21.7.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L 198/11 COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1452/2001 of 28 June 2001 introducing specific measures for certain agricultural products for the French overseas departments, amending Directive 72/462/EEC and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 525/77 and (EEC) No 3763/91 (Poseidom) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 36, 37 and Article 299(2) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament (%), Whereas: By Decision 89/687/EEC (?), the Council adopted a programme of options specific to the remote and insular nature of the French overseas departments (Poseidom) in accordance with the Community's policy of assistance for the outermost regions. The purpose of the programme is to facilitate the economic and social development of those regions and enable them to benefit from the advantages of the single market of which they are an integral part despite the objective factors leaving them geographically and economically isolated. The programme calls for the CAP to be applied in those regions and provides for special measures to be adopted. In particular, it provides for measures to improve the conditions in which agricultural products are produced and marketed in those departments and to mitigate the effects of their exceptional geographical situation and constraints as since recognised in Article 299(2) of the Treaty. The particular geographical situation of the French overseas departments (FOD) imposes additional transport costs in supplying essential products, for processing and as agricultural inputs. In addition, objective factors arising as a result of insularity and extreme remoteness impose further constraints on operators and producers in the FOD that severely handicap their activities. This is true particularly in the case of the supply of cereals, which are by and large not produced and cannot be produced on a large scale in the FOD, rendering them dependent on external sources () Opinion delivered on 14 June 2001 (not yet published in this Official Journal). () OJ L 399, 30.12.1989, p. 39. of supply. These handicaps can be alleviated by lowering the price of these essential products. It is therefore appropriate to introduce specific supply arrangements with a view to ensuring supply to the FOD from local production and to mitigating the additional costs of the remoteness, insularity and outermost location of the FOD. To that end, notwithstanding Article 23 of the Treaty, imports of the products concerned from third countries should be exempt from the applicable import duties. In order to achieve the goal of lowering prices in the FOD and mitigating the additional costs of their remoteness, insularity and outermost location while maintaining the competitiveness of Community products, aid should be granted for the supply of products of Community origin to the FOD. Such aid should take account of the additional cost of transport to the FOD and the prices applied to exports to third countries and, in the case of agricultural inputs and products intended for processing, the additional costs of insularity and outermost location. Since the quantities covered by the specific supply arrangements are limited to the supply requirements of the FOD, those arrangements do not impair the proper functioning of the internal market. In addition, the economic  advantages of the specific supply arrangements should not provoke deflections of trade in the  products  concerned.  Re-dispatching  or re-exportation of those products from the FOD should therefore be prohibited. However, trade flows between the FOD are not covered by this prohibition. Nor does it apply, where processing is concerned, subject to certain conditions, to exports to third countries to promote regional trade or to traditional consignments to the rest of the Community. The economic advantages of the specific supply arrangements should reduce production costs and be passed on to the end user. They should therefore be granted only on condition that they are actually passed on, and monitoring must be carried out to that end.