1.   In order to qualify for the private storage aid referred to in Article 1, hereinafter the ‘aid’, the cheese shall be of sound and fair marketable quality, of Union origin and have, on the day when the storage contract starts, a minimum age corresponding to the period of maturation laid down in the product specification for the cheeses benefitting from a protected designation of origin or from a protected geographical indication under Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and to a normal period of maturation set by Member States for the other cheeses.

2.   The cheese shall comply with the following requirements:

3.   Member States may waive the obligation to indicate the date of entry into store referred to in point (c) of paragraph 2 on the cheese provided that the store manager undertakes to keep a register in which the particulars referred to in point (b) of paragraph 2 are entered on the date of entry into store.

1.   An operator seeking aid shall lodge an application with the competent authorities of the Member States where the products are stored.

2.   Operators applying for aid shall be established and registered for VAT purposes in the Union.

3.   Applications for aid may be lodged as from the date of entry into force of this Regulation. The last date for the submission of applications shall be 15 January 2016.

4.   Applications for aid shall relate to products which have been fully placed in storage.

5.   Applications shall be lodged using the method made available to the operators by the Member State concerned.

The competent authorities of the Member States may require that electronic applications be accompanied by an advance electronic signature within the meaning of point 2 of Article 2 of Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (4) or by an electronic signature offering equivalent assurances with regard to the functionalities attributed to a signature by applying the same rules and conditions as those defined in the Commission's provisions on electronic and digitised documents, set out in Commission Decision 2004/563/EC, Euratom (5), and in its implementing rules.

6.   Application shall only be admissible if the following conditions are met:

7.   The content of the applications shall not be amended after their submission.

1.   The security provided for in Article 4(6)(h) shall be forfeit where:

2.   Securities shall be released immediately where contract applications are not accepted.

3.   Securities shall be released in respect of quantities for which the contractual obligations have been fulfilled.

1.   Contracts shall be concluded between the competent authority of the Member State on whose territory the products are stored and the applicant, hereafter referred to as the ‘contracting party’.

2.   Contracts shall be concluded within 30 days of the date of receipt of the information referred to in Article 4(6)(e) subject, where appropriate, to subsequent confirmation of the eligibility of the products as referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 16(2). If eligibility is not confirmed, the contract concerned shall be considered as null and void.

1.   Contracts shall stipulate at least the following obligations for the contracting party:

2.   The contracting party shall make available to the authority responsible for checking all documentation, for each contract, allowing in particular the following information on the products placed in private storage to be verified:

3.   The contracting party or, where applicable the operator of the storage place, shall keep stock accounts available at the warehouse covering, by contract number:

1.   The contractual storage period shall start on the day following that of receipt by the competent authorities of the information referred to in Article 4(6)(e).

2.   Contractual storage shall end on the day preceding that of the removal from storage.

3.   Aid may be granted only where the contractual storage period is between 60 and 210 days.

1.   Removal from storage may start on the day following the last day of the contractual storage period.

2.   Removal from store shall be in whole storage lots or, if the competent authority so authorises, in smaller quantities. However, in the case referred to in Article 16(5)(a), only a sealed quantity may be removed from store.

3.   The contracting party shall notify the competent authority before it intends to begin removing products from storage, in accordance with the provisions laid down in Article 16(6).

4.   Where the requirement laid down in paragraph 3 is not complied with but the competent authority is satisfied that sufficient evidence has been furnished, within 30 days following removal from the storage place, of the date of removal from storage and the quantities concerned, the aid shall be reduced by 15 % and shall only be paid in respect of the period for which the contracting party supplies to the competent authority satisfactory proof that the product has been maintained in contractual storage.

5.   Where the requirement laid down in paragraph 3 is not complied with and the competent authority is not satisfied that sufficient evidence has been furnished, within 30 days following removal from the storage place, of the date of removal from storage and the quantities concerned, no aid shall be paid in respect of the contract concerned, and where applicable, the whole of the security shall be forfeit in respect of the contract concerned.

1.   After 60 days of storage, a single advance payment of the aid may be made, at the contracting party's request, provided that he lodges a security equal to the advance payment plus 10 %.

2.   The advance payment shall not exceed the amount of aid corresponding to a storage period of 90 days. The security referred to in paragraph 1 shall be released as soon as the balance of aid has been paid.

1.   The aid, or, where an advance payment has been granted pursuant to Article 11, the balance of aid, shall be paid on the basis of an application for payment lodged by the contracting party within three months after the end of the contractual storage period.

2.   Where the contracting party was unable to produce supporting documents within the time limit of three months despite acting promptly to obtain them on time, he may be given extensions, which may not exceed a total of three months.

3.   Payment of the aid or of the balance of aid shall be carried out within 120 days following the day when an application for the payment of aid has been lodged provided that the obligations of the contract have been met and the final check has been carried out. However, if an administrative inquiry is under way, payment shall not be made until entitlement has been recognised.

4.   Except in cases of force majeure, if the quantity actually stored during the contractual storage period is less than the contractual quantity and not less than 95 % of that quantity, the aid shall be paid for the quantity actually stored. However, if the competent authority finds that the contracting party acted deliberately or negligently, it may decide to further reduce or not to pay the aid.

5.   Except in cases of force majeure, if the quantity actually stored during the contractual storage period is less than the percentage indicated in paragraph 4, but not less than 80 % of the contractual quantity, the aid for the quantity actually stored shall be reduced by half. However, if the competent authority finds that the contracting party acted deliberately or negligently, it may decide to further reduce or not to pay the aid.

6.   Except in cases of force majeure, if the quantity actually stored during the contractual storage period is less than 80 % of the contracted quantity, no aid shall be paid.

7.   If checks during storage or on removal reveal defective products, no aid shall be paid for those quantities. The remainder of the storage lot which is still eligible for aid shall be not less than the minimum quantity as laid down in Article 3(2). The same rule shall apply where part of a storage lot is removed for that reason before the minimum storage period.

Defective products shall not be included in the calculation of the quantity actually stored referred to in paragraphs 4, 5 and 6.

1.   Member States shall notify the Commission, by each Tuesday for the previous week, of the quantities for which contracts have been concluded, as well as of the quantities of products for which applications for aid have been submitted.

2.   Member States shall notify the Commission not later than the end of each month for the previous month:

3.   The notifications by the Member States referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be made in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 (7).

1.   Member States shall take all necessary measures to ensure compliance with this Regulation. Those measures shall include full administrative checking of aid applications, which shall be supplemented by on-the-spot checks as specified in paragraphs 2 to 9.

2.   The authority responsible for checking shall conduct checks on the products entering storage within 30 days from the date of receipt of the information referred to in Article 4(6)(e).

Without prejudice to point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 5 of this Article in order to ensure that the products stored are eligible for aid, a representative sample of at least 5 % of the quantities placed in storage shall be physically checked to ensure that, as regards, inter alia, the weight, identification and nature of products, storage lots conform to the particulars in the application for concluding a contract.

The weight of the products as determined at the start of the contractual period shall be used to determine the payment of the aid. However, aid shall not be paid for a quantity exceeding the one applied for as specified in Article 4(6)(d).

3.   Where the Member State can offer duly justified reasons, the 30-day limit laid down in paragraph 2 may be extended by 15 days.

4.   If the checks show that the products stored do not correspond with the eligibility criteria laid down in Article 3 and as specified in Article 4(6)(c), the security referred to in Article 4(6)(h) shall be forfeit.

5.   The authority responsible for checking shall:

The check referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph shall correspond to at least 10 % of the total quantity under the contract and shall be representative. Such checks shall include an examination of the stock records as referred to in Article 7(3) and supporting documents, such as weigh tickets and delivery dockets, and a verification of the presence of the products in store, type of products and their identification relating to at least 5 % of the quantity subject to the unannounced check.

6.   At the end of the contractual storage period, the authority responsible for checking shall, in respect of at least one half of the number of contracts, by sampling, verify weight and identification of the products in storage. For the purposes of this check, the contracting party shall inform the competent body, indicating the storage lots involved, at least five working days before:

The Member States may accept a shorter time limit than five working days.

7.   When verifying the weight of the products during and at the end of the contractual storage for the sake of verifying the presence of the products in store, possible natural loss of weight shall not lead to a reduction of the aid and the forfeiture of the security.

8.   Where the option in paragraph 5(a) applies, the presence and integrity of the seals applied shall be verified at the end of the contractual storage period. Sealing and handling costs shall be borne by the contracting party.

9.   Any samples taken for verification of the quality and composition of the products shall be taken by the officials of the authority responsible for checking or in their presence.

A physical check or verification of weight shall be conducted in the presence of those officials at the weighing procedure.

For the purposes of audit trail, all stock and financial records and documents checked by those officials shall be stamped or initialled during the control visit. Where computer records are verified, a copy shall be printed and retained on the inspection file.

1.   The authority responsible for checking shall draw up a control report on each on-the-spot check. The report shall describe precisely the different items checked.

The report shall set out:

The report shall be signed by the official responsible and countersigned by the contracting party or, where applicable, by the operator of the warehouse and shall be included in the payment file.

2.   In case of significant irregularities affecting at least 5 % of the quantities of products covered by a single contract subject to the check, the verification shall be extended to a larger sample to be determined by the authority responsible for the checking.

3.   The authority responsible for checking shall record any case of non-compliance on the basis of the criteria of gravity, extent, duration and repetition that may result in exclusion in accordance with Article 18(1), and/or in the repayment of an unduly paid aid, including interests where applicable, in accordance with paragraph 4 of that Article.

1.   Where the competent authority of a Member State finds that a document presented by an applicant for the attribution of the rights deriving from this Regulation provides incorrect information and where the incorrect information concerned is decisive for the attribution of that right, the competent authority shall exclude the applicant from the procedure of granting aid for the same product for which the incorrect information has been given for a period of one year from the moment when a final administrative decision establishing the irregularity has been taken.

2.   The exclusion provided for in paragraph 1 shall not apply if the applicant proves, to the satisfaction of the competent authority, that the situation referred to in that paragraph is due to force majeure or obvious error.

3.   Unduly paid aid shall be recovered, with interest from the operators concerned. The rules laid down in Article 7 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 809/2014 (8) shall apply mutatis mutandis.

4.   Implementation of administrative penalties and recovery of unduly paid amounts, as provided for in this Article, are without prejudice to communication of irregularities to the Commission pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1848/2006 (9).