Considerations on COM(2000)791-1 - Specific measures for certain agricultural products for the French overseas departments - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2000)791-1 - Specific measures for certain agricultural products for the French overseas departments. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2000)791  |
| date | June 28, 2001 |
(2) The particular geographical situation of the French overseas departments (FOD) imposes additional transport costs in supplying essential products, for processing and as agricultural inputs. In addition, objective factors arising as a result of insularity and extreme remoteness impose further constraints on operators and producers in the FOD that severely handicap their activities. This is true particularly in the case of the supply of cereals, which are by and large not produced and cannot be produced on a large scale in the FOD, rendering them dependent on external sources of supply. These handicaps can be alleviated by lowering the price of these essential products. It is therefore appropriate to introduce specific supply arrangements with a view to ensuring supply to the FOD from local production and to mitigating the additional costs of the remoteness, insularity and outermost location of the FOD.
(3) To that end, notwithstanding Article 23 of the Treaty, imports of the products concerned from third countries should be exempt from the applicable import duties.
(4) In order to achieve the goal of lowering prices in the FOD and mitigating the additional costs of their remoteness, insularity and outermost location while maintaining the competitiveness of Community products, aid should be granted for the supply of products of Community origin to the FOD. Such aid should take account of the additional cost of transport to the FOD and the prices applied to exports to third countries and, in the case of agricultural inputs and products intended for processing, the additional costs of insularity and outermost location.
(5) Since the quantities covered by the specific supply arrangements are limited to the supply requirements of the FOD, those arrangements do not impair the proper functioning of the internal market. In addition, the economic advantages of the specific supply arrangements should not provoke deflections of trade in the products concerned. Re-dispatching or re-exportation of those products from the FOD should therefore be prohibited. However, trade flows between the FOD are not covered by this prohibition. Nor does it apply, where processing is concerned, subject to certain conditions, to exports to third countries to promote regional trade or to traditional consignments to the rest of the Community.
(6) The economic advantages of the specific supply arrangements should reduce production costs and be passed on to the end user. They should therefore be granted only on condition that they are actually passed on, and monitoring must be carried out to that end.
(7) In the light of recent agricultural developments in French Guiana, Regulation (EEC) No 3763/91(3) introduced a measure to develop rice cultivation. That measure expired at the end of the 1996 marketing year, and since the Member State concerned has not asked for it to be extended, that measure should be abolished. A measure has been introduced to dispose of and market part of the local production of rice in Guadeloupe, Martinique and the rest of the Community. Since not all of the local production can be consumed in the region, and since lack of facilities and local conditions make storage in the region scarcely feasible, this measure, which is vital to maintain balance in the local production sector, should continue on the terms laid down in the current rules.
(8) Traditional livestock farming activities should be supported in order to meet local consumption needs of the FOD. To that end, derogations are needed from some of the provisions of the common market organisations which restrict production, to take account of the development and particular conditions of local production, which are quite different from those in the rest of the Community. This objective may also be pursued indirectly by financing genetic improvement programmes involving the purchase of pure-bred breeding animals, by purchasing commercial breeds more suited to local conditions, by supplementing the suckler cow premium and the slaughter premium and, where appropriate, by making it possible to import from third countries male bovine animals intended for fattening under certain conditions, as well as by derogating from the import conditions for animals and foodstuffs of animal origin.
(9) Improvements need to be made to the poor conditions for supplying fresh milk products to local markets in the FOD, which at present come mainly from imports; this aim can be achieved on the one hand by continuing aid to develop cow's milk production within the limits of local consumption requirements as periodically evaluated under a supply balance, and on the other hand by ceasing to apply the arrangements for an additional levy on cow's milk producers laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 3950/92(4); the poor supply conditions typical of the outermost regions, which are completely different from those prevailing in the rest of the Community, and the need for a local production development incentive justify this derogation.
(10) The Community is contributing funds to regional programmes to support the production and marketing of local products in the livestock and milk products sectors in Martinique and Réunion as a temporary measure from 1996-2000. The level of local self-sufficiency in those sectors is still low. Community support can be mobilised effectively only if the local production structures are able to implement strategies tailored to the local context for economic development, spatial organisation of production and increasing the professionalism of producers. This assistance should be continued as a temporary measure to help the production of a modern, high quality sector to pick up speed. The principle of extending this support to French Guiana and Guadeloupe has been accepted, on condition that local inter-branch organisations are set up.
(11) In the fruit, vegetables, plants and floricultural sector, measures have been introduced to improve farm productivity and product quality, structure the production and distribution chains, develop local processed products and maintain certain traditional production (vanilla, essential oils, etc.), with a view to supporting the local marketing, processing and export sales of those products. These measures have helped to start improving the ability of local products to compete with products from elsewhere on high-growth markets, to satisfy the requirements of consumers and new distribution channels and to establish these upgraded products on the Community market, and should therefore be continued.
(12) Regulation (EEC) No 525/77(5) established a system of production aid for tinned pineapple which has been applied only in Martinique. Given the specific features of the scheme and the production region, in the interests of legislative and administrative harmonisation, the scheme should be included in this Regulation and Regulation (EEC) No 525/77 should be repealed. If pineapple production is to have a future, all those engaged in the sector must be mobilised. Pineapple production is particularly important in Martinique, for both economic and social reasons. Pineapples are expensive to produce and products processed from them face competition from third countries. Support should continue to be granted for processing and to ensure the survival of small farms, ensure a regular supply to the processing industry and reinforce the role of producer organisations while opening the way in the medium term to improved profitability and, if appropriate, the marketing of fresh produce.
(13) The sugar-cane sector is vital to the economy of the FOD. The FOD continue to face serious handicaps (remoteness, insularity, outermost location, difficult mountainous terrain, small and widely dispersed farms, few factories, high local transport costs, difficult access because of poor roads) which push up costs. Sugar-cane production also faces specific handicaps in comparison with the production of sugarbeet in mainland Europe, particularly regarding the harvesting of cane. To ensure that the sector develops properly and to alleviate these difficulties, measures are needed to offset partially the additional costs of transporting cane from fields to reception centres.
(14) Rum is a product of great economic importance for the FOD, and market outlets are vital. The gradual abolition of certain benefits currently accorded to rum production would have a serious impact on the earnings of the producers. The measures to support the cultivation of sugar cane and its direct processing into agricultural rum and sugar syrup should be continued because these measures are helping to ensure continued deliveries of cane to distilleries, which can thus plan and rationalise investments in their production facilities, and because they help improve the incomes of cane growers and encourage them to improve their production methods to ensure higher yields and deliver better quality cane.
(15) Agricultural producers in the FOD should be encouraged to supply quality products and the marketing of these should be assisted, in this respect, using the Community's graphic symbol might help achieve this purpose.
(16) The plant health of agricultural crops in the FOD is subject to particular problems associated with the climate and the inadequacy of the control measures hitherto applied there. Programmes should be implemented to combat harmful organisms, including by organic methods. The Community's financial contribution towards such programmes should be specified.
(17) Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999(6) lays down rural development measures that may be granted Community support and sets out the conditions for obtaining such support.
(18) This Regulation seeks to remedy the handicaps due to the remote and insular nature of the FOD and to improve the conditions under which their agricultural products are produced and marketed.
(19) The structures of certain agricultural holdings or processing and marketing enterprises located in the FOD show serious shortcomings and are beset with specific difficulties. Provision should accordingly be made for derogations for certain types of investments from the provisions limiting or preventing the grant of some structural aid provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999.
(20) Article 29(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 restricts the grant of forestry support to forests and wooded areas belonging to private owners and municipalities and associations thereof. The great majority of forests and wooded areas located in the FOD belong to public authorities other than municipalities. Under these circumstances, the conditions laid down in the said Article should be made more flexible.
(21) The Community financial contribution for three of the accompanying measures referred to in Article 35(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 may amount in the outermost regions to up to 85 % of the total eligible cost. On the other hand, in accordance with the third indent of the second subparagraph of Article 47(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999, the Community financial contribution for agri-environmental measures, which constitutes the fourth accompanying measure, is to be limited to 75 % for all areas covered by Objective 1. In view of the importance attributed to agri-environment within the context of rural development, the rate of the Community financial contribution should be harmonised for all accompanying measures in the outermost regions.
(22) Pursuant to Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999(7), each plan, Community support framework, operational programme and single programming document is to cover a period of seven years, and the programming period is to begin on 1 January 2000. In the interests of cohesiveness and to avoid discrimination between beneficiaries of the same programme, the derogations provided for in this Regulation should, exceptionally, be applicable to the whole programming period.
(23) A derogation may be granted from the Commission's consistent policy of not authorising State operating aid for the production, processing and marketing of agricultural products covered by Annex I to the Treaty in order to mitigate the specific constraints on farming in the FOD as a result of their remoteness, insularity and outermost location, small area, mountainous terrain and climate and their economic dependency on a small number of products.
(24) Provision should be made for the possibility of adopting transitional rules in order to facilitate the move from the system laid down in amended Regulation (EEC) No 3763/91, and from the system laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 525/77, to the new system laid down in this Regulation and, in the event of extensions to the existing measures, to ensure the necessary continuity.
(25) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Regualtion should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(8).