Keywords
Summary

Keywords

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Agriculture ° Common organization of the markets ° Milk and milk products ° Additional levy on milk ° Producer having exceeded one of his reference quantities ° Obligation to pay the levy objected to on the ground that there was no overproduction at national level, a view arrived at by comparing the quantities placed on the market and the sum of the two reference quantities, one in respect of deliveries and the other in respect of direct sales, allocated to the Member State in question ° Objection not permissible

(Regulation No 804/68 of the Council, Art. 5c(7), as amended by Regulation No 856/84 and subsequently by Regulation No 1298/85, and Council Regulation No 857/84, Art. 6a, as amended by Regulation No 590/85)

Summary

Within the system of additional milk levies, the total reference quantities allocated to a Member State in respect of direct sales and deliveries are independent of each other. A producer who has exceeded one of his individual reference quantities cannot therefore, in order to avoid the obligation to pay the levy by reason of having exceeded that quantity, rely on the fact that there was no overproduction at national level in so far as the total quantity produced remained below the sum of the two overall reference quantities available to the Member State in question.

This distinction between the two types of reference quantities is not affected by Article 5c(7) of Regulation No 804/68, as amended by Regulation No 856/84 and subsequently by Regulation No 1298/85, which, under certain circumstances, allows the overall reference quantity for deliveries available to a Member State to be adjusted in order to take account of structural changes affecting direct sales and deliveries, without, however, resulting in an increase in the sum total of that Member State' s reference quantities, or by Article 6a of Regulation No 857/84, as amended by Regulation No 590/85, which allows individual producers with two reference quantities to obtain an increase in one of those quantities, subject to a corresponding reduction in the other quantity, in order to adapt to changes in their marketing requirements.