In April 2011, the Royal Decree 460/2011 of 1 April 2011 was published, which regulates the recognition of milk producers ' organizations and interbranch organizations in the dairy sector. Spain's decisions on procurement in the milk sector in relation to European legislation which will amend Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 for the milk sector.

This royal decree established a series of measures to improve the balance of the value chain in the dairy sector and to strengthen the negotiating position of producers, most of which were subject to the publication of the regulation. Royal Decree 460/2011 of 1 April was structured in such a way that it was ensured at all times that such measures would be conditional on the application of Community law and that it would be carried out on the terms of the did it.

The Community text finally published, Regulation (EU) No 261/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March amending Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as regards contractual relations in the sector Milk and milk products, including several amendments to the original texts, would therefore be necessary to make a number of changes to the royal decree in order to bring it into line with Community legislation.

Furthermore, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 511/2012 of 15 June 2012 develops some of the aspects covered by Regulation (EU) No 261/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012, related to the communications to be made. All aspects covered by this regulation should be applied in our national legislation.

Given the entity of the amendments to be made and in order to facilitate their understanding and implementation, it is appropriate to repeal Royal Decree 460/2011 of 1 April and replace it with this standard.

First of all, this royal decree provides for some aspects relating to the functions granted to producer organisations in the dairy sector, as well as the minimum requirements they must meet and the rules for their recognition. In addition, a national register of producer organisations in the dairy sector is created.

With the objective of balancing the value chain, these organizations are authorized to be able to collectively negotiate the terms of the contracts, under conditions and limitations that are perfectly defined.

In the third chapter, the royal decree establishes the obligation to make written contracts in the transactions carried out in the sector. The contract in the milk sector should be considered a key element of cohesion and sectoral stabilisation. It is therefore considered necessary to establish the obligation of the same, as well as the minimum requirements to be met by the contracts.

Subsequently, the royal decree determines what are the purposes of the Dairy Interprofessional Organization, which plays a very important role in such relevant aspects as promotion, research and development, (a) the production of statistics to improve transparency in the sector and improve the knowledge of the productive structure and the market or the promotion of production. While it is legitimate for these organisations to be able to reach certain agreements, it is necessary to set limitations on them so that they do not distort competition.

On the other hand, Regulation (EU) No 261/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March includes the option of Member States being able to apply rules to regulate the supply of cheese with a designation of origin. protected or with a protected geographical indication, in certain circumstances and conditions, to be regulated in this standard.

Finally, by means of the royal decree, the Order ARM/3159/2011 of November 11, which regulates the national registration of organizations and associations of organizations of milk producers, is amended to include the data relating to the volume of raw milk subject to the negotiating mandate of the conditions of employment which the members of the organisations give to them.

It is justified to regulate the basic aspects by royal decree due to the markedly technical nature and the changing nature of the matter, in accordance with the constitutional doctrine. It is also envisaged that a database will be set up in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, which will collect data on the minimum requirements for contracts to be signed, which will be the subject of information on the Milk buyers directly or through a convention with the Dairy Interprofessional Organization. This information is collected centrally, given the impossibility of establishing the territorial connection point, taking into account the characteristics of this market.

This royal decree has been submitted to the autonomous communities and affected sectors.

In its virtue, on the proposal of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, with the prior approval of the Minister of Finance and Public Administrations, in agreement with the State Council, and after deliberation by the Council of Ministers at their meeting on 27 September 2012,

DISPONGO:

CHAPTER I

Preliminary Provisions

Article 1. Object.

This royal decree is intended to set the basic rules applicable to:

(a) The recognition of organizations and associations of milk producers ' organizations, hereinafter organizations and associations, respectively, and of interbranch organizations in the dairy sector.

b) The contractual relationships in the milk production and supply chain.

c) The activities to be carried out by the interbranch organisations in the dairy sector.

d) The improvement of transparency in the dairy sector, understanding as such, the real-time availability of truthful and objective information and access to it on equal terms for buyers and sellers of milk.

e) The regulation of the offer of cheeses with protected designation of origin (PDO) or protected geographical indication (PGI).

Article 2. Definitions.

For the purposes of this royal decree the following definitions apply:

(a) Marketing: holding with a view to the sale, supply for sale, supply or any other form of placing on the market of raw milk.

(b) Raw milk: cow's milk, sheep's or goat's milk which has not been heated to a temperature of more than 40 ° C or subjected to treatment having equivalent effect.

(c) Organisation of transnational producers: organisation consisting of milk producers whose holdings are located in 2 or more Member States of the European Union.

d) Producer: the farmer, person or group of persons, who produces and markets milk or prepares to do so in the very short term.

e) Transformer: person who acquires raw milk to transform it into dairy products.

CHAPTER II

Recognition of milk producer organizations

Article 3. Organizations ' minimum objectives and requirements.

1. All entities with legal personality of their own, of a civil or commercial character, constituted exclusively by producers, who request it, must be recognized as organizations. They must comply with the requirements laid down in this royal decree. and pursue the objective of concentrating supply and carrying out the marketing of the production of its members.

In addition, they must at least pursue one of the following purposes:

a) Ensure that production is planned and adjusted according to demand, especially as regards quality and quantity.

b) Optimize production costs and stabilize production prices.

2. The organisation shall have the material and human resources necessary to carry out at least the function set out in the first paragraph of this Article, as well as those functions which it performs among those of an optional nature.

3. Organisations shall group a minimum of annual marketable production, as set out in Annex I.

4. Organisations must be set up at the initiative of producers, and their internal functioning will be democratic.

5. Where a producer organisation consists of milk producers of different species, the requirements for each species in relation to the minimum marketable production must be met.

6. A producer may not be a member of more than one organisation of milk producers of the same species, unless he is the holder of more than one holding, in accordance with Royal Decree 479/2004 of 26 March 2004 establishing and regulating the general of livestock holdings.

Article 4. Recognition of organizations.

1. The recognition of the organisations corresponds to the competent authority of the autonomous community where it radiates the headquarters of the effective management of the requesting entity or, where appropriate, the competent authority in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

2. The application for recognition, accompanied, at least, by the documentation specified in Annex II to this royal decree, shall be submitted in the places to be determined by the Autonomous Communities or Cities of Ceuta and Melilla. In any event, it may be filed in any of the places provided for in Article 38.4 of Law 30/1992, of 26 November, of the Legal Regime of Public Administrations and of the Common Administrative Procedure.

In accordance with the provisions of Law 11/2007 of June 22, of electronic access of citizens to public services, interested parties may submit by electronic means the documentation referred to in this real decree, having the same validity as the one presented on paper support.

3. Transnational organisations shall establish their headquarters in the Member State in which they have a significant number of members or a significant volume of marketable production. In the case where the seat is situated in Spain, the competent authority where the seat of the effective address of the requesting entity is situated shall be responsible for the recognition of the institution, giving the applicant the right to apply all aspects of the present chapter.

4. Producers who are part of a transnational producer organisation which is not based in Spain, must provide all the documentation and information required at the request of the Member State responsible for the recognition, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment's Directorate General for Agricultural Productions and Markets.

Article 5. Marketable production.

1. The volume of marketable production shall be calculated on the basis of the quantities of raw milk supplied by its members. The reference period for the calculation shall be that of the 12 months preceding the submission of the application for recognition.

This computation shall be taken into account for the purposes of the minimum marketable volume necessary for the recognition of organisations.

2. With the aim of ensuring that the competent bodies of the autonomous communities or cities of Ceuta and Melilla are responsible for the recognition of organisations, they can verify compliance with the requirements relating to marketable production The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment shall adopt the appropriate coordination and communication channels.

Article 6. Minimum period of accession.

1. The members of the institution must join the producer organisation for a minimum of two years, and if they wish to cause a discharge after the end of the period, the member's quality shall be communicated in writing in writing. set by the organization.

2. The producer organisation shall regulate by means of rules of procedure at least the following:

a) Prior notice period for low communication, of a maximum duration of six months.

b) Date of effect of the waiver, with general criteria that avoid discrimination between associates.

(c) Possible penalties for non-compliance with the minimum period of accession to the organisation, as well as for non-compliances resulting from the volume of milk committed in the mandate referred to in Article 4 (4) 14.

d) Major force causes admitted to cause low in a period less than that set out in paragraph 1 of this article.

3. Irrespective of the provisions of the previous paragraph, producers who fail to comply with the minimum period of accession laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article may not apply for discharge in another organisation for a period of one year. count from the effective date of the discharge.

4. All casualties caused by a producer organisation shall be communicated by the producer organisation to the competent authority of the autonomous community which recognised it within a maximum period of 30 working days from the time of such discharge.

Article 7. Withdrawal of recognition.

By resolution of the competent authority, the recognition shall be declared extinguished in the following cases:

(a) At the request of the institution, without prejudice to the fulfilment of the obligations and commitments arising out of its status as a producer organisation, and of the liabilities that may arise as a result of the actions carried out during the period in which the institution held the recognition.

b) When the overcome default of the recognition criteria is detected.

The verification by the Autonomous Communities or Cities of Ceuta and Melilla of the requirement relating to the minimum marketable production of the recognised organisations must be carried out on 1 April of each year, to which end The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment shall provide the appropriate collaboration.

In the event that the non-compliance with that requirement is detected, within a percentage that does not exceed 20 percent, the organization will have a period of 6 months to correct the non-compliance. After this time without the breach being remedied, the withdrawal of the recognition will be effective.

Article 8. Associations of milk producers ' organisations.

1. Associations of milk producers ' organizations shall be recognized as associations of all entities with their own legal personality, constituted by organizations recognized in accordance with the provisions of this royal decree, which so request. of the competent authority and which comply with the requirements laid down in this royal decree.

2. The recognition of the associations corresponds to the competent organ of the autonomous community where it radiates the headquarters of the effective address of the requesting entity or, where appropriate, to the competent in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

3. Transnational partnerships shall establish their headquarters in the Member State in which they have a significant number of members or a significant volume of marketable production. In the case where the seat is situated in Spain, the competent authority where the seat of the effective address of the requesting entity is situated shall be responsible for the recognition of the institution, giving the applicant the right to apply all aspects of the present chapter.

4. Producers who are part of an association which is not based in Spain, must provide all the documentation and information required at the request of the Member State responsible for the recognition, through the Directorate-General of Agricultural products and markets of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment.

Article 9. National registry of organizations and associations of milk producers ' organizations.

1. The organizations and associations recognized in accordance with this royal decree shall be registered in the national register of organizations and associations of milk producers, of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment. Environment, based on information provided by the Autonomous Communities or Cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

2. The information corresponding to the recognized organizations that must be submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment by the Autonomous Communities or Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, is established by the Order ARM/3159/2011 of 11 November 2011 regulating the national registration of organisations and associations of organisations of milk producers.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment will publish on its website a list of the organizations and associations recognized, including at least the following data: registration number, name, autonomous community or city of recognition, date of recognition, marketable volume, NIF, address and telephone of the organization's headquarters.

CHAPTER III

Hiring in the dairy sector

Article 10. Compulsory subscription of contracts in the dairy sector.

1. All supplies of raw milk held in Spain from a producer to a processor shall be the subject of contracts written between the parties.

2. Also, in the event that such supply is carried out through one or more intermediaries, each stage of the sale shall be the subject of a written contract between the parties.

Article 11. Minimum contract requirements.

1. The contract shall be concluded before the supply of the raw milk is made and shall include at least the elements set out in Annex III.

2. All elements of the contract must be freely negotiated by the parties and previously known to the firm. However, contracts in which a producer or a producer group or association is involved shall have a minimum duration of one year.

3. The minimum duration of one year shall not apply in the case where the producer or a producer group or association rejects it in writing. In this case the waiver must be included in the contract itself or annexed to it in a separate document.

4. The contract may include, if agreed by the parties, a clause relating to arbitration by a monitoring committee established within the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation, in the event of differences in interpretation or performance of the contract.

5. Three copies of each contract must be signed, a copy held by each of the signatory parties, and a third copy must be sent within one month to a monitoring committee set up within the organisation. The Dairy Interprofessional, remaining in his custody. Copies of the contracts entered into must be retained for at least one year after the end of the year. These obligations shall be reflected in the contract.

6. However, in cases where the supply of raw milk is carried out by intermediate suppliers of raw milk other than cooperatives, the copy of the contract to be sent to the Monitoring Commission may be replaced by the following: periodic reports relating to supplies. This report shall include details, for each contract, of each of the minimum elements set out in Annex III to this Royal Decree. The report shall be issued at a maximum of one month and shall be sent to the Monitoring Committee within the first 15 days of the following month.

7. The monitoring committee shall ensure the confidentiality of the information contained in the contracts, and may delegate to an independent contributing entity and of accredited solvency, the custody of contracts and confidential data. corresponding.

Article 12. Exception for cooperatives.

1. In the event that a producer gives the milk to a cooperative of which he is a member, the written formalisation of an individual contract will not be necessary, provided that the statutes or agreements of the cooperative establish before it is perform the milk supply, the same items as those mentioned in the previous article.

2. In order to verify the derogation provided for in the previous paragraph, cooperatives receiving milk from their producer partners shall provide the Monitoring Commission with a copy of their statutes and/or agreements in which they are established. conditions. In addition, this document shall replace the copy of the contract in the custody of the Monitoring Committee referred to in Article 11 (6

.

3. In relation to the minimum duration of a year, it shall be deemed to be fulfilled provided that the link between the producer and the cooperative established by law covers at least that period.

Article 13. Contractual negotiations by the organizations.

1. All the terms and conditions of the contracts set out in Annex III, including the price, may be negotiated by the recognised organisations, on behalf of their members, before each of them subscribe to the contract.

2. The negotiation may be carried out by a party or by the entire production of the organization.

3. The negotiation of the terms of the contract by the producer organisation may be carried out with or without transfer of the ownership of the raw milk of the farmers to the producer organisation

4. The price negotiated by the organisation may be different when considering a part or all of the organisation's production.

Article 14. Limitations to contract negotiations by organizations.

1. The negotiation by the producer organisation will never cover a total volume of milk which is greater than 3 ' 5% of the total production of the European Union, nor will the volume produced or supplied exceed 33% of the total volume of milk. the total production of the Member State in which the milk is supplied.

2. In cases where the negotiation is carried out by an association of organisations, this percentage shall be computed in relation to the result of the aggregation of the production volumes of all the organisations involved in the negotiation. association of organizations.

3. For the determination of the volume set out in paragraph 1 of this Article, the data published by the Commission of the European Union shall be used.

4. In the event that an organisation or an association which does not carry out the placing on the market of milk through its own business structure, carries out the negotiation of the conditions for the recruitment of its members, each of the members interested in the organization's conduct of the negotiation of its milk production, it must issue a mandate to the organization to carry out such negotiation on its behalf. That mandate shall include the volume of raw milk which the producer gives to the organisation for the negotiation and the period of time for which the supply is to be made. The transferred volume shall be, unless otherwise expressed in the opposite direction, the entire volume produced by the producer in the period of time considered.

5. The producer organisation or association which does not carry out the placing on the market of milk through its own business structure may only conduct the negotiations on the terms of the contracts of those of its members. to have the command set in the previous section.

6. The producer organisation or the association shall inform the competent authority of the autonomous community or city responsible for its recognition before the start of collective bargaining of the conditions of the contracts, the volume of the the estimated raw milk covered by the negotiation, as well as the time period in which it is estimated that this volume will be supplied. Annually, before 31 January, they must report the total volume of milk that has actually been the subject of collective bargaining during the previous year.

7. Even if the thresholds referred to in paragraph 1 are not exceeded, the National Competition Commission may decide that the negotiations of the organisations or associations may not be carried out or must be reopened, if in a specific case it considers that competition may be excluded or that SMEs engaged in the processing of raw milk may be seriously harmed.

For an adequate performance of this function, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment will provide the National Competition Commission with information on this request.

In the event that the production referred to in the negotiation corresponds to more than one Member State, the Commission of the European Union shall be the authority with that capacity.

8. Raw milk subject to a supply obligation arising from the membership of a farmer to a cooperative may not be the subject of collective bargaining by a producer organisation other than that which it constitutes or which is part of the cooperative itself, if any. To this end, a mechanism shall be established in the register provided for in Article 9 of this royal decree to prevent such situations from occurring.

9. The provisions of this article will also apply to associations.

Article 15. Limitations on the marketing of milk.

1. The placing on the market of raw milk in Spain which is not subject to the signature of a contract under the conditions laid down in Articles 10, 11 and 12 is expressly prohibited.

Likewise, both the placing on the market of milk that has not been acquired by the formalization of a contract, and the placing on the market of dairy products made in Spain from raw milk that have not been acquired has not been acquired by the formalization of a contract.

2. For the purpose of verifying compliance with this limitation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment and the Autonomous Communities shall establish appropriate computer crossings between the different databases available, in the the scope of the Control Plan set out in Article 24 of this royal decree.

Article 16. Duty of information.

1. The recipients of raw milk shall, by means of documentary or computer support, communicate to the database set up for this purpose by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, in collaboration with the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation, for the purposes of which it may conclude the relevant convention, the minimum data set out in Annex III to this royal decree and those which may be established by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Environment in respect of each contract subscribed by them, within a maximum of one month from the subscription of the contract.

2. To this end, the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation shall provide a model for the submission of data, as well as the description of the structure of the computer file which may be used for the submission of information and periodic reports. laid down in Article 11 (6).

3. The information sent to the database will be processed by the Dairy Interprofessional Organization, who in the event of finding anomalies in it, must communicate them to the recipient of raw milk, with the aim of (c) In the event that such anomalies are not corrected within a maximum of 15 days of their communication, the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation shall communicate them to the competent authority of the autonomous community of the recipient of the milk.

4. The information contained in the database may also be processed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment or, if appropriate, by the recognized inter-branch organization, only for statistical purposes in accordance with its regulatory regulations.

5. In no case will operators be able to access information with a degree of unbundling such that they can obtain or infer conclusions on the individual strategies and behaviours of their competitors.

The disaggregated information collected for the purposes of this article may not be used for uses other than the administrative control provided for in this standard, nor be disclosed or transferred to individual operators or to organizations or associations.

6. The competent authorities of the autonomous communities or cities of Ceuta and Melilla, will communicate annually to the Directorate General of Agricultural Productions and Markets of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, before 15 March. February of each year, the total volume of milk subject to collective bargaining during the previous year, which has been communicated to them by the organizations or the association, pursuant to Article 14 (6) of this royal decree.

CHAPTER IV

The Dairy Interprofessional Organization

Article 17. Purposes of the Dairy Interprofessional Organization.

In accordance with Article 3 of Law 38/1994 of 30 December 1994 and Article 123 (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007, the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation shall develop one or more of the following: several of the following purposes:

(a) Carry out actions that enable better knowledge, greater efficiency and greater transparency of production and markets through the publication of statistical data on prices, volumes and duration of contracts concluded and provide analysis of future market developments at regional, national and international levels.

b) Improving the quality of products and all processes involved in the agri-food chain by developing methods and instruments by monitoring them from their production stage until their arrival at the end of the final consumer.

(c) Contribute to better coordination of the placing on the market of milk and milk products products, in particular through research and market research.

d) Promote and disseminate knowledge of productions, in particular through the dissemination of information and research needed to guide production towards products that are more adapted to market needs and the tastes and aspirations of consumers, especially in the field of product quality and environmental protection, and by providing adequate information to consumers.

e) To carry out actions aimed at better defence of the environment and the search for methods to limit the use of veterinary products, to improve the management of other inputs and to improve the safety of food and animal health.

f) Maintenance and development of the production potential of the dairy sector, especially through innovation, research and development to create products with added value and more attractive to the consumer.

(g) Elaboration of standard contracts compatible with Community legislation, taking into account the need to achieve a level playing field and to avoid market distortions. If these models contain market indicators, they must be objective and transparent, and in no case can they be manipulated or cover up the minimum pricing.

(h) To exercise, where appropriate, functions relating to contractual relations in the milk sector, and in particular the functions referred to in Article 11 (6) and Article 16, in accordance with the provisions of Union law European, safeguarding the enforcement of competition laws.

(i) Promotion of the consumption of milk and milk products in the internal and external markets and provision of information in this respect. Exploration of possible export markets.

j) Revising the potential of organic farming and protecting and promoting such agriculture, as well as the development of products with a designation of origin, quality labels and geographical indications, and promoting production or other environmentally friendly production methods.

Article 18. Agreements, decisions and concerted practices in the dairy sector.

Within the framework of the provisions of Article 7 of Law 38/1994 of 30 December, regulating the Agro-Food Interprofessional Organizations, which establishes that the same will be adjusted, for the adoption of their agreements, to the rules and principles laid down in Law 15/2007 of 3 July of the Defence of Competition and the provisions governing this matter in Community law; the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation (INLAC) is recognised in accordance with the the law may reach agreements, decisions and concerted practices, under the conditions which are established in this Article, which are intended to carry out the activities referred to in point (c) of Article 123 (4) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007.

No agreements, decisions or concerted practices can be reached in any case:

a) Be related to the market partition.

b) They may affect the proper functioning of the market organization.

c) They may produce distortions of competition.

d) Suppose pricing.

e) They may create discrimination or eliminate competition in relation to an important proportion of the products in question.

Article 19. Conditions for the approval of agreements, decisions and concerted practices.

1. The validity and effectiveness of the agreements, decisions and concerted practices referred to in the previous Article shall be subject to the approval of the agreements by the Commission of the European Union in the terms set out in the following paragraphs, in compliance with Article 177 a of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007.

2. The recognised Interprofessional Dairy Organisation shall notify the Commission of the European Union and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the agreements, decisions and concerted practices reached. The Commission may require from the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation the additional documentation it needs, with a period of three months from the receipt of all the documentation required to declare such agreements, decisions and practices incompatible with Union legislation.

If, on the expiry of that period, the Commission finds that the conditions for the non-application of Article 101.1 of the TFEU are not met, it may adopt a decision declaring its application, in accordance with (a) as set out in Article 117a5 (5) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007.

3. Agreements, decisions and concerted practices may not have an effect until the time limit referred to in the preceding paragraph has elapsed.

4. Where agreements, decisions and practices are of a multi-annual nature, the notification of the first year shall be valid for the following years of the agreement, and the Commission may at any time, on its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, declare its incompatibility.

CHAPTER V

Cheese offering regulation

Article 20. Measures for the regulation of the offer.

The producer organisations and the interbranch organisations recognised in application of this royal decree, and the groups of operators referred to in Article 5 (1) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 Council of 20 March on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs may request the competent authorities to lay down binding rules for the protection of the Regulation of the offer of cheeses benefiting from a protected designation of origin (in (a) or a protected geographical indication (hereinafter PGI) in accordance with points (a) and (b) of Article 2 (1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 of 20 March 2006, under the conditions laid down in the present chapter.

Article 21. Submission of the application for the adoption of measures.

1. Applications may be lodged in any of the registers referred to in Article 38.4 of Law No 30/1992 of 26 November and shall be addressed to the competent body of the autonomous community in which the effective seat of the organisation is located. in the case of DOPs and IGPs whose scope is reduced to an autonomous community, or to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment in the case of DOPs and IGPS whose scope exceeds an autonomous community, and will include the possible proposed rules for the regulation of the offer.

Applications may be submitted by electronic means, at least those whose processing corresponds to the General Administration of the State, in accordance with the provisions of Law 11/2007, of June 22, of electronic access of citizens to public services.

2. In the case of applications to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, the competent authority for the processing of these applications will be the Directorate General of Agricultural Productions and Markets. General of the Food Industry.

3. The application shall include a prior agreement between the parties in the geographical area established in accordance with Article 4 (2) (c) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 of 20 March at least between two third parties. parts of the milk producers or their representatives who assume at least two thirds of the raw milk used for the manufacture of cheeses referred to in Article 21 of this royal decree.

4. The competent authority of the autonomous community or the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment in the field of competence, if they consider it necessary, may require that the prior agreement provided for in paragraph 1 is concluded between two-thirds of the producers of that cheese representing at least two-thirds of the production of that cheese in the geographical area established in accordance with Article 4 (2) (c) of the Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 of 20 March 2006.

Article 22. Resolution of the request.

1. The competent body shall, in the light of the submitted application, decide to establish or do not take measures for the regulation of the offer, specifying the list of applicable measures included in that resolution and the period of time of application of those measures, which shall be no more than three years, which may be extended on a new application.

In the case of applications to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, the competent authority for the processing of these applications will be the Directorate General of Agricultural Productions and Markets. of the Directorate-General for Food Industry.

2. Unless otherwise provided by the relevant autonomous community, the maximum time limit for issuing and notifying the express decision shall be six months from the date on which the application has entered the register of the body responsible for its processing. After that period has elapsed without the judgment being given and the decision notified, the application shall be deemed to be an administrative silence.

3. These measures shall be communicated, where appropriate by the competent authority of the Autonomous Community to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, within three days of the signature of the decision. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment shall communicate to the Commission of the European Union all decisions given within a maximum of one week.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 126.qunequins of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of the agricultural markets and laying down provisions specific to certain agricultural products, the Commission of the European Union may at any time adopt implementing acts requiring the repeal of the measures for the regulation of the offer in cheeses contained in this Chapter if checks that the conditions laid down in Article 23 are not complied with, prevent or distort the competition in a substantial part of the internal market, undermining free trade or compromising the achievement of the objectives of Article 39 TFEU.

Article 23. Rules for the regulation of the offer.

The rules established by the competent authority to regulate the offer must meet the following requirements:

(a) They shall only regulate the supply of the product in question and shall be intended to bring the supply of such cheese into line with demand.

(b) They shall only take effect on the product concerned.

c) They will not harm the trade in products other than those affected by the rules.

(d) No transaction after the first marketing of the cheese in question shall be subject to any transaction.

e) They shall not permit the fixing of prices, including those fixed on an indicative or recommendation basis.

f) They will not block an excessive percentage of the product in question, which would otherwise be available.

g) They will not give rise to discrimination, they will be an obstacle to new market operators, nor will they adversely affect small producers.

h) They will contribute to maintaining the quality or development of the product concerned.

CHAPTER VI

Control and sanctioning regime

Article 24. Official control.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, in collaboration with the autonomous communities, will establish a plan of controls to verify the fulfillment of this royal decree, which will include, among other aspects:

a) The percentage of administrative and on-the-ground controls to be performed.

b) Guidelines for the implementation of official controls.

The controls may be performed on the milk supplier or on the milk supplier.

These checks may be compatible with any other checks carried out by the same competent authority and without prejudice to any application of the competition rules.

Article 25. Sanctioning regime.

The violations committed against the provisions of this royal decree will be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 1945/1983 of 22 June, which regulates the violations and sanctions in the field of defense (a) the consumer and agri-food production, and, where appropriate, in Law 38/1994 of 30 December, as well as in the State or regional rules of application, without prejudice to the existing rules of defence of competition, in so far as it is is applicable.

Additional disposition first. Exceptions.

The exception referred to in Article 12 will be extended to the Agrarian Transformation Societies (SAT) for the same characteristics similar to those of the cooperatives, both of which are associative formulas of the sector agriculture, which differentiates itself from traditional commercial or capital structures, directly associated with the holders of agricultural or livestock farms.

Additional provision second. Recognition of the Dairy Interprofessional Organization.

The effects of Article 123 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 on the Dairy Interprofessional Organisation recognised by Law 38/1994 of 30 December 1994 on the protection of the environment are recognised. interbranch organisations.

First transient disposition. Signed-type contracts signed.

The type-approved contracts entered into in accordance with Law 2/2000 of 7 January, regulating the type contracts for agri-food products and Royal Decree 686/2000 of 12 May, approving the Regulation of that law, and which are in force on the date of application of this royal decree, shall be deemed valid for the purposes of this legislation, provided that they meet all the requirements laid down in Chapter III.

Second transient disposition. Recognized and registered organizations and associations.

Organizations or associations recognized and registered in compliance with Royal Decree 460/2011 of April 1, which regulates the recognition of organizations of milk producers and organizations (a) Interprofessional in the milk sector and the decisions of Spain on the procurement in the milk sector in relation to the European legislation which will be modified for the milk sector by Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 will be considered as recognised and registered in compliance with this royal decree provided that they comply with the requirements set out in Chapter II.

Single repeal provision. Regulatory repeal.

The Royal Decree 460/2011 of 1 April, which regulates the recognition of milk producers ' organisations and inter-branch organisations in the milk sector, is hereby repealed and the decisions are made explicit. Spain on the procurement in the milk sector in relation to European legislation which will amend Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 for the milk sector.

Final disposition first. Amendment of Order ARM/3159/2011 of 11 November 2011 regulating the national registration of organisations and associations of organisations of milk producers.

Article 1 (g) of Order ARM/3159/2011 of 11 November 2011 governing the national registration of organisations and associations of organisations of milk producers is hereby worded as follows:

" g) NIF, REGA operating codes of the members of the organisation, date of incorporation and/or low in the organisation, and where appropriate, the volume of milk provided for collective bargaining of the contracts as well as the supply period of the that volume per species, of each member. "

Final disposition second. Competence title.

This royal decree is dictated by the provisions of Article 149.1.13ª of the Constitution, which reserves the State exclusive competence in the field of bases and coordination of the general planning of the activity. economic.

Final disposition third. Development and modification faculty.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment is empowered to adapt to the requirements of the Community legislation the annexes and the dates and deadlines of this royal decree.

Final disposition fourth. Operating expenses.

The provisions of this royal decree will not entail an increase in appropriations, salaries, allowances or other personnel costs.

Final disposition fifth. Entry into force.

This royal decree shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State", with the exception of Chapters III and V, which shall enter into force on 3 October 2012.

Given in Madrid, on September 28, 2012.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Environment, MIGUEL ARIAS CANETE

ANNEX I

Minimum marketable production

	Peninsula	Balearic Islands, Canary Islands Vaca
	tons	10,000 tons
Sheep	30,000 tons	1,000 tons
	30,000 tons	1,000 tons

(1) Includes the following quality names: Protected Geographical Indications, Protected Designation of Origin, Traditional Specialities Guaranteed, Ecological Livestock and Integrated Livestock.

ANNEX II

Minimum documentation to include in the request

1. Express authorisation to the managing body to verify the data by way of consultation of the Identity Data Verification System provided for in Article 1 (3) of Royal Decree 522/2006 of 28 April 2006, for which the contribution is deleted of photocopies of identity documents in the administrative procedures of the General Administration of the State and of its connected or pending public bodies, or in its absence, photocopy of the document.

2. Accreditation of the legal representative of the organization.

3. Evidence of the legal personality of the entity.

4. Relationship of the NIFs of the holdings and the REGA Codes of the holdings belonging to the producers of the organisation, by species.

5. Declaration of the organization regarding the individual commitments of the producers who are members of the organization for at least two years in the organization and of the low communication within the time limit set by the organization.

6. Statement of the organisation in relation to whether it performs the placing on the milk market through its own structure or not.

7. Copy of the organization's statutes.

8. Where appropriate, the organisation's statement in relation to the fact that it has the individual mandates and commitments of the member producers to engage in collective bargaining.

ANNEX III

Minimum Contract Data

1. Identification of the parties.

2. Object of the contract.

3. Price to be paid for the supply, which must:

-Be fixed and appear in the contract, or

-calculated by combining several factors established in the contract, which may include market indicators reflecting changes in market conditions, the volume provided and the quality or composition of milk raw supplied.

4. The volume to be supplied: the agreed percentage margin of tolerance will be included for both the term of the contract and for each of the subperiods defined by the contracting parties. The subperiods will never be less than one month.

5. Calendar of supplies.

6. Duration of the contract. An indefinite duration contract with a termination clause will be accepted.

7. Payment terms: time limits and procedures.

8. Collection or provisioning modes.

9. Rules applicable in case of force majeure.