Commission Regulation (EC) No 217/2002 of 5 February 2002 fixing eligibility criteria for raw materials under the production aid scheme in Regulation (EC) No 2201/96

Commission Regulation (EC) No 217/2002

of 5 February 2002

fixing eligibility criteria for raw materials under the production aid scheme in Regulation (EC) No 2201/96

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the markets in processed fruit and vegetable products(1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1239/2001(2), and in particular Article 6(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 provides for an aid scheme to assist producer organisations delivering tomatoes, peaches and Williams and Rocha pears for processing.

(2) Eligibility conditions for consignments of raw materials delivered for processing should be laid down to ensure proper application of the above aid scheme, without distorting competition and without prejudicing the rules by which the contracting parties may agree on varying the price of the raw material based on quality criteria in addition to the defects covered by this Regulation.

(3) This Regulation lays downs detailed rules of application in addition to those in Commission Regulation (EC) No 449/2001 of 2 March 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 as regards the aid scheme for products processed from fruit and vegetables(3), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1343/2001(4).

(4) The extent to which the Member States or the contracting parties may agree clauses in addition to this Regulation should be indicated.

(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Products Processed from Fruit and Vegetables,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

This Regulation lays down the criteria to be met by consignments of tomatoes, peaches or pears delivered for processing in order to benefit from the production aid scheme established by Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2201/96.

Article 2

Article 3

The defects shall be defined as follows:

(a) for tomatoes, peaches and pears:

• foreign matter: foreign matter is considered to be anything other than the fruit itself. Foreign matter includes above all plant debris (leaves, twigs, grass, etc.), mineral matter (earth, gravel, stones, etc.) and miscellaneous debris,

• diseased, rotten or wormy fruit: fruit attacked by disease, insects or a rotting agent over an area more than 30 mm in diameter, extending into the fruit;

(b) in the case of tomatoes alone:

• green tomatoes: healthy fruit which have not reached maturity and are completely green on the outside. The colour inside the fruit is not taken into account;

(c) in the case of peaches and pears alone:

• sizing defects: minimum size is 55 mm,

• ripeness: underripe or overripe fruits are defective. The degree of ripeness is measured and compared to a scale of limit values fixed by the contracting parties,

• hail damage penetrating the skin, covering more than 20 % of the surface of the fruit;

(d) in the case of peaches alone:

• visible split pits: a pit whose two halves have separated is visible between the peach halves at the stem end.

Article 4

• to reduce the limit fixed in Article 2(2) for any of the products concerned, fix specific limits for each of the defects referred to in Article 3 or increase the minimum size referred to in Article 3(c),

• to define defects in addition to those referred to in Article 3, in respect of which the percentage of defective fruit is to be included in the total referred to in Article 2(2).

Article 5

This Regulation shall apply from the 2002/03 marketing year.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 5 February 2002.

For the Commission

Franz Fischler

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 29.

(2) OJ L 171, 26.6.2001, p. 1.

(3) OJ L 64, 6.3.2001, p. 16.

(4) OJ L 181, 4.7.2001, p. 16.