularly at the stage of application for the production refund. To that end the margin within which the interested party is considered to have satisfied the primary requirement of processing the basic or intermediate product should be widened to take account of the technical constraints of processing, in particular in the case of fermentation processes where the yield is very variable depending on the reactions of micro-organisms. A maximum tolerance should also be laid down for cases where, when the process has gone wrong and the processor is obliged to use more basic product than originally expected, he may do so without having to draw up a whole special file in order to qualify for the production refund for the additional quantity thus processed.(18)The rules of application laid down by this Regulation replace those of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1729/78 of 24 July 1978 laying down detailed rules of application in respect of the production refund for sugar used in the chemical industryOJ L 201, 25.7.1978, p. 26., as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1148/98OJ L 159, 3.6.1998, p. 38., which should therefore be repealed.(19)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Sugar,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: