Council Regulation (EC) No 1292/96
of 27 June 1996 on food-aid policy and food-aid management and
special operations in support of food security
Official journal NO. L 166 ,
05/07/1996 P. 0001 - 0011
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
UNION
Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European Community, and in particular Article
130w thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the
Commission (1),
Acting in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 189c of the Treaty (2),
Whereas now,
as ever, food aid is an important aspect of the Community's
development cooperation policy;
Whereas food aid must be
integrated into the developing countries' policies for the
improvement of their food security, in particular by the
establishment of food strategies aimed at alleviating poverty
and geared to achieving the ultimate goal of making food aid
superfluous;
Whereas the Community and its Member States
closely coordinate their development cooperation policies as
regards food aid programmes and operations aimed specifically
at enhancing food security; whereas the Community, with its
Member States, is a party to certain international agreements
in this domain, and in particular the Food Aid
Convention;
Whereas regional, national and household food
security, with the long-term aim of securing universal and
constant access to a diet that will promote a healthy and
active life, is an important element in the fight against
poverty and whereas it is important for this to be emphasized
in all programmes intended for developing
countries;
Whereas food aid must not have any adverse
effects on the normal production and commercial import
structures of the recipient countries;
Whereas food aid and
operations in support of food security are key features of
Community development cooperation policy and must be taken
into account as objectives in all Community policies likely to
affect the developing countries, in particular from the point
of view of economic reforms and structural
adjustment;
Whereas, given the different responsibilities
of men and women for the food security of households,
systematic account should be taken of their different roles
when drawing up programmes aimed at achieving food
security;
Whereas women and communities should be involved
to a greater extent in efforts to achieve food security at
national, regional or local level and at the level of
households;
Whereas food aid must be an effective
instrument ensuring access to an adequate and appropriate diet
and improving the availability and accessibility of foodstuffs
to the public, consistent with local dietary habits and
production and trading systems, particularly in food crises,
and fully integrated into development policy;
Whereas the
food-aid instrument is a key component of the Community's
policy on preventing or helping in crisis situations in the
developing countries and whereas account should be taken in
its implementation of its possible social and political
effects;
Whereas food-aid operations cannot be part of a
viable solution unless they are integrated into development
operations geared to relaunching local production and
trade;
Whereas analysis, diagnosis, programming and
monitoring need to be improved to make food aid more effective
and avoid adverse effects on local production, distribution,
transport and marketing capacities;
Whereas food aid should
be made a real instrument of the Community's policy of
cooperation with the developing countries, thereby enabling
the Community to participate fully in multiannual development
projects;
Whereas it is therefore necessary that the
Community be able to provide a steady overall flow of aid and
be in a position, in appropriate cases, to undertake to supply
to the developing countries minimum amounts of products under
specific multiannual programmes linked to development policies
as well as to enter into undertakings in relation to
international organizations;
Whereas the Community's
support for the developing countries' efforts to achieve food
security could be enhanced by greater flexibility in food aid,
granting financial support for operations concerning food
security, and in particular the development of farming and
food crops, as an alternative to food aid in certain
circumstances, while protecting the environment and the
interests of small farmers and fishermen;
Whereas the
Community can assist those in need in rural and urban areas in
the developing countries by helping finance operations in
support of food security through the purchase of food
products, seed, agricultural implements and inputs, and
relevant means of production, and through storage programmes,
early-warning systems, mobilization, supervision and technical
and financial assistance;
Whereas it is necessary to
continue to support regional approaches to food security,
including local purchasing operations in order to make use of
the natural complementarity between countries belonging to the
same region; whereas the policies conducted in the field of
food security should be given a regional dimension in order to
foster regional trade in foodstuffs and promote
integration;
Whereas the purchase of foodstuffs at local
level reduces inefficiency, costs and damage to the
environment which might be caused by the transport of large
quantities of foodstuffs in the world;
Whereas the genetic
potential and bio-diversity of food production must be
safeguarded;
Whereas Community food-aid policy must adjust
to geopolitical change and the economic reforms under way in
many recipient countries;
Whereas a list should be drawn up
of the countries and bodies eligible for Community aid
operations;
Whereas to that end provision should also be
made for Community aid to be made available to international,
regional and non-governmental organizations; whereas such
organizations must satisfy a number of conditions guaranteeing
the success of food-aid operations;
Whereas, in order to
facilitate the application of certain of the measures
envisaged and ensure that they mesh with the recipient
country's food security policy, provision should be made for
close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission
within a Food Security and Food Aid Committee;
Whereas in
determining the steps to be taken for the execution of
food-aid operations the implementing procedures should be
adjusted to the specific nature of each recipient area,
although within the framework of a common policy and
strategy;
Whereas, in order to ensure better management of
food aid, aligning it more closely on the interests and needs
of the recipient countries, and to improve the decision-making
and implementing procedures, it is desirable to replace
Council Regulation (EEC) No 3972/86 of 22 December 1986 on
food-aid policy and food-aid management (1), Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1755/84 of 19 June 1984 on the
implementation in relation to food of alternative operations
in place of food-aid deliveries (2), Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2507/88 of 4 August 1988 on the implementation of storage
programmes and early warning systems (3), Council Regulation
(EEC) No 2508/88 of 4 August 1988 on the implementation of
cofinancing operations for the purchase of food products or
seeds by international bodies or non-governmental
organizations (4) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 1420/87 of
21 May 1987 laying down procedures for the implementation of
Regulation (EEC) No 3972/86 on food-aid policy and food-aid
management (5),
...HAS ADOPTED THIS
REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
Objectives and general guidelines
for food aid and operations in support of food security
Article 1
- Under its policy of cooperation
with developing countries and in order to respond
appropriately to situations of food insecurity caused by
serious food shortages or food crises the Community shall
carry out food-aid operations and operations in support of
food security in the developing countries.
Food-aid
operations of a humanitarian nature shall be carried out in
the framework of the rules on humanitarian aid and shall not
fall within the scope of this Regulation. In the event of a
serious crisis, all the instruments of the Community's aid
policy shall be implemented in close coordination for the
benefit of the population concerned.
- Operations under this Regulation
shall be appraised after analysis of the desirability and
effectiveness of this instrument as compared with other
means of intervention available under Community aid which
could have an impact on food security and food aid, and in
coordination with these means.
The Commission shall
ensure that operations under this Regulation are appraised
in close coordination with intervention by other
donors.
- The objectives of the food-aid
operations and operations in support of food security
referred to in paragraph 1 shall, in particular, be:
 to promote food security geared to
alleviating poverty, to help the population of developing
countries and regions, at household, local, national and
regional levels,
to raise the standard of nutrition of the
recipient population and help it obtain a balanced
diet,
to take account of the concern to ensure the
supply of drinking water to the population,
to promote the availability and accessibility
of foodstuffs to the public,
to contribute towards the balanced economic
and social development of the recipient countries in the
rural and urban environment, by paying special attention to
the respective roles of women and men in the household
economy and in the social structure; the ultimate objective
of Community aid operations shall be to make the recipients
into agents of their own development,
to support the efforts of the recipient
countries to improve their own food production at regional,
national, local and family level,
to reduce their dependence on food
aid,
to encourage them to be independent in food,
either by increasing production, or by enhancing and
increasing purchasing power,
to contribute to the initiatives to combat
poverty with development as an objective.
- The Community's aid shall be
integrated as thoroughly as possible into the development
policies, particularly those on agriculture and
agri-foodstuffs, and the food strategies of the countries
concerned. Community aid shall back up the recipient
country's policies on poverty, nutrition, reproductive
health care, environmental protection and rehabilitation,
with special attention to the continuity of programmes,
particularly in a post-emergency situation. Whether sold or
distributed free of charge, aid must not be liable to
disrupt the local market.
TITLE I
Food-aid operations
Article 2
- The products supplied, along
with an other operation in the framework of food aid, must
reflect as closely as possible the dietary habits of the
recipient population and shall not adversely affect the
recipient country.
When products are selected,
consideration shall be given to how to maximize the quantity
of food with a view to reaching the maximum number of
people, taking into account the quality of products in order
to ensure adequate levels of nutrition.
When selecting
the products to be supplied as Community aid and the
procedures for the mobilization and distribution of that
aid, particular account shall be taken of the social aspects
of access to food in the recipient countries, and especially
of the most vulnerable groups and the role of women in the
household economy.
- Food aid shall primarily be
allocated on the basis of an objective evaluation of the
real needs justifying such aid, as this is the only way to
improve the food security of groups which do not have the
means or possibility of plugging their food shortage
themselves. To that end, consideration shall be given to the
following criteria, without excluding other relevant
considerations:
food shortages,
the food situation measures using human
development and nutritional indicators,
per capita income and the existence of
particularly poor population groups,
social indicators of the welfare of the
population in question,
the recipient country's balance-of-payments
situation,
the economic and social impact and financial
cost of the proposed operation,
the existence in the recipient country of a
long-term policy on food security.
- The granting of food aid shall,
where necessary, be conditional on the implementation of
short-term, multiannual development projects, sectoral
operations or development programmes, and as a priority
those which promote sustainable long-term food production
and food security in the recipient countries within the
framework of a food policy and strategy. Where appropriate,
this aid may take the form of a direct contribution to the
implementation of such projects, operations or programmes.
Where Community aid is intended for sale, such
complementarity must be ensured by the use of counterpart
funds for purposes agreed by the Community and the recipient
country or, where appropriate, the body or non-governmental
organization which receives the aid. Where food aid is
provided as backing for a development programme spread over
a number of years, it may be supplied on a multiannual basis
linked to the programme in question. Besides the allocation
of basic foodstuffs, aid may be used for the supply of seed,
fertilizer, tools, other inputs and commodities, the
creation of reserves, technical and financial assistance and
awareness and training schemes.
- As a key component of
food-security programmes food aid may be given to support
efforts by the recipient countries to create buffer stocks
paying special attention to individual farmers' stocks and
national reserves, in tandem with the setting-up of regional
reserves.
- Counterpart funds shall be
managed in a manner consistent with other Community aid
instruments.
In the case of countries undergoing
structural adjustment, and in line with the relevant
resolutions of the Council, the counterpart funds generated
by the various development assistance instruments constitute
resources which must be managed as part of a single and
consistent budgetary policy in the context of a programme of
reforms.
In this context, the Community could move from
targeting counterpart funds towards more general allocation,
as soon as progress has been made in improving the
effectiveness of the monitoring instruments, programming and
budget implementation, and as regards internalization of
reviews of public expenditure. Without prejudice to the
foregoing, these funds shall be managed in accordance with
general Community aid procedures for such funds and as a
priority to support food-security policies and
programmes.
TITLE II
Operations in support of food
security
Article 3
Where circumstances warrant it, the
Community may carry out operations in support of food security
in developing countries suffering a food shortage.
Such operations may be implemented
by the recipient countries, the Commission, international or
regional organizations or non-governmental
organizations.
The purpose of these operations
shall be to support, using the resources available, the
framing and execution of a food strategy or other measures
fostering the food security of the population concerned and to
encourage them to reduce their food dependency and their
dependence on food aid, especially in the case of low-income
countries with serious food shortages. The operations must
help to improve the living standards of the poorest people in
the countries concerned.
Operations in support of food
security shall take the form of financial and technical
assistance, in accordance with the criteria and procedures
laid down in this Regulation. Such operations shall be planned
and appraised in the light of their consistency with, and
complementarity to, the objectives and operations financed by
other Community development-aid instruments. They must be part
of a multiannual plan.
Article 4
A developing country eligible for
Community food aid operations under this Regulation may
receive part or all of the food that has been - or may be -
allocated to it in the form of operations in support of food
security either directly or through international, regional or
non-governmental organizations, with particular account being
taken of trends in production, consumption and reserves in
that country, the food situation of its inhabitants and the
food aid granted by other donors.
Article 5
Operations in support of food
security shall take the form of technical and financial
assistance aimed, in accordance with the objectives laid down
in Article 1, at improving sustainable and long-term food
security by helping finance, inter alia:
the supply of seed, tools and inputs
essential to the production of food crops,
rural credit support schemes targeted
particularly at women,
schemes to supply the population with
drinking water,
storage schemes at the appropriate
level,
operations concerning the marketing,
transport, distribution or processing of agricultural and
food products,
measures in support of the private sector for
commercial development at national, regional and
international level,
applied research and field
training,
projects to develop the production of food
crops while respecting the environment,
flanking, awareness, technical assistance and
field training operations, in particular for women and
producers' organizations and agricultural workers,
support measures for women and
producers' organizations,
projects to produce fertilizer from raw
materials and basic materials found in the recipient
countries,
schemes to support local food-aid structures,
including training schemes on the
ground.
TITLE III
Early-warning systems and storage
programmes
Article 6
The Community may support existing
national early-warning systems and help to strengthen existing
international early-warning systems concerning the food
situation in developing countries and, in exceptional and duly
substantiated cases, it may operate such systems, in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27. It may
also cover the cost of implementing storage programmes in
these countries in support of food-aid operations under this
Regulation or comparable measures undertaken by the Member
States, international or regional organizations or
non-governmental organizations.
Such operations should be
consistent with other Community development aid instruments,
including the use of counterpart funds generated by the sale
of food aid, and be compatible with Community development
policy.
hese operations are intended to
strengthen the food security of the recipient countries. They
must help improve the living conditions of the poorest
sections of the population in the countries concerned and
conform with their development objectives, in particular the
policy on food crops.
Community participation in such
operations shall take the form of financial and/or technical
assistance, in accordance with the criteria and procedures
laid down in this Regulation.
Operations supported by Community
aid shall be appraised in the light of and in a manner
consistent with existing programmes managed by specialist
international organizations.
Article 7
Community support for storage
programmes and early-warning systems may be granted, upon
request, to international or regional organizations or
non-governmental organizations for operations to help
developing countries eligible for food aid from the Community
and its Member States.
Article 8
Community aid may help finance the
following measures:
early-warning systems and systems for
gathering data on trends in harvests, stocks and markets,
the food situation of households and the vulnerability of
the population with a view to improving understanding of the
food situation in the countries concerned,
operations aimed at improving storage systems
with a view to reducing waste or ensuring sufficient storage
capacity for emergencies. Such operations may also include
the establishment of the infrastructure, in particular
bagging, unloading, disinfection, treatment and storage
facilities, needed to handle food products in these
countries in support of food-aid operations or operations in
support of food security,
preparatory studies and training schemes in
connection with the above activities.
CHAPTER II
Implementing procedures for food
aid and storage and early-warning operations in support of
food security
Article 9
1. The countries and organizations
eligible for Community aid for operations under this
Regulation are listed in the Annex. In this connection,
priority shall be given to the poorest sections of the
population and to low-income countries with serious food
shortages.
The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a
proposal from the Commission, may amend that list.
2. Non-profit-making
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) eligible for direct or
indirect Community financing for the implementation of
operations under this Regulation must meet the following
criteria:
- if they are European
non-governmental organizations, they must be autonomous
organizations in a Member State of the European Community
under the laws in force in that Member State;
- they must have their
headquarters in a Member State of the Community, the
recipient countries or, exceptionally, in the case of
international NGOs, a third country. This headquarters must
be the effective decision-making centre for all co-financed
operations;
- show that they can successfully
carry out food-aid operations; in particular through:
- their administrative and financial management
capacity,
their technical and logistical capacity to
handle the proposed operation,
the results of operations implemented by the
relevant NGOs carried out with Community finance or finance
from the Member States,
their experience in the field of food aid and
food security,
their presence in the recipient country and
their knowledge of that country or of developing
countries;
- undertake to comply with the
conditions laid down by the Commission for the allocation of
food aid.
Article 10
- The Community may help finance
operations in support of food security of the kind described
in Titles I, II and III (Chapters I and II) executed by the
recipient country, the Commission, international or regional
organizations or non-governmental organizations.
- Cofinancing operations may be
carried out at the request of recipient countries,
international or regional organizations or non-governmental
organizations, where such operations seem the most
appropriate way of enhancing the food security of groups
without the ways and means to cope with a food shortage
themselves.
- In the design of the Community
operations defined in Titles I, II and III, the Commission
will give particular attention to:
the pursuit of sustainable impact and
economic viability in project design,
the clear definition and monitoring of
objectives and indicators of
achievement.
Article 11
Products shall be mobilized on the
Community market, in the recipient country or in one of the
developing countries (listed in the Annex) if possible one
belonging to the same geographical region as the recipient
country.
Exceptionally, products may be
mobilized on the market of a country other than those provided
for in paragraph 1 of this Article in accordance with the
procedure laid down in Article 27:
if the requisite type or quality of product is
unavailable on the market of the Community or any of the
developing countries,
if there is a serious food shortage, where such
purchases are likely to increase the effectiveness of the
operation.
Food products available on the
internal market may be mobilized on the market of a developing
country, if the economic efficiency of doing so compares
favourably with that of mobilizing products on the European
market.
Where food is purchased in the
recipient country or in a developing country, steps must be
taken to ensure that such purchases threaten neither to
disrupt the market of the country concerned or of any other
developing countries in the same region nor to affect
adversely the supply of food to their inhabitants. Such
purchases shall be integrated as thoroughly as possible into
the implementation of Community development policy towards
these countries, particularly with regard to the promotion of
food security in the country concerned or at regional
level.
Article 12
Where a recipient country has
partially or totally liberalized food imports, the
mobilization of Community aid must be consistent with that
country's policy and not distort the market.
In such cases, the Community
contribution may take the form of a foreign-currency facility
to be made available to private-sector operators in the
country concerned, subject to the operation being part of a
social and economic policy and an agricultural policy aimed at
alleviating poverty (including the strategy on the importation
of basic foodstuffs). The recipients shall be required to
prove that they have made proper use of the means put at their
disposal. Priority shall go to small and medium-sized private
operators in order to ensure that operations are
complementary. To the extent that its powers to carry out
operations so allow, the Commission may adopt positive
discrimination measures for small and medium-sized private
operators.
Such aid shall be governed by the
principles laid down in Article 11.
Article 13
The Community may cover costs
relating to the transport of food aid.
Where the Commission considers that
the Community should cover costs relating to the inland
transport of food aid, it shall take account of the following
general criteria:
a serious food shortage,
the delivery of food aid to low-income
countries suffering from serious food shortages,
whether the food aid is destined for
the international or regional organizations or
non-governmental organizations referred to in Article
10,
the need to increase the efficiency of the
food-aid operation in question.
Where food aid is sold in the
recipient country, the Community should cover inland transport
costs only in exceptional circumstances.
The Community may also cover the
air transport costs of food-aid operations in exceptional
circumstances.
Article 14
The Community may cover final
distribution costs where the smooth execution of the food-aid
operations concerned requires it.
Article 15
Community aid shall take the form
of grants. Aid may cover the external and local costs of
implementing operations, including maintenance and operating
costs.
Operations under this Regulation
shall be exempt from taxes, duties and customs
charges.
Any counterpart funds shall be used
in accordance with the objectives laid down in this Regulation
and managed in agreement with the Commission. The competent
authority of the recipient country shall keep accounts on the
collection and use of the funds and shall be obliged to render
accounts.
Article 16
The Community contribution may also
cover flanking activities necessary to make the operations
under this Regulation more efficient and, in particular,
supervision, monitoring and inspection, distribution and field
training.
Article 17
Participation in invitations to
tender and other procedures for the award of public contracts
shall be open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons
in the European Union and the recipient countries. It may be
extended by the Commission to operations under Article 11 (2)
to include natural and legal persons in the countries where
the aid is mobilized.
When implementing this Regulation,
the Commission shall guarantee the openness of the operations
in question by publicizing them properly. The Commission shall
ensure that operations by intermediary organizations are also
publicized properly.
Article 18
The Commission may authorize a
representative to conclude cofinancing agreements in its
name.
Article 19
- The Commission shall lay down
the allocation, mobilizing and implementation conditions for
aid under this Regulation.
- Aid shall not be implemented
unless the recipient country, international or regional
organization or non-governmental organization complies with
these conditions.
Article 20
The Commission shall take all
measures necessary for the proper implementation of food-aid
programmes and operations, and operations in support of food
security.
To that end, the Member States and the Commission
shall afford each other all necessary assistance and exchange
all relevant information.
CHAPTER III
Procedure for implementing
food-aid operations and early-warning and storage operations
in support of food security
Article 21
- The Council, acting by a
qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission and
after consulting the European Parliament, shall determine
the Community share of the overall amount of cereals aid
laid down in the Food Aid Convention as the total
contribution of both the Community and its Member
States.
- The Commission shall coordinate
the operations of the Community and the Member States as
regards the supply of cereals aid under the Food Aid
Convention and shall ensure that the total contribution by
the Community and its Member States is at least as high as
the quantities provided for in the said Convention.
Article 22
The Commission, acting in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27, and
taking account of the general policy guidelines for food aid
shall:
adopt the list of products which may be
mobilized as aid,
lay down rules for mobilization, monitoring and
evaluation,
determine each recipient's share of the
products, in terms of quantity and cost,
where necessary, adjust allocations during the
implementation of programmes.
Article 23
Decisions:
granting food aid or providing for an operation
in support of food security and laying down the conditions for
the latter,
granting a contribution to international or
regional organizations or non-governmental organizations for
the financing of operations in support of food
security,
granting aid for a storage programme or
early-warning system;
shall be adopted by the Commission
in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27, in
compliance with the limits set in Article 25.
Article 24
In accordance with the Council
decisions referred to in Article 21 and the decisions taken
under Article 22, the Commission shall decide on:
(a) emergency or serious food
shortage operations, where famine or an imminent danger
thereof seriously threatens the lives or health of people in a
country without the ways and means to cope itself with a food
shortage. The Commission shall act after consulting the Member
States by the most appropriate means. Three working days shall
be allowed to the Member States in which to put forward any
objections. If there are any objections, the Committee
referred to in Article 26 shall examine the question at its
next meeting;
(b) the conditions governing the supply and
implementation of aid, in particular:
the general conditions applicable to
recipients,
initiation of the procedures governing
mobilization, supply of products and implementation of other
measures, and conclusion of the relevant contracts.
For the purposes of paragraph 1
(a), the Commission shall be entitled to take all necessary
measures to speed up the supply of food aid.
The volume of
aid granted in a given case shall be limited to the quantities
needed by the population affected to cope with the situation
for a period not normally exceeding six months.
The
Commission shall ensure that priority is given at all stages
to the mobilization of food aid for the operations provided
for in paragraph 1 (a) and (b).
Article 25
Decisions regarding operations the
financing for which under this Regulation exceeds ECU 2
million shall be taken in accordance with the procedure laid
down in Article 27.
Article 26
- The Commission shall be assisted
by a Food Security and Food Aid Committee, hereinafter
referred to as 'the Committee`, composed of representatives
of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the
Commission.
- The Committee shall examine the
long-term implications of any proposal to commit funds for
food security at household, local, national and regional
level in the recipient countries, bearing in mind the
principles laid down in Article 1. It shall also analyze and
monitor food-security policies which are in receipt of
Community aid and examine proposals for joint
initiatives.
- The Committee shall draw up its
own rules of procedure.
Article 27
The representative of the
Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the
measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion
on the draft within a time limit which the Chairman may lay
down according to the urgency of the matter in question. The
opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in
Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which
the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the
Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member
States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner
set out in that Article. The Chairman shall not
vote.
The Commission shall adopt measures
which apply immediately. However, if these measures are not in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they shall be
communicated by the Commission to the Council forthwith. In
that event, the Commission shall defer application of the
measures which it has adopted for a period of two months from
the date of such communication.
The Council, acting by a qualified
majority, may take a different decision within the time limit
referred to in the previous paragraph.
Article 28
- In order to guarantee the
principle of complementarity referred to in the Treaty and
enhance the effectiveness and consistency of the Community
and national food-aid provisions and operations in support
of food security, the Commission shall seek to ensure that
its own activities are as closely coordinated as possible
with those of the Member States and with other policies of
the European Union, both at decision-making level and on the
ground, and may take any appropriate initiative in pursuit
of this end.
To that end, Member States shall notify the
Commission of their national food-aid operations and of
their food security programmes. The Commission, acting in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27, shall
stipulate how notification of national operations is to be
effected.
- The Commission shall ensure that
operations implemented by the Community are coordinated with
those of international organizations and bodies, in
particular those which form part of the United Nations
system.
- The Commission shall seek to
develop collaboration and cooperation between the Community
and third-country donors in the field of food
security.
- Coordination and cooperation
between the Community and the Member States, and between the
latter and international organizations and third-country
donors shall be the subject of a regular exchange of
information within the Committee.
Article 29
The Committee may examine any other
matter concerning food aid and the other operations under this
Regulation raised by its Chairman, either on the latter's own
initiative or at the request of a representative of a Member
State.
The Commission shall inform the
Committee, within one month of taking its decision, of the
food-aid or food-security operations and projects it has
approved, indicating their amount and nature, the recipient
country and the partner entrusted with
implementation.
The Commission shall notify the
Committee of the general guidelines for products mobilized as
Community food aid.
Article 30
The Commission shall undertake
regular evaluations of significant food-aid operations to
establish whether the objectives laid down in the appraisal of
those operations have been achieved and to provide guidelines
for improving the effectiveness of future operations. It shall
inform the Committee periodically on the evaluation
programmes.
Member States and the Commission
shall notify each other as soon as possible of the results of
evaluation work and of analyses or studies that would improve
aid efficiency. The work will be analyzed in the Committee.
Member States and the Commission shall endeavour to carry out
joint evaluation exercises.
The Commission shall draw up
procedures for the dissemination and internal and external
communication of the conclusions of evaluation exercises to
the departments and organizations concerned.
Article 31
At the close of each financial
year, the Commission shall submit an annual report on the
implementation of this Regulation to the European Parliament
and the Council. The report shall set out the results of
execution of the budget as regards commitments and payments
and projects and programmes financed during the year. As far
as possible, the report shall contain information on the funds
committed nationally during the same financial year. As far as
possible, it shall contain the most important statistical data
(by recipient country, nationality, etc.) on contracts awarded
for the implementation of projects and programmes.
The report shall also contain a
breakdown of expenditure assigned to each type of operation as
provided for in Articles 2, 5 and 8.
Lastly, the report shall contain
information on operations undertaken with the counterpart
funds generated by food aid.
Article 32
Regulations (EEC) No 3972/86, (EEC)
No 1755/84, (EEC) No 2507/88, (EEC) No 2508/88 and (EEC) No
1420/87 shall be repealed.
As a transitional measure and until
the new mobilization Regulation is adopted by the Commission,
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2200/87 of 8 July 1987 laying
down general rules for the mobilization in the Community of
products to be supplied as Community food aid (1) shall
continue to apply.
Three years after the entry into
force of this Regulation, the Commission shall submit to the
European Parliament and to the Council an overall evaluation
of the operations financed by the Community under this
Regulation, accompanied by suggestions for the future of the
Regulation and, if necessary, by proposals for amendments to
it.
Article 33
This Regulation shall enter into
force on the third day following its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Communities.
This
Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly
applicable in all Member States.
Done at Luxembourg, 27 June
1996.
For the Council The President A.
MACCANICO
(1) OJ No C 253, 29. 9. 1995, p.
10.
(2) (1) (2) OJ No L 165, 23. 6. 1984, p. 7.
(3) OJ
No L 220, 11. 8. 1988, p. 1.
(4) OJ No L 220, 11. 8. 1988,
p. 4.
(5) OJ No L 136, 26. 5. 1987, p. 1.
(1) (1) OJ No
L 204, 25. 7. 1987, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation
(EEC) No 790/91 (OJ No L 81, 25. 3. 1991, p. 108).
ANNEX
1. COUNTRIES TABLE POSITION
2.
BODIES TABLE POSITION
3. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
European NGOs, NGOs of the recipient country or, exceptionally
international NGOs, specializing in
development. |
