L 190/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 23.7.1999 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1609/1999 of 22 July 1999 laying down the detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 establishing a special framework of assistance to traditional ACP suppliers of bananas THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 of 22 April 1999 (') establishing a special framework of assistance for traditional ACP suppliers of bananas, and in particular Article 8 thereof. 1) Whereas Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 establishes, for a period not exceeding ten years, a special framework for technical and financial assistance to assist traditional ACP suppliers of bananas to adapt to new market condi- tions following the amendments made to the common organisation of the market in bananas; Whereas Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 stipulates that technical and financial assistance shall be granted to contribute to the implementation of programmes aiming to improve competitiveness in the banana sector, where improvement in the competitiveness of the banana sector is not sustainable, to support diversification; Whereas programmes submitted for financing should be consistent with the general development objectives of the traditional ACP supplier concerned; Whereas, in order to ensure such consistency as well as the relevance of these programmes with regard to the specific objectives defined by Regulation (EC) No 856/ 1999, it is necessary that these programmes be based on a coherent long term strategy: Whereas this strategy should be defined by the tradi- tional ACP supplier concerned, in consultation with the actors involved in the sector, and agreed by the Commission; Whereas, so as to ensure an integrated approach, programmes submitted for financing should take the form of annual action plans, based on the strategy agreed; Whereas Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 provides that, within the global amount available for a given year, the maximum amount available to each traditional ACP supplier for the financing of programmes aimed at increasing the competitiveness of the banana sector shall be fixed on the basis of the competitivity gap observed and taking into account the importance of banana production of the country concerned; whereas it further provides that, where only () O] L 108, 27.4.1999, p. 2. (10) programmes aimed at diversification are implemented, an amount comparable to that given to other traditional suppliers shall be allocated; Whereas detailed rules on the method of calculation of the individual country allocations should be laid down; Whereas the competitivity gap should be established for each individual traditional ACP supplier on the basis of the price differences observed at the entry into the Community market, taking into account the quantities exported to the Community; whereas, so as to avoid the impact of short-term price fluctuations, the price differ- ence to be considered should be calculated on the basis of a sufficiently long reference period immediately preceding the year of application; whereas, in order to grant a comparable treatment to all traditional ACP suppliers, irrespective of the specific objective they pursue, the average ACP price difference observed should be used in cases where exports have ceased as a consequence of diversification; whereas, in view of the economic objective of Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 to allow traditional ACP suppliers to maintain a position on the Community market equivalent to that they enjoyed before the entry into force of Council Regula- tion (EC) No 1637/98 (?), the quantities to be considered for the establishment of the competitivity gap should be those realised during the three years preceding the entry into force of that Regulation; Whereas the importance of banana production for the economy of the traditional ACP supplier concerned is best reflected by the share of the banana sector in GDP of that country; whereas the most accurate statistics in this regard are supplied by the International Monetary Fund or in their absence by UNCTAD and these statistics should therefore be used; whereas, as with regard to export quantities, the economic objective of Regulation (EC) No 856/1999 requires that the statistics to be used be those relating to the three years preceding the year of entry into force of Regulation (EC) No 1637/98, for which statistics are available; Whereas, given the fact that the basic economic factors of the banana trade vary considerably within the group of traditional ACP suppliers, the most equitable result will be achieved if both criteria relevant to the calcula- tion of the individual country allocations are equally weighted; () O] L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 28.