No L 191/76 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 7. 93 COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2131/93 of 28 July 1993 laying down the procedure and conditions for the sale of cereals held by intervention agencies THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organization of the market in cereals (), and in particular Article 5 thereof, Whereas cereals may be bought in by intervention agen- cies either under compulsory intervention measures as provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 or under special intervention measures as referred to in Article 6 of that Regulation ; Whereas cereals held by the intervention agencies must be sold without any discrimination between Community purchasers ; whereas in principle invitations to tender permit that objective to be achieved ; whereas, however, in certain cases it must be possible to use other methods of sale ; Whereas, to ensure that all interested parties in the Community are treated equally, notices of invitation to tender must be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities and a reasonable time must elapse between the date of such publication and the first closing date for the submission of tenders; whereas, however, such publicity is necessary for quantities of less than 2000 tonnes; Whereas sale on the internal market must take place at prices which do not disturb the market ; whereas that aim can be achieved if the selling price is equal to the local market price, account being taken of the quality put up for sale by tender, without being below a given level in relation to the intervention price ; whereas in certain cases observing such a price level may not be in the interests of sound management of the market or of the intervention arrangements and may result in disturbance in the way the market organization functions; whereas provision should therefore be made for the possibility of disposing of intervention stocks and special prices in such cases ; () OJ No L 181, 1. 7. 1992, p. 21. Whereas, in addition, the purchase on the market of cereals particularly suited to certain uses may be especi- ally difficult ; whereas provision should therefore be made for the possibility of facilitating the supply of that market from intervention stocks ; whereas, however, that possibi- lity must be restricted to exceptional cases; Whereas the sale of cereals for export must take place at prices to be determined in each case in the light of market trends and requirements ; whereas such sales must not however, lead to distortions to the detriment of exports from the open market; whereas a minimum selling price should therefore be fixed by the Commission on the basis of tenders submitted ; Whereas the minimum selling price is to be established by the Commission in the light of all the relevant data available on the day on which tenders are submitted ; whereas, in order to prevent speculation and ensure iden- tical conditions for all concerned in the invitation to tender, tenders must be accompanied by an applicatio for ‘advance fixing of the export refund; ' Whereas tenders for different lots are comparable one with another only where they relate to cereals in identical situations ; whereas cereals put up for tender are stored in different places; whereas comparability may be better ensured by reimbursing to the successful tenderer the lowest costs of transport from the place where the cereals in question are stored and the place of exit; whereas, however, for budgetary reasons, such reimbursement can only be made in respect of the place of exit which can be reached at the lowest cost; whereas that place must be determined by reference to its facilities for exporting cereals ; Whereas invitations to tender can take place properly only if those concerned submit genuine tenders ; whereas that objective can be achieved by requiring that a security be paid, to be released on payment of the selling price within the time limit laid down; Whereas, in the case of invitations to tender for export, steps must be taken to ensure that the cereals are not put back on the Community market ; whereas that risk exists if the selling price is less than the minimum price to be observed in the case of resale on the internal market; whereas provision should accordingly be made in such