No L 251/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 5. 10. 79 COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2173/79 of 4 October 1979 on detailed rules of application for the disposal of beef bought in by interven- tion agencies and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 216/69 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organization of the market in beef and veal (!), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 425/77 (2), and in particular Arti- cles 7 (3) and 25 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 878/77 of 26 April 1977 on the rates of exchange to be applied in agriculture (%), as last amended by Regu- lation (EEC) No 2139/79 (4), : Whereas products bought in by intervention agencies pursuant to Articles 5 and 6 of Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 must be disposed of in such a way as to avoid disturbance of the market and to ensure equal access to the products and equal treatment of purchasers; Whereas Article 2 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 98/69 (5), provides that selling prices may be fixed in advance or determined by means of an invitation to tender ; Whereas equal access to the products and equal treat- ment of purchasers can be ensured if, when the selling price is fixed in advance, the intervention agen- cies accept applications in the order in which they are received, all applications received on any one day being treated as having been received simultaneously, until supplies are exhausted ; Whereas, where the selling price is determined by means of an invitation to tender, these principles can be respected by publishing the invitation in good time in the Official Journal of the European Communi- ties, in addition to its possible display at the offices of the intervention agency concerned and to any other national publicity ; Whereas, since the object of the tendering procedure is to obtain the best price, the award must go to the highest tender; whereas there should also be provi- sion for the case in which more than one tender is (1) OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 24. () OJ No L 61, . 3. 1977, p. 1. (%) OJ No L 106, 29. 4. 1977, p. 27. (*) OJ No L 246, 29. 9. 1979, p. 76. () O] No L 14, 21. 1. 1969, p. 2. submitted at the same price for the same quantity; whereas, however, the highest price can be accepted only if it corresponds to the actual market situation ; whereas minimum selling prices should therefore be determined, in accordance with a Community proce- dure, having due regard to the tenders received ; Whereas, to ensure efficiency in the disposal of stored products, minimum sale quantities should be laid down, varying according to the particular marketing conditions applying to each product; Whereas invitations to tender and applications must include sufficient information to allow proper identifi- cation’ of the products concerned ; Whereas the submission of an application or a tender is facilitated if prospective purchasers are permitted to inspect the products ; whereas it should consequently be provided that the parties concerned waive in advance their right to lodge any complaint in respect of the quality and characteristics of the product which may be assigned to them ; Whereas fulfilment of the obligations contracted must be guaranteed through the lodging of a security which can be partly or wholly forfeited depending on the gravity of the breaches involved ; whereas the addi- tional cost involved when a contract is only partly executed justifies complete forfeiture when less than 60 % of the quantity initially contracted for is taken over ; Whereas it should be left to Member States to adopt their own positions as to the gravity of breaches of certain subsidiary obligations included in sale contracts, having regard to their great diversity ; Whereas, so that these operations may be carried out expeditiously, it should be laid down that the rights and obligations involved in a sale contract or a tender must be exercised or fulfilled within certain time limits ; Whereas Member States should inform the Commis- sion at regular intervals of the quantities sold so that the Commission may be able to assess the progress of disposal ; ‘