Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 180/2014 of 20 February 2014 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down specific measures for agriculture in the outermost regions of the Union

CHAPTER I

SPECIFIC SUPPLY ARRANGEMENTS

SECTION 1

Forecast supply balances

Article 1

Purpose of forecast supply balances and amendments thereto

The forecast supply balances to be established by the Member States in accordance with Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 shall state the quantities of essential products needed to meet the supply requirements of each outermost region every calendar year.

Member States may amend their forecast supply balance. Article 40 of this Regulation shall apply to such amendments.

SECTION 2

Supplies through imports from third countries

Article 2

Import licence

Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 (²) and Articles 2 and 3, Article 4(1), Article 5 and 7 and 13 to 16 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply *mutatis mutandis*, without prejudice to this Regulation.

The negative tolerance provided for in Article 5(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Article 8(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Article 3

Exemption certificate

Article 4 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Articles 2 and 3, Article 4(1), Articles 5 and 7 and 13 to 16 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply *mutatis mutandis*, without prejudice to this Regulation.

The negative tolerance provided for in Article 5(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Article 8(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

SECTION 3

Supply from the Union

Article 4

Fixing and granting of aid

For the purposes of Article 10(2) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013, Member States shall determine within the context of the programme the amount of aid to be granted in order to compensate for remoteness, insularity and distant location, taking into account:

(a) as regards specific additional transport costs, the intermediate reloading costs involved in supplying goods to the outermost regions concerned;

(b) as regards the specific additional costs involved in local processing, the small size of the market, the need to guarantee security of supply and the specific quality requirements for goods in the outermost regions concerned.

Article 5

Aid certificate and payment

Presenting an aid certificate to the authorities responsible for making payments shall be tantamount to applying for the aid. Except in cases of force majeure or exceptional climatic conditions, certificates shall be presented within 30 days of the date on which they are charged. Where that time limit is overrun, the aid shall be reduced by 5 % per day of delay.

The aid shall be paid by the competent authorities not later than 90 days after the date on which the utilised certificate is lodged, except in one of the following cases:

(a) force majeure or exceptional climatic conditions;

(b) where an administrative enquiry has been opened concerning entitlement to the aid; in such case, payment shall take place only after entitlement has been recognised.

Article 4 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Articles 2 and 3, Article 4(1), Articles 5 and 7 and 13 to 16 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply *mutatis mutandis*, without prejudice to this Regulation.

The negative tolerance provided for in Article 5(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1237 and Article 8(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1239 shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Boxes 7 and 8 of the certificate shall be struck out.

SECTION 4

Common provisions

Article 6

Passing on the advantage to the end-user

For the purposes of Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013, the competent authorities shall take all appropriate measures to check that the advantage is actually passed on to the end-user. In doing so, they may assess the trading margins and prices applied by the various operators concerned.

The measures referred to in the first paragraph, and in particular the control points used to determine whether the aid has been passed on, and any amendments made, shall be notified to the Commission in the context of the annual implementation report referred to in Article 32(2) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013.

Article 7

Register of operators

In order to be eligible for entry in the register referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 12(1) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013, operators shall undertake to:

(a) communicate to the competent authorities, at their request, all relevant information about their commercial activities, particularly regarding the prices and profit margins they practice;

(b) operate exclusively in their own name and on their own accounts;

(c) submit licence and certificate applications commensurate with their real capacity to dispose of the products concerned, such capacity being proven with reference to objective factors;

(d) refrain from acting in a way likely to create artificial shortages of products and from marketing the available products at artificially low prices;

(e) ensure to the satisfaction of the competent authorities that, when the agricultural products are disposed of in the outermost region concerned, the advantage is passed on to the end-user.

Article 8

Documents to be presented by operators and validity of licences and certificates

Subject to Articles 2(5), 3(6), 5(7) and Articles 11 and 12, the competent authorities shall accept the import licence, exemption certificate or aid certificate application presented by operators for each consignment. Those applications shall be accompanied by the original or a certified copy of the purchase invoice and the original, a certified copy or an authenticated electronic equivalent of the following documents:

(a) regarding the import licence, or the exemption certificate: (i) the bill of lading or airway bill or multimodal transport document; (ii) the certificate of origin for products originating in third countries;

(b) regarding the aid certificate: (i) the means of proof of the customs status of Union goods referred to in Article 199(1)(b) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 (³); or (ii) a declaration type CO pursuant to Chapters 2 and 3 of Title VIII of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2015/2446 (⁴) in accordance with data elements No 1/1, 1/2 and 1/3 referred to in the data requirements table set out in Section 1 of Chapter 3 of Title I of Annex B to that Regulation.

Those accompanying documents may take the form of an electronic message. In case the verifying competent authority has no access to the IT system managing and producing such electronic document, it shall be replaced by a duly certified true copy or its authenticated electronic equivalent print-out.

The purchase invoice, bill of lading or airway bill shall be drawn up in the name of the applicant.

Article 9

Presentation of licences, certificates and goods

In the case of products which have been the subject of inward processing or customs warehousing in the Azores, Madeira and the Canary Islands and subsequently released into free circulation there, the maximum period of 15 days shall start on the date on which the licences or certificates referred to in first subparagraph are applied for.

The licences and certificates shall be used for a single operation only when completing customs formalities.

Article 10

Quality of products

Conformity of the products with the requirements laid down in Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 shall be examined no later than the stage of first marketing, in accordance with the standards or practices in force in the Union.

Where the product is considered not to meet the requirements laid down in Article 10(4) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013, its entitlement under the specific supply arrangements shall be withdrawn and the corresponding quantity shall be reattributed to the forecast supply balance. Where aid has been granted in accordance with Article 5 of this Regulation the aid shall be reimbursed. Where imports have been made in accordance with Articles 2 or 3 of this Regulation, the import duty shall be paid, unless the party concerned supplies proof that the products have been re-exported or destroyed.

Article 11

Significant increases in applications for licences and certificates

Article 12

Fixing the maximum quantity per licence or certificate application

In so far as is strictly necessary to avoid disturbances on the market in the outermost regions concerned, or the pursuit of speculative actions likely to be prejudicial to the smooth functioning of the specific supply arrangements, the competent authorities may fix the maximum quantity per licence or certificate application.

The competent authorities shall notify the Commission immediately of the instances in which this Article is applied.

The notification referred to in this Article shall be made in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1183 (⁵) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1185 (⁶).

SECTION 5

Export and dispatch

Article 13

Conditions of export and dispatch

Such products shall not be eligible for export refunds.

Such products shall not be dispatched until the payment referred to in the first subparagraph has taken place.

Where it is impossible to establish the day of importation, products shall be considered to have been imported on the day on which the highest erga omnes import duties applied during the six-month period preceding the date of dispatch.

Those products shall not be dispatched or exported until the reimbursement referred to in the first subparagraph has been made.

Where it is impossible to establish the amount of aid granted, the products shall be considered to have received the highest rate of aid fixed by the Union for such products during the six-month period preceding the submission of the application for export or dispatch.

Such products may benefit from an export refund, provided that the criteria for granting such aid are met.

The competent authorities shall authorise the re-export or re-dispatch of unprocessed products or packaged products other than those referred to in paragraphs 3, 4 and 5 of this Article only where the exporter certifies that those products have not benefited from specific supply arrangements.

The competent authorities shall carry out the necessary checks to ensure the accuracy of the certificates referred to in the first and second subparagraphs and shall, if necessary, recover the advantage.

Article 14

Export licence and significant increase in exports

Export of the following products shall not be subject to the presentation of an export licence:

(a) the products referred to in Article 13(3);

(b) the products referred to in Article 13(5) which do not fulfil the conditions for a grant of an export refund.

Article 15

Traditional exports, exports in the context of regional trade, and traditional dispatches of processed products

The list of the countries referred to in Article 14(3) of Regulation (EU) No 228/2013 is set out in Annex VI to this Regulation.

For exports within the framework of regional trade, exporters shall submit the documents specified in Article 17 of Regulation (EC) No 612/2009 to the competent authorities within the time limits laid down in Article 46 of that Regulation. Where documents have not been submitted within those time limits, the competent authorities shall recover the advantage granted under the specific supply arrangements.

SECTION 6

Management, controls and monitoring

Article 16

Checks

The physical checks carried out in the outermost region concerned on the export or dispatch provided for in Section 5 shall involve a representative sample of at least 5 % of the operations, based on the risk profiles established by the Member States.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1276/2008 (⁷) shall apply mutatis mutandis to those physical checks.

In addition, in special cases the Commission may request that physical checks cover different percentages.

Article 17

National management and monitoring rules

The competent authorities shall adopt the additional rules needed to manage and monitor the specific supply arrangements in real time.

Upon request of the Commission, they shall notify the Commission of any measures they implement pursuant to the first paragraph.

CHAPTER II

MEASURES TO SUPPORT LOCAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS

SECTION 1

Aid applications

Article 18

Submission of applications

Aid applications for a calendar year shall be submitted to the office designated by the competent authorities of the Member State in accordance with the specimens drawn up by the latter and within the periods they have laid down. Those periods shall be fixed so as to allow time for the necessary on-the-spot checks and shall not run beyond 28 February of the following calendar year.

Article 19

Correction of manifest errors

An aid application may be rectified at any time after its submission where a manifest error is recognised by the competent authority.

Article 20

Late submission of applications

Except in cases of force majeure and exceptional circumstances, submission of an aid application after the time limit laid down in accordance with Article 18 shall lead to a 1 % reduction per working day in the amounts to which the aid applicant would have been entitled if the aid application had been lodged within the time limit. If the delay amounts to more than 25 days, the application shall be considered inadmissible.

Article 21

Withdrawal of aid applications

However, where the competent authority has already informed the aid applicant of irregularities in the aid application or has given notice to the applicant of its intention to carry out an on-the-spot check and this check reveals irregularities, withdrawal shall not be authorised in respect of the parts of the aid application affected by those irregularities.

SECTION 2

Checks

Article 22

General principles

Verification shall be made by administrative and on-the-spot checks.

Administrative checks shall be exhaustive and shall include cross-checks with, inter alia, data from the integrated administration and control system provided for in Chapter II of Title V, Chapter II of Title VI and Articles 47, 61 and 102, paragraph 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁸).

On the basis of a risk analysis in accordance with Article 24(1) of this Regulation, the competent authorities shall perform on-the-spot checks by sampling, for each action, at least 5 % of aid applications. The sample shall also represent at least 5 % of the amounts covered by the aid for each action.

In all appropriate cases, Member States shall make use of the integrated administration and control system.

Article 23

On-the-spot checks

Article 24

Selection of aid applicants to be subjected to on-the-spot checks

Aid applicants shall be selected to undergo on-the-spot checks by the competent authority on the basis of a risk analysis and the representativeness of the aid applications submitted. The risk analysis shall take account of:

(a) the amount of aid;

(b) the number of agricultural parcels, the surface area and the number of animals covered by the aid application, or the quantity produced, transported, processed or marketed;

(c) changes in comparison with the previous year;

(d) the findings of checks performed in the preceding years;

(e) other parameters to be defined by the Member States.

To provide the element of representativeness, Member States shall randomly select between 20 and 25 % of the minimum number of aid applicants to be subjected to on-the-spot checks.  When the minimum number of aid applicants to be subjected to on-the-spot checks is lower than 12, Member States shall randomly select at least one applicant.

Article 25

Inspection report

Every on-the-spot check shall be the subject of an inspection report relating the details of the checks carried out. Reports shall indicate in particular:

(a) the aid scheme and applications checked;

(b) the persons present;

(c) the agricultural parcels checked, the agricultural parcels measured, the results of the measurements per parcel measured and the measuring methods used;

(d) the number and type of animals found and, where applicable, the ear tag numbers, entries in the register and in the computerised database for bovine animals and any supporting documents checked, the results of the checks and, where applicable, particular observations in respect of individual animals or their identification code;

(e) the quantities produced, transported, processed or marketed which are covered by the check;

(f) whether advance notice was given to the aid applicant of the visit and, if so, how much;

(g) any further control measures carried out.

Where the on-the-spot check is carried out by remote-sensing, the Member States may decide not to give the aid applicants or their representatives the opportunity to sign the inspection report if no irregularities are revealed during the check by remote-sensing.

SECTION 3

Reductions and exclusions, and undue payments

Article 26

Reductions and exclusions

In the event of a discrepancy between the information declared in the context of aid applications and the findings of the checks provided for in Section 2, the Member State concerned shall apply reductions and exclusions to the aid. Those reductions and exclusions shall be effective and proportionate and shall act as a deterrent.

Article 27

Exceptions to the application of reductions and exclusions

On the basis of the information given by the aid applicant as referred to in the first subparagraph, the aid application shall be rectified to reflect the actual situation.

Article 28

Recovery of undue payments and penalties

Article 29

Force majeure and exceptional circumstances

In cases of force majeure or exceptional circumstances within the meaning of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013, Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 640/2014 (¹⁰) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

CHAPTER III

ACCOMPANYING MEASURES

SECTION 1

Logo

Article 30

Checking of conditions for use of the logo