Regulation (EEC) No 1432/88 is hereby amended as follows:
1. Article 3 is replaced by the following:
'Article 3
1. After ascertaining production as provided for in Article 4b (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 2727/75, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 28 of that Regulation, the difference between the additional co-responsibility levy paid and that resulting from the figure ascertained as referred to above shall be fixed together with the additional co-responsibility levy to be paid thereafter.
2. The competent authorities designated by the Member States shall reimburse to producers under the national provisions laid down for the purpose the difference provided for in paragraph 1 subject to proof of payment of the provisional additional levy. Such reimbursement shall be made at the end of June at the latest following the fixing referred to in paragraph 1.
However, the Member States may provide before the beginning of the marketing year that that reimbursement is to be made directly by the operators who have received the additional co-responsibility levy applicable before the fixation referred to in paragraph 1. Such reimbursement shall take place within one month after such fixing.
In that case:
- operators shall make available to the authorities referred to in the first subparagraph a list of persons to whom such reimbursements have been made,
- Member States shall take the measures required to ensure that in any event the producers obtain the reimbursement referred to in the first subparagraph within the time limit laid down therein.
3. Where Member States make the reimbursement, they may fix a minimum amount per tonne and/or per producer below which reimbursement shall not be made. Such amounts may not exceed Ecu 0,5 per tonne or Ecu 25 per producer.
4. The reimbursements provided for in paragraph 2 shall be made on the basis of the agricultural conversion rate in force at the time the additional co-responsibility levy is collected.'
2. The second subparagraph of Article 4 (1) is replaced by the following:
'The co-responsibility levies provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2727/75 shall be paid to the authorities designated for the purpose by each Member State for the transactions referred to in Article 2 (1) of this regulation according to the following timetable:
- 31 October at the latest for levies collected in respect of transactions taking place from the beginning of the marketing year to 30 September,
- 31 January at the latest for levies collected in respect of transactions taking place from 1 October to 31 December,
- 30 April at the latest for levies collected in respect of transactions taking place from 1 January to 31 March,
- 31 July at the latest for levies collected in respect of other transactions taking place during the preceding marketing year.
The additional co-responsibility levies provided for in Article 4b of Regulation (EEC) No 2727/75 shall be paid within the time limits laid down in the preceding subparagraph. However, in Member States making use of the provisions of the second subparagraph of Article 3 (2) of this Regulation the first payment shall be made at the latest on the fifteenth day following the publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities of the measure provided for in paragraph 1 of that Article.'