(1)

Article 3(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 3/2008 specifies that the sectors or products which may be the subject of information and promotion actions financed in full or in part from the Community budget are to be determined bearing in mind in particular the need to tackle specific or short-term difficulties in individual sectors.

(2)

The milk and milk products sector is currently experiencing a period of acute economic difficulty which is likely to endanger the economic survival of a large number of holdings.

(3)

In this context it is appropriate to offer trade organisations in the milk and milk products sector the opportunity to benefit from Community co-financing under Regulation (EC) No 3/2008, and to that end they should be allowed to submit information and promotion programmes to the competent national authorities within the next few weeks, with a view to their selection and possible adoption by the Commission before the end of this year, thereby derogating from the annual timing for adopting programmes and the usual timetable laid down in Articles 8 and 11 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 501/2008 (2).

(4)

There is therefore reason to derogate, for information and promotion programmes for milk and milk products aimed at the internal market, and for 2009, from Article 11(1) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 501/2008.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

(a)

notwithstanding Article 11(1), first paragraph, the Member States shall send the Commission a provisional list of the programmes selected by 31 October at the latest;

(b)

notwithstanding Article 11(3), second paragraph, the Commission shall decide by 15 December at the latest which programmes it is able to co-finance.