A departure from the practice, as applied in Spain, that the maximum levy reduction is set by the Commission was the compromise concluded in the Council in December 1993 with Portugal (10) whereby the 250 000 tonnes of maize purchased directly by INGA, the Portuguese intervention agency, on the world market were permitted to be sold on the domestic market at the intervention price. In the years 1994 to 1995, INGA purchased half of the Portuguese import quota of maize which was in total 500 000 tonnes, directly on the world market. These purchases were treated as intervention measures and the resulting expenditure is met from Community funds. These imports are sold on the Portuguese market at the ruling intervention price which is substantially lower than the open-market price, while the reduced import levy is paid by INGA.
