Article 23
Approval of purchasers 1. To be able to buy milk from producers and to operate in the territory of a Member State, purchasers must be approved by that Member State. 2. Without prejudice to stricter rules laid down by the Member State concerned, purchasers shall be approved only where they: (a) provide proof of their status as dealers under national provisions; (b) have premises in the Member State concerned where the stock records, registers and other documents referred to in Article 24(2) may be consulted by the competent authority; (c) undertake to keep up to date the stock records, registers and other documents referred to in Article 24(2); (d) undertake to forward the statements and declarations provided for in Article 8(2) to the competent authority of the Member State concerned at least once a year. 3. Without prejudice to the penalties laid down by the Member State concerned, approval shall be withdrawn where the conditions laid down in paragraph 2(a) and (b) are no longer met. Where it is found that a purchaser has forwarded an incorrect statement or declaration, or has failed to comply with the undertaking referred to in paragraph 2(c) or has repeatedly failed to comply with any other obligation imposed under Regulation (EC) No 1788/2003, this Regulation or the relevant national rules, the Member State shall either withdraw approval or require payment of an amount in proportion to the volume of milk involved and the seriousness of the irregularity. 4. Approval may be reinstated at the request of the purchaser after a period of at least six months, provided that a further thorough inspection gives satisfactory results. The penalties referred to in paragraph 3 shall not be imposed where the Member State recognises a case of force majeure or establishes that the irregularity was not committed deliberately or as a result of serious negligence, or where the irregularity is negligible in terms of the functioning of the scheme or the effectiveness of the checks.