Aid for cotton introduced by Protocol 4, annexed to the Act of Accession of Greece, fourth adjustment

The committee unanimously adopted the report on the proposal, adjusting for the fourth time, the system of aid for cotton introduced by protocol 4, annexed to the Act of Accession of Greece. Under the terms of Regulation 1964/87 the maximum reduction of the norm price applied to cotton, in the case of an overrun of the maximum guaranteed quantity, should have been 20% for the 1994/95 marketing year. The maximum guaranteed quantity for 1994/95 was set at 701 000t, while production amounted to 1.15mt of which 1m was in Greece and 0.15mt in Spain. The Commission proposed, therefore, that as the 1993/94 limit was 15% and in order not to cause undue hardship to farmers, an interim limit of 18.5% should be set for the 1994/95 marketing year. There was a general desire in the committee to see a Commission report on the current market situation as soon as possible, something which it had failed to do within the specified time limits. The committee rejected therefore the Commission's compromise of 18.5% and voted by a majority to maintain the current limit of 15%. The committee also called on the Commission to submit proposals as to how to modify the cotton regime so as to divide the maximum guaranteed quantity and to assign equitable quotas to each of the producer Member states. �