(1)

Article 16(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1591/2001 of 2 August 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying the cotton aid scheme (3) provides that the revised production estimate for unginned cotton referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 and the resulting new provisional reduction in the guide price are to be established before 1 December of the marketing year concerned.

(2)

Article 19(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 provides that the revised production estimate is to be established taking account of the progress of the harvest. That revised estimate should therefore be fixed on the basis of data available for the 2004/2005 marketing year.

(3)

The second subparagraph of Article 14(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001 provides that from 16 December following the start of the marketing year, the amount of the advance is to be determined based on the revised production estimate, plus at least 7,5 %. In view of the most recent figures on quantities placed in supervised storage notified by the Member States in accordance with Article 15(4)(c)(i) of Regulation (EC) No 1591/2001 and of uncertainty about the situation with regard to Greek production, as a safety margin, a percentage increase of 12 % for Greece and 7,5 % for Spain and Portugal should be applied for the 2004/2005 marketing year.

(4)

The new provisional reduction in the guide price must be calculated in accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1051/2001, but replacing actual production by the revised production estimate increased as above.

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Natural Fibres,