PORTUGAL GRAIN AGENCY BARRED FROM IMPORT TENDERS

  A Portuguese court has made a
  preliminary ruling that the state grain buying agency EPAC
  should not be allowed to take part in public import tenders
  open to private importers, grain traders and officials said.
      Under the terms of Portugal's January 1986 accession to the
  European Community, EC, a grain import monopoly held by EPAC
  (Empresa Publica de Abastecimento de Cereais) is being reduced
  by 20 pct annually until all imports are liberalised in 1990.
      Private traders protested last year that EPAC was being
  permitted to take part in tenders open to them for the first
  liberalised 20 pct share of the country's annual import needs.
  The grain and oilseed importers association ACICO opened legal
  proceedings to stop EPAC participating in the public tenders.
      Miguel Ascensao of ACICO told Reuters that Lisbon's civil
  court, in a preliminary ruling, had decided EPAC should not be
  allowed to take part in tenders open to private traders.
      Trade sources said the ruling, though effective
  immediately, was subject to appeal and would have to be
  confirmed in further proceedings.
      A member of the government Cereals Market Commission said
  that, as a result of the court's decision, the Commission would
  not be able to accept offers from EPAC in a public tender being
  held today for the import of 80,000 tonnes of corn.
      Ascensao said the court ruling stated that EPAC's
  participation in the public tenders violated the clauses of
  Portugal's EC accession treaty dealing with the gradual
  dismantling of the state agency's import monopoly.
      It also said the participation of EPAC, which still
  controls the national grain storage and distribution network,
  was unfair competition to the private traders.
      Traders said they believed the EC's Executive Commission
  was unlikely to get involved in the dispute, preferring to
  leave the case to be resolved as an internal Portuguese issue.
      "They (the EC Commission) will be keeping a low profile," one
  trader said.
      ACICO says it is ready to take its case to Brussels if
  necessary.
  

