1.   The competent authority may waive the requirement of a security where the value of the sum secured is less than EUR 500.

2.   Where use is made of the facility in paragraph 1, the party concerned shall undertake in writing to pay a sum equal to that which he would have been required to pay had he given a security and that security has subsequently been forfeited in part or entirely.

1.   A security may be given by:

2.   At the discretion of the competent authority, a security may be given by:

3.   The competent authority may impose additional terms for accepting securities of the type listed in paragraph 2.

1.   Assets mortgaged in accordance with Article 7(2)(a) or securities or bonds pledged in accordance with Article 7(2)(d) and (e) shall, at the time the security is given, have a disposable value of at least 115 % of the value of the security required.

A competent authority may accept a security of the type listed in Article 7(2)(a), (d) or (e) only if the party offering it undertakes, in writing, either to give an additional security or to replace the original security should the disposable value of the assets, securities or bonds in question have been for a period of three months below 105 % of the value of the security required. This written undertaking shall not be necessary where national law already so provides. The competent authority shall regularly review the value of such assets, securities or bonds.

2.   The disposable value of a security as referred to in Article 7(2)(a), (d) and (e) shall be assessed by the competent authority, taking, into account any costs of disposal.

The disposable value of securities or bonds shall be assessed using the last available quotation.

The party giving the security shall, at the request of the competent authority, provide proof of its disposable value.

1.   Any security may be replaced by another.

However, the agreement of the competent authority shall be required in the following cases:

2.   A block security may be replaced by another block security on condition that the new block security covers at least that part of the original block security assigned at the time of replacement to ensure fulfilment of one or more obligations still outstanding.

1.   Securities as referred to in Article 1 shall be constituted in euro.

2.   Notwithstanding paragraph 1, where the security is accepted in a Member State outside the euro area, in national currency, the amount of the security in euro shall be converted into that currency in accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1913/2006. The undertaking corresponding to the security and any amount withheld in the event of irregularities or breaches shall remain fixed in euro.

1.   A cheque for a sum whose payment is guaranteed by a financial institution recognised for the purpose by the Member State of the competent authority concerned shall be treated as a cash deposit. The competent authority need not present such a cheque for payment until the period for which it is guaranteed is about to expire.

2.   A cheque, other than as referred to in paragraph 1, shall constitute a security only when the competent authority is satisfied that it has the amount at its disposal.

3.   Any charges by a financial institution shall be borne by the party giving the security.

1.   The guarantor shall have his normal residence or an establishment in the Union and, subject to the provisions of the Treaty concerning freedom to supply services, be approved by the competent authority of the Member State in which the security is given. The guarantor shall be bound by a written guarantee.

2.   The written guarantee shall state at least:

3.   The competent authority may accept a written telecommunication sent by the guarantor as constituting a written guarantee. If the competent authority does so accept, it shall take whatever steps are required to satisfy itself that the telecommunication is genuine.

4.   Where a written block guarantee has already been given, the competent authority shall determine the procedure to be followed by which all or part of the block guarantee shall be allocated to a particular obligation.

1.   The security shall be released when:

2.   Once the deadline for showing final entitlement to the sum granted has passed without production of evidence of entitlement, the competent authority shall immediately follow the procedure in Article 28.

The deadline may be postponed in a case of force majeure.

However, where Union legislation so provides, evidence may still be produced after that date against partial repayment of the security.

3.   If the force majeure provisions in Union legislation permit repayment of the advance alone, the following further conditions shall apply:

If the conditions laid down in points (a) and (b) are not respected, the terms of repayment shall be the same as if circumstances of force majeure had not occurred.

1.   An obligation may include primary, secondary or subordinate requirements.

2.   A primary requirement is a requirement, basic to the purposes of the regulation imposing it, to perform, or to refrain from performing, an act.

3.   A secondary requirement is a requirement to respect the time limit for fulfilling a primary requirement.

4.   A subordinate requirement is any other requirement imposed by a regulation.

5.   This Chapter shall not apply where the specific Union rules have not defined the primary requirements.

6.   For the purposes of this Chapter ‘the relevant part of the sum secured’ means the part of the sum secured corresponding to the quantity for which a requirement has been breached.

1.   A security shall be forfeit in full for the quantity for which a primary requirement is not fulfilled, unless force majeure prevented fulfilment.

2.   A primary requirement shall be considered to have been breached if the relevant evidence is not produced within the time limit set for the production of that evidence unless force majeure prevented production of such evidence within that time limit. The procedure in Article 28 for recovering the sum forfeited shall immediately be followed.

3.   Where evidence that all primary requirements have been met is produced within 18 months of the deadline in paragraph 2, 85 % of the sum forfeited shall be repaid.

Where evidence that all primary requirements have been met is produced within 18 months of that deadline in circumstances where the relevant secondary requirement has not been met, the sum to be repaid shall be the sum that would have been repayable under Article 22(2), less 15 % of the relevant part of the sum secured.

4.   No repayment shall be made where evidence that all primary requirements have been respected is produced after the 18 months period referred to in paragraph 3 has expired unless force majeure prevented production of this evidence within that period.

1.   If the evidence laid down by the specific Union rules is produced within the specified period that all primary requirements have been met, in circumstances where a secondary requirement has been breached, a partial release of the security shall be made and the rest of the sum secured forfeited. The procedure in Article 28 for recovering the sum forfeited shall be followed.

2.   The proportion of the security released shall be: the security covering the relevant part of the sum secured less 15 %, and

3.   This Article shall not apply to periods for either applying for, or using, import and export licences and advance fixing certificates, or to periods relating to the fixing of import and export levies and export refunds by tender.

1.   Failure to fulfil one or more subordinate requirements shall lead to forfeiture of 15 % of the relevant part of the sum secured unless force majeure prevented fulfilment.

2.   The procedure laid down in Article 28 for recovery of the sum forfeited shall immediately be put into effect.

3.   This Article shall not apply in circumstances where Article 21(3) applies.

1.   A security shall on request be released in part where the relevant evidence has been furnished in relation to part of a quantity of product, provided that that part is not less than any minimum quantity specified in the regulation requiring the security.

Where the specific Union rules do not specify a minimum quantity, the competent authority may itself restrict the number of partial releases of any one security, and may specify a minimum sum for any such release.

2.   Before releasing all or part of a security the competent authority may require that a written request for release be furnished.

3.   In the case of securities covering, in accordance with Article 9(1), more than 100 % of the sum required to be secured, that part of the security exceeding 100 % shall be released when the remainder of the sum secured is finally released or forfeited.

1.   Where no period is laid down for producing the evidence needed to release a sum secured, such period shall be:

2.   The period laid down in paragraph 1 shall not exceed three years from the time the security was assigned to a particular obligation, except in cases of force majeure.

1.   Once the competent authority is aware of circumstances giving rise to forfeiture of the security, in whole or in part, it shall without delay demand the party required to meet the obligation to pay the sum forfeited, allowing up to 30 days from the day of receipt of demand for payment.

Where payment has not been made at the end of this period, the competent authority shall:

The competent authority may without delay clear any security of the type described in Article 7(1)(a) to the appropriate account without first requiring the person concerned to effect payment.

2.   The competent authority may waive the forfeiture of an amount less than EUR 60, provided that similar national provisions for comparable cases are laid down by law, regulation or administrative action.

3.   Without prejudice to paragraph 1, where the decision to forfeit a security is taken but on appeal is subsequently postponed in accordance with national law, the party concerned shall pay interest on the sum actually forfeited over the period starting 30 days from the day of receipt of the demand for payment as referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 and ending on the day prior to the payment of the sum actually forfeited.

Where following the outcome of the appeal procedure the party concerned is asked to pay within 30 days the sum forfeited, for the purposes of calculating interest the Member State may consider payment to be made on the 20th day following the date of such request.

The rate of interest applicable is calculated according to the provisions of national law, but shall in no case be lower than the interest rate applicable in case of recovery of national amounts.

The paying agencies shall deduct the interest paid from the expenditure of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) or the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) No 352/78 (11).

Member States may claim periodically a supplementation of the security in respect of the interest involved.

Where a security has been forfeited and the amount already credited to the EAGF or to the EAFRD and, following the outcome of an appeal procedure, the sum forfeited in whole or in part, including interest at a rate in accordance with national law, is to be repaid, the sum to be repaid shall be borne by the EAGF or by the EAFRD unless the repayment of the security is attributable to the negligence or serious mistake of administrative authorities or other bodies of the Member State.

1.   Member States shall keep available for the Commission, for each year, the total number and sum of securities forfeited, whatever stage of the procedure in Article 28 has been reached, distinguishing in either case between those credited to the national budgets and those credited to the budget of the Union.

2.   The information referred to in paragraph 1 shall be kept in relation to all securities forfeited for an amount greater than EUR 1 000 and each Union provision requiring that a security be given.

3.   Information shall cover both sums paid directly by the interested party and sums recovered by realising a security.