THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community;

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2142/70 ( 1 ) of 20 October 1970 on the common organization of the market in fishery products, as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1555/74 ( 2 ), and in particular Article 18a (5) thereof;

Whereas Article 18a (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2142/70 provides that reference prices for carp may be fixed before the beginning of each marketing year; whereas these prices may be fixed at different levels for periods to be specified within each marketing year according to seasonal fluctuations in prices;

Whereas Article 18a (2) provides that reference prices shall be fixed on the basis of the average of the production prices recorded in representative Community production zones, during the three years preceding the date on which the reference price is fixed, for a product defined by its commercial characteristics; whereas the terms ‘carp’, ‘representative production zone’ and ‘production price’ should be defined for the purposes of this Regulation;

Whereas only live carp weighing not less than 800 grammes are of commercial significance; whereas Article 18a as aforesaid should therefore be limited to such products;

Whereas carp breeding in the Community is very dispersed; whereas on this account an area representing 15% of Community production should be regarded as a representative production zone;

Whereas production prices in representative production zones differ within each marketing year;

whereas from 16 November these prices tend to fall, and whereas the marketing year should therefore be subdivided accordingly;

Whereas paragraph 3 of the aforesaid provides for the fixing of a compensatory tax if the free-at-frontier price of a normal commercial quantity of carp coming from a specified place is lower than the reference price; whereas a quantity of at least 1 000 kg of carp may be considered a normal commercial quantity;

Whereas, in order that free-at-frontier prices may be determined as accurately as possible, the information to be taken into consideration must be specified; whereas this means, apart from the prices shown in customs and trade documents, any information concerning prices applied by third countries;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the Opinion of the Management Committee for Fishery Products,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

— from 1 August to 30 November,

— from 1 December to 31 December,

— from 1 January to 31 July.