1996R1249 — EN — 04.11.2008 — 012.001

This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents

Amended by:





Corrected by:







NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of accout and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999 should be understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) and Coundil Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).









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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1249/96

of 28 June 1996

on rules of application (cereal sector import duties) for Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92







THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organization of the market in cereals ( 1 ), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 923/96 ( 2 ), and in particular Article 10 (4) thereof, Whereas Article 10 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 provides for the common customs tariff duties to be charged when the products listed in Article 1 thereof are imported; whereas however for the products listed in paragraph 2 of that Article the import duty is to be the intervention price valid at the time of importation increased by 55 % and then reduced by the cif import price applicable to the consignment; Whereas for the purposes of grading imported lots the products covered by Article 10 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 are in certain cases to be classed in several standard qualities; whereas the standard qualities to be used should therefore be determined using objective grading criteria and tolerance rates should also be set allowing products to be given the most appropriate quality grading; whereas of the possible objective quality grading criteria for common wheat, protein content, specific weight and miscellaneous impurity (Schwarzbesatz) content are those most commonly used in the trade and also the easiest to use; whereas for durum wheat these criteria are specific weight, miscellaneous impurity (Schwarzbesatz) content and vitreous grain content; whereas imported goods are accordingly to be subjected to analysis to determine these parameters for each lot imported; whereas however where the Community has established an official recognition procedure for quality certificates issued by an authority of the country of origin of the goods these analyses need be effected merely by way of verification on a sufficiently representative number of imported lots; Whereas Article 10 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 specifies that for the purposes of calculation of the import duty representative cif import prices are to be regularly established for each of the qualities defined for the products to which that paragraph refers; whereas for establishment of these prices the use must be stipulated of quotations for the several wheat qualities and for the other cereals; whereas the actual quotation sources to be used should be specified; Whereas the use of quotations for the various wheat types and for other cereals on the commodity exchanges of the United States of America will provide a basis both transparent and objective for establishing representative cif import prices; whereas addition of the commercial premium assigned on the United States market to each quality of the various cereals will allow the exchange quotation for each cereal to be converted into a fob export price from the United States; whereas by addition of sea freight costs between the Gulf of Mexico or the Great Lakes and a Community port that are quoted on the freight markets these fob prices can be converted into representative cif import prices; whereas given the volume of freight passing through and amount of trade at the port of Rotterdam this is the Community destination for which sea freight quotations are most widely known, most transparent and most easily available; whereas the port of destination to be selected for the Community should therefore be Rotterdam; Whereas, accordingly, for the sake of transparency the representative cif import prices of the cereals indicated at (a) in Article 10 (3) are to be established from commodity exchange quotations for the cereal in question plus the commercial premium assigned to the cereal and sea freight costs between the Gulf of Mexico or the Great Lakes and the port of Rotterdam; whereas however freight cost differences by port of destination justify flat rate adjustment of the import duty for Community ports located in the Mediterranean, on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula and in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Scandinavian countries; whereas the factors of calculation of the representative cif import prices so established should be monitored daily so that the trend of these prices can be followed; whereas, in the case of sorghum and rye, the representative cif import price calculated for barely allows the market situation for those two products to be estimated and consequently the representative cif import price determined for barley applies for these cereals; Whereas for the purpose of setting the import duty on the cereals indicated in Article 10 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 a period of two weeks recording of the representative cif import prices for each cereal will reflect market trends without introducing uncertainty; whereas import duties for these products can therefore be determined on the fifteenth day and the last working day of each month using the average representative cif import price recorded over two weeks; whereas the import duty thus calculated can be applied for two weeks without any appreciable distorting effect on the duty paid import price; whereas however if no exchange quotation is available during the calculation period for the representative cif import prices or if as a result of sudden changes in their components they fluctuate very substantially during the period, action must be taken to maintain a properly representative price for the product in question; whereas in the case of absence of quotations the duty amount set for the previous period should continue to be applied and in the case of large fluctuations in either the exchange quotation, the commercial premiums attached to the quotation, the sea freight costs or the rate of exchange used to calculate the representative cif import price of the product the price used for calculation of the import duty should be kept representative by means of an adjustment corresponding to the deviation from it that these changes account for; whereas even where this type of adjustment is made the timing of the next determination need not be affected; Whereas when imported cereals arrive in the Community overland, by river transport or by sea on vessels from ports in the Mediterranean, Black or Baltic Seas transport costs will be markedly lower than those used for calculation of import duties; whereas this difference should be taken into account, by a flat rate adjustment, in determination of the representative cif import prices for the products concerned; Whereas in cases where, according to the Commission's information, certain quotations or prices are not representative of the real trend of the import market in the Community for medium or low quality common wheat owing to the granting by third countries of subsidies on exportation of these products to Mediterranean basin or European countries, it must be possible for the amount of the export subsidy granted to be deducted form the representative cif import price calculated for the product; Whereas in the case of imports of very high quality common wheat, malting barley or flint maize the exchange quotation used for calculation of the representative cif import price may not, either because of the particular quality of the goods or because their price includes a quality premium over the normal price, take account of the existence of such a premium over normal market terms; whereas to take account of these quality premiums over prices or quotations importers who show that they have used the goods to make high quality products justifying the existence of such a premium should be reimbursed, at a flat rate, part of the import duty paid; Whereas in order to ensure that importers respect the provisions of this Regulation security should be required from them additional to that pertaining to licences; Whereas the Management Committee for Cereals has not issued an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:







Article 1

The Common Customs Tariff duty rates as indicated in Article 10 (1) and (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 shall be those applicable on the date stipulated by Article 67 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2913/92 ( 3 )

Article 2

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1. The import duties indicated in Article 10(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on products of CN codes 1001 10 00, 1001 90 91, ex100190 99 (high quality common wheat), 1002 00, 1005 10 90, 1005 90 00 and 1007 00 90 shall be calculated daily but fixed on the 15th day and the last working day of each month by the Commission for application from the 16th day of the month and the first day of the following month. Where the 15th is not a Commission working day the duties shall be fixed on the working day preceding the 15th of the month in question. However, if during the period of application of the duties thus fixed the average import duty calculated differs by EUR 5 per tonne or more from that fixed, the corresponding adjustment shall be made.

2. The price to be used for the calculation of the import duty shall be the daily cif representative import price determined as specified in Article 4. For each fixing, the import duty considered is the average of import duties calculated during the previous 10 working days. For fixing and adjustments, the Commission shall not take account of daily import duties used for the previous fixing.

The intervention price to be used for calculation of the duties shall be that of the month in which the import duty applies.

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3. Import duties fixed as provided for in this Regulation shall be applicable until a new fixing comes into force.

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On the occasion of each fixing or adjustment the Commission shall publish in the Official Journal of the European Communities the import duties and the data used for their calculation.

4. The Commission shall reduce the import duty by the following amounts on goods arriving via the Atlantic Ocean or the Suez Canal at the following ports of unloading:

— Mediterranean ports (beyond the Strait of Gibraltar): ECU 3 per tonne,

— Atlantic ports of the Iberian Peninsula, United Kingdom and Irish ports: ECU 2 per tonne,

— ports in Denmark, Finland and Sweden: ECU 2 per tonne.

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The customs authority at the port of unloading shall issue a certificate in accordance with the model given in Annex VI attesting the quantity of each product unloaded. For the duty reduction to be granted this must accompany the goods until completion of the customs import formalities.

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5. Import duties shall be reduced by EUR 24 per tonne on flint maize meeting the specifications laid down in Annex I. In order to benefit from this reduction, flint maize must be processed into a product of CN codes 1904 10 10, 1103 13 or 1104 23 within six months from the date of entry for free circulation. The end-use provisions of Article 82 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 ( 4 ) and Articles 291 to 300 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2454/93 ( 5 ) shall apply.

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Notwithstanding Article 293(1)(e) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, the importer shall lodge with the competent authority an additional security of EUR 24 per tonne for flint maize, except where an import licence is accompanied by a certificate of conformity issued by the Argentine Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (Senasa) mentioned in Article 6(1) of this Regulation. In such cases, the type of certificate of conformity and its number shall be entered in box 24 of the import licence application and import licence itself.

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If however the duty applicable on the date of the acceptance of the customs declaration of release for free circulation is less than EUR 24 per tonne for maize, the security shall be equal to the duty amount.

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Article 2a

1. In the case of imports of flint maize of CN code 1005 90 00 into the Community for which import licence applications were made between 1 July 1996 and the date of entry into force of this Regulation and on which a duty reduction of ECU 8 per tonne was granted, payment shall be made, at the request of the importer or his agent, of the difference between the import duty paid on the quantities actually imported and the amount due had a reduction of ECU 14 per tonne been applied.

2. On request by the party concerned the competent authority of the Member State that issued the import licence shall, in accordance with Article 880 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93, issue a certificate, taking the form shown in Annex III, specifying the quantity on which part repayment of the duty as referred to in paragraph 1 may be made.

3. Applications for repayment supported by the certificate referred to in paragraph 2 and the evidence of specific final use referred to in Article 2 (5) (c) must be presented within 30 days of the date of entry into force of this Regulation. They must be accompanied by the import licence, the certificate referred to in paragraph 2 and the declaration of entry for free circulation of the cereals in question.

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Article 3

The quality standards to be met on importation into the Community and the tolerances allowed shall be those shown in Annex I.

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Article 4

1. For common wheat of high quality, durum wheat, maize and the other feed grains referred to in Article 2(1), the components determining the representative cif import prices indicated in Article 10(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1766/92 shall be:

(a) the representative exchange quotation on the market of the United States of America;

(b) the known commercial premiums and discounts attached to this quotation in the United States market on the quotation day and in particular, in the case of durum wheat, attached to the meal quality;

(c) sea freight and associated costs between the United States (Gulf of Mexico or Duluth) and the port of Rotterdam for a vessel of at least 25 000 tonnes.

2. The Commission shall record each working day:

(a) the component referred to in point (a) of paragraph 1 from the exchanges and using the reference qualities shown in Annex II;

(b) components referred to in points (b) and (c) of paragraph 1 from publicly available information.

3. With a view to calculating the component referred to in point (b) of paragraph 1 or the relevant fob quotation, the following premiums and discounts apply:

— premium of EUR 14 per tonne for high quality common wheat,

— discount of EUR 10 per tonne for medium quality durum wheat,

— discount of EUR 30 per tonne for low quality durum wheat.

4. The representative cif import prices for durum wheat, high quality common wheat and maize shall be the sum of the components referred to in points (a), (b) and (c) of paragraph 1. The representative cif import prices for rye and sorghum shall be calculated using the barley quotations in the United States, according to the provisions of Annex II.

5. The representative cif import prices for common wheat seed of CN code 1001 90 91 and maize seed of CN code 1005 10 90 shall be those calculated for high quality common wheat and maize respectively.

Article 5

1. Import licence applications for high quality common wheat shall be valid only if the applicant:

(a) enters the quality to be imported in box 20 of the import licence;

(b) gives a written commitment to lodge with the relevant competent body on the date of acceptance of the declaration of release for free circulation a specific security additional to those required under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1162/95 ( 6 ).

The additional security referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph, shall be EUR 95 per tonne. However, in cases where the import licence is to be accompanied by certificates of conformity issued by the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) and by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) as referred to in Article 6, no additional security is required. ►M11 In such cases, the type of certificate of conformity and its number shall be entered in box 24 of the import licence application and import licence itself. ◄

2. Import licence applications for durum wheat shall be valid only if the applicant:

(a) enters the quality to be imported in box 20 of the import licence;

(b) gives a written commitment to lodge with the relevant competent body on the day of the acceptance of the declaration of release for free circulation a specific security additional to those required under Regulation (EC) No 1162/95, if the import duty on the quality shown in box 20 is not the highest duty for the product category in question.

The amount of the additional security referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph shall be the difference on the day of the acceptance of the declaration of release for free circulation between the highest duty and that applicable to the quality shown, plus a supplement of EUR 5 per tonne. However, where the import duty applicable to the different qualities of durum wheat is zero, the commitment referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph shall not be required.

Where the import licence is to be accompanied by certificates of conformity issued by the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) and by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) as referred to in Article 6, no additional security is required. In this case, the import licence shall contain in box 24 the mention of the type of certificate of conformity.

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3. Where customs duties for all quality categories of common wheat have been suspended under Article 187 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, the additional security of EUR 95 per tonne referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be required for the entire period in which the duties are suspended.

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Article 6

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1. The customs office of release for free circulation shall take representative samples, in accordance with the Annex to Commission Directive 76/371/EEC ( 7 ), of every consignment of durum wheat, high quality common wheat and of flint maize. However, sampling shall not take place where the import duty for the different qualities is the same.

If, however, the Commission officially recognises a quality certificate for common wheat, durum wheat or flint maize issued by the country of origin of the cereals, samples shall be taken for verification of the certified quality only from a sufficiently representative number of consignments.

1a. The following certificates of conformity shall be officially recognised by the Commission pursuant to the principles laid down in Articles 63 to 65 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93:

— certificates issued by the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria (Senasa) of Argentina for flint maize,

— certificates issued by the Federal Grains Inspection Service (FGIS) of the United States of America for high quality common wheat and high quality durum wheat,

— certificates issued by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) of Canada for high quality common wheat and high quality durum wheat.

A blank specimen of the certificates of conformity issued by Senasa is given in Annex IV. Reproduction of the stamps authorised by the Argentine government shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Blank specimens of the certificates of conformity and stamps issued by the FGIS are given in Annex IVa.

Blank specimens of the certificates of conformity, export grade specifications and stamps issued by the CGC are given in Annex IVb.

When the analytical parameters entered in the certificates of conformity issued by the entities referred to in the first subparagraph show conformity with the common wheat, durum wheat and flint maize quality standards given in Annex I of the present Regulation, samples shall be taken of at least 3 % of the cargoes arriving at each entry port during the marketing year.

The goods shall be classed in the standard quality for which all the requirements indicated in Annex I are met.

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2. The standard methods for the determinations referred to in paragraph 1 shall be those given in Commission Regulations (EEC) Nos 1908/84 ( 8 ) and 2731/75.

Flint maize is maize of the species Zea mays indurata the grains of which present a dominantly vitreous endosperm (hard or horny texture). They are generally orange or red. The upper part (opposite the germ), or crown, shows no fissure.

Vitreous grains of flint maize are defined as grains meeting two criteria:

— their crown shows no fissure,

— when cut lengthwise their endosperm shows a central mealy part completely surrounded by a horny part. The horny part must account for the dominant part of the total cut surface.

The vitreous grain percentage shall be established by counting in a representative sample of 100 grains the number meeting these criteria.

The reference method for determining the flotation index is given in Annex V.

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3. If the analysis results show the imported common wheat, durum wheat and flint maize to be of a lower standard quality than entered on the import licence the importer shall pay the difference between the import duty applicable to the product shown on the licence and that on the product actually imported. In this case, the security for the import licence referred to in Article 10(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1162/95 and the additional security referred to in Articles 2(5), 5(1) and 5(2) to this Regulation shall be released, except for the EUR 5 supplement provided for in Article 5(2).

If the difference referred to in the first subparagraph is not paid within one month the security indicated in Article 2(5) and Article 5(1) and (2) shall be forfeit.

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4. Representative samples of imported cereals taken by the competent authority of the Member State shall be retained for six months.

Article 7

The provisions of this Regulation shall apply to import licences issued before 1 July 1996 that are used after that date.

Article 8

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 1996.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

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ANNEX I

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Classification standards for imported products (on the basis of a moisture content of 12 % by weight or equivalent) ProductCN codeQuality (2) Common wheat and spelt (1) excluding meslin Durum wheat Flint maize Maize other than flint Other grains 1001 90 1001 10 1005 90 00 1005 10 90 and 1005 90 00 1002, 1003 and 1007 00 90 High Medium Low High Medium Low 1. Minimum protein percentage 14,0 11,5 — — — — — — — 2. Minimum specific weight kg/hl 77,0 74,0 — 76,0 76,0 — 76,0 — — 3. Maximum impurity percentage (Schwarzbesatz) 1,5 1,5 — 1,5 1,5 — — — — 4. Minimum vitreous grain percentage — — — 75,0 62,0 — 95,0 — — 5. Maximum flotation index — — — — — — 25,0 — — (1) Including husked spelt. (2) The methods of analysis laid down in Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 824/2000 (OJ L 100, 20.4.2000, p. 31) are applicable.

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Tolerances Permitted tolerance Common/durum wheat Flint maize Protein percentage -0,7 — Specific weight -0,5 -0,5 Impurity percentage +0,5 — Vitreous grain percentage -2,0 -3,0 Flotation index — +1,0

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ANNEX II

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Quotation exchanges and reference varieties Product Common wheat Durum wheat Maize Other feed grains Standard quality High Medium Low Reference variety (type/grade) for exchange quotation) Hard Red Spring No 2 Hard Red Winter No 2 Soft Red Winter No 2 Hard Amber Durum No 2 Yellow Corn No 3 US Barley No 2 Quotation exchange Minneapolis Grain Exchange Kansas City Board of Trade Chicago Board of Trade Minneapolis Grain Exchange (1) Chicago Board of Trade Minneapolis Grain Exchange (2) (1) Where no quotation is available that can be used to calculate a respresentative cif import price, fob quotations publicly available in the USA will be used. (2) ►M8 Where no quotation is available that can be used to calculate a representative cif import price, the most representative fob quotations publicly available in the United States of America shall be used. ◄

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ANNEX III









ANNEX IV

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ANNEX IVa

BLANK CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMITY AUTHORISED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR COMMON WHEAT

BLANK CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMITY AUTHORISED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR DURUM WHEAT









ANNEX IVb

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BLANK CERTIFICATE OF CONFORMITY AUTHORISED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA FOR COMMON AND DURUM WHEAT AND EXPORT GRADE SPECIFICATIONS

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Export grade specifications for Canadian common and durum wheat







COMMON WHEAT Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) Test weight Total foreign material including other cereal grains No 1 CWRS (Min.) 79,0 kg/hL (Max.) 0,4 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 2 CWRS (Min.) 77,5 kg/hL (Max.) 0,75 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 3 CWRS (Min.) 76,5 kg/hL (Max.) 1,25 % including 0,2 % other seeds







Canada Western Extra Strong Red Spring (CWES) Test weight Total foreign material including other cereal grains No 1 CWES (Min.) 78,0 kg/hL (Max.) 0,75 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 2 CWES (Min.) 76,0 kg/hL (Max.) 1,5 % including 0,2 % other seeds







Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) Test weight Total foreign material including other cereal grains No 1 CPSR (Min.) 77,0 kg/hL (Max.) 0,75 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 2 CPSR (Min.) 75,0 kg/hL (Max.) 1,5 % including 0,2 % other seeds







Canada Prairie Spring White (CPSW) Test weight Total foreign material including other cereal grains No 1 CPSW (Min.) 77,0 kg/hL (Max.) 0,75 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 2 CPSW (Min.) 75,0 kg/hL (Max.) 1,5 % including 0,2 % other seeds







Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) Test weight Total foreign material including other cereal grains No 1 CWRW (Min.) 78,0 kg/hL (Max.) 1,0 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 2 CWRW (Min.) 74,0 kg/hL (Max.) 2,0 % including 0,2 % other seeds







Canada Western Soft White Spring (CWSWS) Test weight Total foreign material including other cereal grains No 1 CWSWS (Min.) 78,0 kg/hL (Max.) 0,75 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 2 CWSWS (Min.) 75,5 kg/hL (Max.) 1,0 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 3 CWSWS (Min.) 75,0 kg/hL (Max.) 1,5 % including 0,2 % other seeds







DURUM Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) Test weight Total foreign material including other cereal grains No 1 CWAD (Min.) 80,0 kg/hL (Max.) 0,5 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 2 CWAD (Min.) 79,5 kg/hL (Max.) 0,8 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 3 CWAD (Min.) 78,0 kg/hL (Max.) 1,0 % including 0,2 % other seeds No 4 CWAD (Min.) 75,0 kg/hL (Max.) 3,0 % including 0,2 % other seeds

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ANNEX V

STANDARD METHOD FOR DETERMINING FLOTATION INDEX (ARTICLE 6(2))

Prepare an aqueous solution of sodium nitrate of specific weight 1,25 and conserve it at 35 °C.

Place in the solution 100 grains of maize from a representative sample of maximum moisture content 14,5 %.

Shake the solution at 30 second intervals for five minutes to eliminate air bubbles.

Separate the floating from the submerged grains and count them.

Flotation index for trial =

Repeat five times.

The flotation index is the arithmetic mean for the five trials excluding the two extreme values.

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ANNEX VI