19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/1

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 3223/94 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in the Annex thereto.

(2)

In compliance with the above criteria, the standard import values must be fixed at the levels set out in the Annex to this Regulation,

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/3

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 2340/2002 of 16 December 2002 fixing for 2003 and 2004 the fishing opportunities for deep-sea fish stocks (2) lays down quotas for ling for 2004.

(2)

In order to ensure compliance with the provisions relating to the quantity limits on catches of stocks subject to quotas, the Commission must fix the date by which catches made by vessels flying the flag of a Member State are deemed to have exhausted the quota allocated.

(3)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of ling in the waters of ICES subarea V (EC waters and waters not subject to the sovereignty or jurisdiction of third countries) by vessels flying the flag of the United Kingdom or registered in the United Kingdom have exhausted the quota for 2004. Portugal has prohibited fishing for this stock from 12 July 2004. This date should be adopted in this Regulation also,

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/4

(1)

Practical experience has shown that it is necessary to improve further the implementation of the information and promotion regime for the internal market as provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No 94/2002 (2).

(2)

Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 94/2002 provides for the list of the competent national authorities for the application of that Regulation. It is necessary to provide for a more flexible way of listing the competent authority or authorities designated by each Member State and contact details related thereto, so as to ensure that this information can be made available in a continuously updated list made available to all interested parties via the internet.

(3)

In order to evaluate and compare proposals of information and promotion programmes these proposals should be submitted according to a single format in all Member States.

(4)

In order to avoid the risk of double financing, information and promotion actions which are supported under Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 of 17 May 1999 on support for rural development from the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund (EAGGF) and amending and repealing certain Regulations (3), should not be eligible for support under Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000.

(5)

Practical experience has shown that the periods for Member States to conclude contracts with the selected professional or interprofessional organisations are too short, in particular in case where several such organisations in more than one Member State are involved. Those periods need therefore to be prolonged.

(6)

The use of model contracts ensures that in all Member States the selected programmes are carried out under the same conditions. Where necessary, Member States should however be permitted to vary certain terms of the contracts in order to take account of national rules.

(7)

It should be clarified that for multi-annual programmes an internal report should be submitted after completion of each annual phase, even in cases where no application for payment is made.

(8)

Practical experience has shown that the current requirements for circulation, four times a year, of quarterly reports between Member States and the Commission are too cumbersome. The Member States should be obliged to circulate those reports only twice a year.

(9)

The interest rate to be paid by the beneficiary of an undue payment should be aligned with the interest rate for amounts receivable not repaid on the due date established in Article 86 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (4).

(10)

Regulation (EC) No 94/2002 should be amended accordingly.

(11)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion delivered at the joint meeting of the management committees on agricultural product promotion,

1.

in Article 3, the second paragraph is deleted;

2.

the following Article 3a is inserted:

‘Article 3a

Member States shall designate the competent authority or authorities for the application of Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000. They shall inform the Commission of the names and all contact details of the designated authority or authorities, as well as of any changes to this information. The Commission shall make this information publicly available in an appropriate form.’

3.

in Article 5(1) the following subparagraph is added:

‘The programmes shall be submitted in a form drawn up by the Commission and supplied to the Member States.’

4.

in Article 9, the following paragraph 3 is added:

‘3.   Information and promotion activities which are supported under Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999 (5) shall not qualify for support under Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000.

5.

in Article 10, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:

‘1.   As soon as the final list, referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 6(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000, of programmes selected by the Member States has been drawn up, the individual organisations concerned shall be informed by the Member States whether or not their applications have been accepted. The Member States shall conclude contracts with the selected organisations within 60 calendar days of notification of the Commission decision. In case of programmes jointly presented by several professional or interprofessional organisations in more than one Member State, contracts shall be concluded within 90 calendar days. Beyond that deadline, no contracts may be concluded without prior authorisation from the Commission.

2.   The Member States shall use model contracts supplied by the Commission. Where necessary, Member States may vary certain terms of the model contracts to take into account national rules but only to the extent that Community law is not prejudiced.’

6.

Article 12 is amended as follows:

7.

in Article 14(1), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The interest rate to be used shall be that applied by the European Central Bank to its principal financial operations in euro, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, in force on the first calendar day of the month in which the due date falls, increased by three and a half percentage points.’

8.

Annex II is deleted.

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/7

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 provides that any interested party may request that a judgment issued in one Member State shall be recognised and declared enforceable in another Member State.

(2)

Annexes I, II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 indicate which courts shall have jurisdiction in the Member States to deal with applications for a declaration of enforceability and with appeals against such decisions, and enumerate the redress procedures for such purpose.

(3)

Annexes I, II and III were amended by the 2003 Act of Accession so as to include the list of competent courts and redress procedures of the acceding States.

(4)

Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia have notified the Commission, pursuant to Article 44(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000, of amendments to the lists of courts and redress procedures set out in Annexes I, II and III.

(5)

Regulation (EC) No 1347/2000 should therefore be amended accordingly,

1.

Annex I is amended as follows:

2.

Annex II is amended as follows:

3.

Annex III is amended as follows:

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/9

(1)

In accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003, rye is excluded from the intervention system from the marketing year 2004/05.

(2)

The intervention centres are set out in a table in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2273/93 (2). The column concerning rye of that table should therefore be deleted. Moreover, certain Member States have submitted requests to make amendments to some of those centres.

(3)

Regulation (EEC) No 2273/93 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

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

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/11

(1)

Practical experience has shown that it is necessary to improve further the implementation of the information and promotion regime for third countries market as provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No 2879/2000 (2).

(2)

It is necessary to provide that each Member State designates the competent authority or authorities for the application of Regulation (EC) No 2702/1999. Member States should inform the Commission of the names and contact details of these authorities, so as to ensure that this information can be made available in a continuously updated list, made available to all interested parties via the internet.

(3)

In order to evaluate and compare proposals of information and promotion programmes these proposals should be submitted according to a single format in all Member States.

(4)

Practical experience has shown that the periods for Member States to conclude contracts with the selected professional or interprofessional organisations are too short, in particular in case where several such organisations in more than one Member State are involved. Those periods need therefore to be prolonged.

(5)

The use of model contracts ensures that in all Member States the selected programmes are carried out under the same conditions. Where necessary, Member States should however be permitted to vary certain terms of the contracts in order to take account of national rules.

(6)

It should be clarified that for multiannual programmes an internal report should be submitted after completion of each annual phase, even in cases where no application for payment is made.

(7)

Practical experience has shown that the current requirements for circulation, four times a year, of quarterly reports between Member States and the Commission are too cumbersome. The Member States should be obliged to circulate those reports only twice a year.

(8)

The interest rate to be paid by the beneficiary of an undue payment should be aligned with the interest rate for amounts receivable not repaid on the due date established in Article 86 of Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (3).

(9)

Regulation (EC) No 2879/2000 should be amended accordingly.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion delivered at the joint meeting of the management committees on agricultural product promotion,

1.

the following Article 3a is inserted:

‘Article 3a

Member States shall designate the competent authority or authorities for the application of Regulation (EC) No 2702/1999. They shall inform the Commission of the names and all contact details of the designated authority or authorities, as well as of any changes to this information. The Commission shall make this information publicly available in an appropriate form.’;

2.

in Article 7(1), the following subparagraph is added:

‘The programmes shall be submitted in a form drawn up by the Commission and supplied to the Member States.’;

3.

in Article 11, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.   The Member States shall conclude contracts with the selected organisations within 60 calendar days of notification of the Commission decision. In case of programmes jointly presented by several professional or interprofessional organisations in more than one Member State, contracts shall be concluded within 90 calendar days. Beyond that deadline, no contracts may be concluded without prior authorisation from the Commission.

The Member States shall use model contracts supplied by the Commission. Where necessary, Member States may vary certain terms of the model contracts to take into account national rules but only to the extent that Community law is not prejudiced.’;

4.

Article 13 is amended as follows:

5.

In Article 15(1), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

‘The interest rate to be used shall be that applied by the European Central Bank to its principal financial operations in euro, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, in force on the first calendar day of the month in which the due date falls, increased by three-and-a-half percentage points.’

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/13

(1)

Under Article 5 of Regulation No 136/66/EEC the unit production aid must be adjusted in each Member State where actual production exceeds the guaranteed national quantity referred to in paragraph 3 of that Article. In assessing the extent of the overrun, account should be taken, in the case of Greece, Spain, France, Italy and Portugal, of the estimates for the production of table olives expressed as olive-oil equivalent using the relevant coefficients referred to, for Greece, in Commission Decision 2001/649/EC (3), for Spain, in Commission Decision 2001/650/EC (4), for France, in Commission Decision 2001/648/EC (5), for Italy, in Commission Decision 2001/658/EC (6) and, for Portugal, in Commission Decision 2001/670/EC (7).

(2)

Article 17a(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2261/84 provides that in order to determine the unit amount of the production aid for olive oil that can be paid in advance, the estimated production for the marketing year concerned should be determined. That amount must be fixed at a level that avoids any risk of unwarranted payment to olive growers. The amount also applies to table olives, expressed as olive-oil equivalent.

(3)

In order to establish the estimated production, Member States must forward to the Commission data for the olive oil and, where appropriate, table olive production estimates for each marketing year. The Commission may use other sources of information. On the basis of that data, the estimated production of olive oil and table olives, expressed as olive-oil equivalent, should be fixed for each Member State.

(4)

In determining the amount of the advance, account must be taken of the amounts withheld for measures to improve the quality of olive oil and table olive production provided for in Article 5(9) of Regulation No 136/66/EEC and Article 4a(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1638/98 (8).

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Oils and Fats,

—

343 356 tonnes for Greece,

—

1 591 330 tonnes for Spain,

—

3 335 tonnes for France,

—

741 956 tonnes for Italy,

—

34 473 tonnes for Portugal.

—

13 000 tonnes for Greece, using a coefficient of equivalence of 13 %,

—

65 994 tonnes for Spain, using a coefficient of equivalence of 11,5 %,

—

167 tonnes for France, using a coefficient of equivalence of 13 %,

—

1 829 tonnes for Italy, using a coefficient of equivalence of 13 %,

—

787 tonnes for Portugal, using a coefficient of equivalence of 11,5 %.

—

EUR 117,36 per 100 kilograms for Greece,

—

EUR 56,62 per 100 kilograms for Spain,

—

EUR 117,21 per 100 kilograms for France,

—

EUR 86,26 per 100 kilograms for Italy,

—

EUR 117,36 per 100 kilograms for Portugal.

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/15

(1)

Article 18 of Regulation (EEC) No 2261/84 stipulates that olive yields and oil yields are to be fixed by homogenous production zones on the basis of the figures supplied by producer Member States.

(2)

The production zones are delimited in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2138/97 (3). For administrative and structural reasons the homogeneous production zones in Greece, Spain and Italy should be amended for the 2003/04 marketing year.

(3)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Oils and Fats,

1.

in point A the parts relating to the provinces of Brescia, Perugia, Lecce, Catanzaro and Messina are replaced respectively by the texts in the Annex to this Regulation.

2.

point C is amended as follows:

3.

in point D, under the heading ‘Comunidad autónoma: Aragón’, the municipality of La Portellada is added to zone 4 of the province of Teruel.

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/18

(1)

Article 36 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 of 22 December 1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 as regards the premium scheme, production quotas and the specific aid to be granted to producer groups in the raw tobacco sector (2) set the amounts payable to producers whose quotas were bought under the quota buy-back programme during the 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 harvests.

(2)

The planned objectives of rationalising production should be pursued since producers are continuing to have difficulty in selling their production of certain groups of tobacco varieties and/or can secure only extremely low prices for those varieties.

(3)

For quotas under the 2004 harvest, the buy-back price should be fixed on the basis of the minimum level of aid which the farmer can receive under the direct payment scheme set up by Council Regulation (EC) No 1782/2003 of 29 September 2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers (3). Moreover, with a view to the implementation of the single payment scheme, the payment period for the buy-back price should be kept to a minimum.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 should be amended accordingly.

(5)

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

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/19

(1)

The Community rules applied by Andorra provide for the use of information technology and computer networks for the purposes of applying some provisions, and in particular those concerning Community transit.

(2)

The use of such technologies, in particular the new computerised transit system (NCTS), requires the use of the CCN/CSI developed by the Community.

(3)

The Community should authorise the extension of CCN/CSI to Andorra to allow implementation of the provisions of the Agreement establishing customs union between the European Economic Community and Andorra.

(4)

The practical rules and procedures for this extension and the commitments of the Community and Andorra in this connection should also be laid down,

19.10.2004   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 318/21

(1)

From 1 May 2004, products of animal origin obtained in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (the new Member States), had to be placed on the market in compliance with the relevant Community rules in particular as regards the structure of and hygiene in establishments and the control and the health marking of the products.

(2)

Certain of those products of animal origin obtained in the new Member States before the date of Accession were in stock at that date. However, those products of animal origin may not comply with all the Community veterinary requirements.

(3)

Commission Decision 2004/280/EC of 19 March 2004 laying down transitional measures for the marketing of certain products of animal origin obtained in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia (1) entered into force on 1 May 2004.

(4)

Decision 2004/280/EC authorises, until 31 December 2004, the placing on the market in the new Member State of origin, of products referred to in that Decision, provided that they bear the national mark prescribed in that new Member State before 1 May 2004 for products of animal origin fit for human consumption.

(5)

Decision 2004/280/EC authorises, until 31 August 2004, the trade in products referred to in that Decision which are obtained in establishments authorised to export to the Community.

(6)

Decision 2004/280/EC authorises, until 31 December 2004, the use of stocks of preprinted wrapping and packaging material and labels bearing the mark prescribed in the new Member State of origin before 1 May 2004 for products of animal origin fit for human consumption, for the placing on the domestic market as provided for in that Decision.

(7)

The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland have indicated that certain products of animal origin with a long shelf life, and which do not present a risk to consumers, are still in stock and will not have been sold by 31 December 2004. It is appropriate therefore to further extend the time limits provided for in Decision 2004/280/EC.

(8)

On 15 July 2004 the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health was consulted and no Member State was opposed to the possible extension of the time limits provided for in Decision 2004/280/EC.

(9)

Decision 2004/280/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

(a)

In Article 2(1), the date ‘31 December 2004’ is replaced by the date ‘30 April 2005’.

(b)

In the introductory phrase of Article 3, the date ‘31 August 2004’ is replaced by the date ‘30 April 2005’.

(c)

In Article 4, the date ‘31 December 2004’ is replaced by the date ‘30 April 2005’.