Proposal for a

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No . . .

of . . .

amending Regulation (EEC) No 1418/76 on the common organization of the market for rice

(95/C 99/03)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 42 and 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas the implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements entails the abolition of threshold prices in the market organization; whereas, as a result, the target price used to calculate the threshold price has lost its significance; whereas all references to that target price should accordingly be removed;

Whereas removal of the target price requires the provision concerning the calculation of the compensatory allowance for husked rice to be adjusted; whereas, in order to maintain the level of that amount, the calculation factor should be the buying-in price multiplied by 1,8;

Whereas there have been problems in the interpretation of the rule for classifying broken rice for the purposes of applying the import levies; whereas, to avoid the risk of fraud, the point in Annex A to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1418/76 (), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, concerning the measurement of grains so that grains which are not fully ripe are considered as whole grains should be specified in more detail;

Whereas it is necessary to establish a method to determine the percentage of broken grains present in the consignment so that importers can determine the rate of levy to be applied to the rice which they import,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 1418/76 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 3 is replaced by the following:

'Article 3

1. Before 1 August each year, a single intervention price for paddy rice shall be fixed for the Community for the marketing year beginning during the following calendar year. It shall be fixed for a standard quality.

2. The price and standard quality mentioned in paragraph 1 shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 43 (2) of the Treaty.'

2. Article 4 is replaced by the following:

'Article 4

1. The single intervention price shall be fixed for the Vercelli intervention centre, which is the centre of the area in the Community with the largest rice surplus, at the wholesale stage, goods in bulk, delivered to warehouse, not unloaded. It shall apply to all the intervention centres established in the Community.

2. The Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, shall adopt the rules for determining the intervention centres to which the single intervention price applies.

3. The intervention centres referred to in paragraph 2 shall, after consultation with the Member States concerned, be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 27.'

3. In Article 7, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

'1. The intervention prices and buying-in prices referred to in Article 5 (2) shall be subject to monthly increases, phased over all or part of the marketing year.'

4. In Article 14, paragraph 12 is replaced by the following:

'12. The refund may be increased by a compensatory amount in respect of stocks of paddy rice harvested within the Community and husked rice obtained therefrom, in hand at the end of a marketing year and forming part of that year's crop, and which are exported without further processing or in the form of semi-milled or wholly milled rice, between the beginning of the following marketing year and dates still to be determined. Before 1 July each year the Council, acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, shall, if necessary, determine the products to which the provisions of paragraph II shall apply.

The compensatory amount shall be:

- in the case of husked rice, equal to the difference between the buying-in price valid for the last month of the marketing year multiplied by 1,8 and that valid for the first month of the new marketing year multiplied by 1,8,

- in the case of paddy rice, equal to the difference between the intervention price valid for the last month of the marketing year and that valid for the first month of the new marketing year.'

5. Annex A to Regulation (EEC) No 1418/76 is amended as follows:

- in point 2, (d) is deleted,

- point 3 becomes point 2 (d),

- the following point 3 is added:

'3. Measurement of grains and determination of the percentage of broken rice:

'3. a) take a representative sample from the consignment; from the sample take a representative sub-sample of approximately 70 g; divide that sub-sample into 8 aliquots;

'3. b) weigh one aliquot to 0,1 g accuracy and select all the whole grains (including those grains which are not completely ripe) in it; if necessary, use the other aliquots to obtain at least 200 whole grains;

'3. c) measure the length of each whole grain harvested to an accuracy of 0,01 mm, carry out the measurement on wholly milled rice;

'3. d) sort the whole grains according to length and length/width ratio into round, medium and long grain rice;

'3. e) select, in the aliquot(s) used, all the broken grains meeting the definition of broken rice; add the broken grains not meeting that definition to the group of whole grains sorted in accordance with (d) having the highest weight;

'3. f) calculate the percentage by weight of the different types of rice in relation to the total weight of the aliquot(s) used;

'3. g) where the consignment is to be classified as long grain rice, determine the length/width ratio on at least 50 grains.'

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply from the 1995/96 marketing year.

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

Done at . . .

For the Council

. . .

() OJ No L 166, 25. 6. 1976, p. 1.