Translation of "Assurance à moyen terme pour produits agricoles en vrac " (French → English) :

The designations of origin and geographical indications protected on Community territory should be subject to a monitoring system of official controls, based on a system of checks in line with Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules (3), including a system of checks to ensure compliance with the specification of the agricultural products and foodstuffs concerned.

1. Where, in view of the special circumstances affecting an agricultural product, compliance with the requirements on export support under the agreements referred to in Article 1 can be assured by means having a lesser effect than those provided for to that end, the Commission may exempt that product from the application of the provisions on export refunds covered by this Regulation.

2. Second stage : in the medium term : progresive reduction of agricultural market support, directly linked with the restoration of balance of external protection in agricultural sectors showing marked structural imbalances.

Whereas medium-term measures should seek to improve existing varieties ; whereas there should be further measures enabling these varieties to comply with market requirements thereby assuring that Community import markets are kept permanently supplied ; whereas improved methods of processing should increase outlets for selected varieties;

In other words, such aid may not under any circumstances constitute aid for exports; - the aid will have to be objectively quantifiable beforehand on the basis of a ratio "aid per kilometre travelled" or on the basis of a ratio "aid per kilometre travelled" and "aid per unit of weight", and will have to form the subject-matter of an annual report drawn up on the basis of such ratio(s); - estimates of the extra cost will have to be based on the cheapest means of transport and the most direct route between the place of production/processing and the commercial outlets; - aid may be granted only to businesses located in an area eligible for regional aid on the strength of the new criterion of low population density; - the ...[+++]products of firms for which there is no possible alternative location (products of the extractive industries, hydroelectric power stations, etc.) will not be eligible for transport aid. - any transport aid granted to firms in sectors considered sensitive by the Commission (motor vehicles, textiles, synthetic fibres, shipbuilding, ECSC sectors and steel falling outside the scope of the ECSC Treaty) will be subject to the requirement of prior notification and to the sectoral guidelines applicable; - agricultural products falling within Annex II of the EC Treaty are not covered by the present provisions and will form the subject-matter of an appropriate proposal in due course.

In this Communication, the Commission defines strategic orientations to improve, in the medium term, communication between farmers, buyers and consumers as regards agricultural product quality, to harmonise European Union (EU) rules on the quality of these products and to improve and simplify existing schemes and labels.