Vol. 474 No. 3
276 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the outcome of the producer group scheme review; the new rules and regulations, if any, which will apply in future to this sector; and whether groups will be supported financially rather than paying for intervention in future. [3162/97]
I assume the Deputy is referring to the reform of the fruit and vegetables sector which is the subject of Council Regulation (EC) 2200/96 (OJ. L.297 dated 21 November 1996). Title II of this regulation covers the provisions, other than intervention, for producer organisations. The main change is that producer organisations which satisfy certain criteria may now get matching public funding for approved operational programmes. This means that producer organisations must levy their own producer members in order to attract counterpart public funding.
Under the new arrangements Community withdrawal compensation for products withdrawn from the market will be reduced to the levels set out in annex V to the regulation. There will be a single level of compensation for each product. The maximum amount which may be withdrawn as from the year 2002 will be 10 per cent of members' produce marketed. This restriction will be gradually phased in starting with a maximum of 50 per cent in the coming season. I expect that the detailed Commission rules will be published towards the end of February 1997.
