20.5.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L119/11 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1068/2000 of 19 May 2000 laying down detailed rules for the granting of private storage aid for long-keeping cheeses THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, (7)  The measures provided for in this Regulation are in Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 of May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products (), and in particular Article 10 thereof, Whereas: (1)  Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 provides that private storage aid may be granted for certain long- keeping cheeses where there is a serious imbalance of the market which may be eliminated or reduced by seasonal storage. (2)  The seasonal nature of Emmental and Gruyére cheese production is aggravated by the fact that the seasonal trend in consumption of such cheeses is the opposite of their production. Therefore, provision should be made for recourse to such storage in respect of a quantity corresponding to the difference between summer and winter production. (3)  The detailed rules of this measure should determine the maximum quantity to benefit from it as well as the duration of the contracts in relation to the real require- ments of the market and the keeping qualities of the cheeses in question. It is necessary to specify the terms of the storage contract so as to enable the identification of the cheese and to maintain checks on the stock in respect of which aid is granted. The aid should be fixed taking into account storage costs and the foreseeable trend of market prices. (@) In view of experience in controls, the provisions relating thereto should be specified, in particular as regards the documents to be presented and the on-the-spot checks to be conducted. These requirements on the subject make it necessary to stipulate that the Member States may provide that the costs of controls be fully or in part charged to the contractor. (5)  Article 1(1) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1756/ 93 of 30 June 1993 fixing the operative events for the agricultural conversion rate applicable to milk and milk products (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 569/1999 (), fixes the conversion rate to be applied in the framework of private storage aid schemes in the milk products sector. (6) It is appropriate to guarantee the continuation of the storage operations in question. 0] L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 48. () O] L 161, 2.7.1993, p. 48. () O] L 70, 17.3.1999, p. 12. accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Aid shall be granted in respect of the private storage of 23 000 tonnes of long-keeping (Emmental and Gruyere) cheeses manu- factured in the Community which satisfy the requirements of Articles 2 and 3 hereof. Article 2 1. The intervention agency may conclude storage contracts only if the following conditions are satisfied: (a) the batch of cheeses to which a contract relates must comprise at least 5 tonnes; (b) the cheeses shall be indelibly marked with an indication (which may take the form of a number) of the undertaking in which they were manufactured and of the day and month of manufacture; (c) the cheeses must have been manufactured at least 10 days before the date specified in the contract as being the date of commencement of storage; (d) the cheeses must have undergone quality tests which estab- lish that their classification after maturing could be expected to be: — ‘Premier choix’ Emmental, Gruyére, Beaufort Comté in France, — ‘Markenkdse’ or ‘Klasse fein’ Emmentaler/Bergkise in Germany, — ‘Special grade’ in Ireland, — T luokka’ in Finland, — ‘1. Giiteklasse Emmentaler/Bergkdse/Alpkidse’ in Austria, — ‘Visterbotten/Pristost/Svecia/Grevé’ in Sweden; () the storer shall undertake: — not, during the term of the contract, to alter the composition of the batch covered by the contract without authorisation from the intervention agency. If the condition concerning the minimum quantity fixed for each batch continues to be met, the intervention agency may authorise an alteration which is limited to the removal or replacement of cheeses which are found to have deteriorated to such an extent that they can no longer be stored.