PORTUGUESE GRAIN AGENCY BAN TO REMAIN - EC SOURCES
A ban by a Portuguese court on the
state buying agency EPAC taking part in cereals import tenders
open to private traders will remain unless it is reversed in
Portugal or challenged in the European Court of Justice,
European Commission sources said.
    They denied a statement yesterday by Portuguese Agriculture
Minister Alvaro Barreto that the commission had accepted that
EPAC should be eligible, saying it had taken no view in the
matter.
    Under the terms of Portugal's accession to the European
Community, a grain import monopoly held by EPAC is being
reduced by 20 pct annually until all imports are liberalised in
1990.
    Lisbon's civil court decided in a preliminary ruling
earlier this month that EPAC should not be allowed to take
part, as it had done in the past, in tenders for the
liberalised share of annual grain imports.
 REUTER
