No C 267/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 18.10. 85 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 on mutual 
assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between 
the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs or agri­
cultural matters 
COM(85) 467final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 27 September 1985) 
(85/C 267/06) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Articles 43 and 
235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par­
liament, 
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 (*) laid 
down rules according to which the administrative 
authorities of the Member States must mutually provide 
each other with assistance and cooperate with the 
Commission both to prevent and detect infringements of 
the law on customs or agricultural matters and to 
discover any activity which is or seems to be contrary 
thereto; 
Whereas experience has shown that the importance of 
combating frauds having ramifications in several Member 
States justifies the reinforcing of the scope of action of 
the Commission and the Member States in this field; 
Whereas a partial solution to these problems has been 
found concerning frauds involving certain textile 
products imported into the Community by the 
application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 616/78 (2), 
as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3626/83 (3), it 
appears desirable to now incorporate all the provisions 
affecting administrative cooperation in the fields of 
customs and agriculture into Regulation (EEC) No 
1468/81; 
Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 should, 
accordingly, be amended, 
0) OJ No L 144, 2. 6. 1981, p. 1. 
O OJ No L 84, 31. 3. 1978, p. 1. 
(») OJ No L 360, 23. 12. 1983, p. 5. Article 1 
Regulation (EEC) No 1468/81 is hereby amended as 
follows: 
1. The following Article 14 (a) is inserted: 
Article 14 (a) 
Where the competent authorities of a Member State 
become aware of cases of abuse or irregularities 
which seem to have ramifications in other Member 
States they shall pass on to the Commission as quickly 
as possbile either on their own initiative or at the 
request of the Commission all the information, par­
ticularly in the form of documents or copies or 
extracts from documents, necessary to determine the 
facts fully and to establish proof of abuses or irregu­
larities.' 
2. Article 15 is replaced by the following: 
Article 15 
The Commission shall organize meetings with the 
representatives of the Member States in order to: 
— examine, in general terms, the operation of the 
mutual assistance arrangements provided for in 
this Regulation; 
— lay down a practical procedure for forwarding the 
information referred to in Articles 14 and 14 (a); 
— examine the information sent to the Commission 
pursuant to Articles 14 and 14 (a), with a view to 
drawing the relevant conclusions, implement the 
measures required to put an end to abuses and 
irregularities found, and, where necessary, suggest 
amendments to existing Community provisions or 
the drawing up of additional ones.' 
18.10.85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 267/7 
3. The following Articles 15 (a) and 15 (b) are inserted: 
'Article 15 (a) 
The information obtained pursuant to Articles 14 and 
14 (a) may, following consultation with the competent 
authorities of the Member State which supplied it, be 
communicated to the third countries concerned in 
order to obtain from the latter the assistance required 
to ensure correct application of the law on customs or 
agricultural matters. In the event of such communi­
cation, protection equivalent to that laid down by 
Article 19 (1) shall be afforded by appropriate means. 
Article 15 (b) 
1. For the purposes of ensuring that the law on 
customs or agricultural matters is correctly applied, 
the Commission may carry out Community 
administrative and investigative missions in third 
countries in cooperation with the competent auth­
orities of the Member States. 
In response to the opinion delivered by the European 
Parliament (2) on the proposal for a Directive 
transmitted to the Council by the Commission on the 
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating 
to quick-frozen foodstuffs for human consumption and 
in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 149 
of the Treaty establishing the European Economic 
Community, the Commission has decided to amend the 
aforementioned proposal as follows: 
1. The eighth recital is replaced by the following: 
'Whereas brief upward fluctuations are necessary on 
technical grounds and may therefore be tolerated 
provided they are in accordance with good 
commercial practice and do not jeopardize the quality 
of the products.' 
2. The 11th recital is replaced by the following: 
'Whereas this Directive need merely state the 
objectives to be attained as regards both the 
(') COM(84) 489 final, 19 September 1984, OJ No C 267, 
6. 10. 1984, p. 6. 
O OJ No C 175, 15. 7. 1985, p. 292. 2. The Community missions referred to in 
paragraph 1 shall be carried out under the following 
conditions: 
(a) missions may be undertaken on the Commission's 
initiative or at the request of one or more 
Member States; 
(b) missions shall be carried out by Commission 
officials designated for that purpose and by 
experts designated for that purpose by the 
Member State(s) concerned; 
(c) mission expenses shall be paid by the Commission. 
3. The Commission shall inform the Member States 
of the results of missions carried out in pursuance of 
this Article.' 
Article 2 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day 
following its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Communities. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and 
directly applicable in all Member States. 
equipment used for the quick-frozen process and the 
temperatures to be adhered to in the installations and 
appliances for storage, handling, transport and distri­
bution.' 
3. The first subparagraph of Article 1 (2) is replaced by 
the following: 
'For the purposes of this Directive "quick-frozen 
foodstuffs" means foodstuffs put up for sale which 
have undergone a suitable freezing process known as 
"quick-freezing" whereby the temperature zone of 
maximum crystallization is spanned as rapidly as 
possible, depending on the type of product, with the 
result that the temperature of the product (after 
thermal stabilization) is — 18 °C or lower.' 
4. The introductory phrase of Article 5 (2) is replaced by 
the following: 
'Brief upward fluctuations in the temperature of the 
product in accordance with the good storage and 
distribution practices shall be permitted, on condition 
that they do not exceed:' Amendment to the proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of the laws of the 
Member States relating to quick-frozen foodstuffs for human consumption (') 
COM(85) 514 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 149 of 
the EEC Treaty on 27 September 1985) 
(85/C 267/07)