Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No . . .

of . . .

amending Council Regulation (EEC) No 1418/76 on the common organization of the market in rice (94/C 83/04)

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 Council Regulation (EEC) No 1418/76 (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1544/93 (2), makes provision for adjusting measures, according to the world market situation, in respect of levies and refunds fixed in advance; whereas, to facilitate the administration of such measures and in the interests of sound management, the provisions governing the fixing of the premiums and corrective amounts arising from such measures should be relaxed;

Whereas, on account of the impossibility in practice of identifying precisely immature grains, such grains may not be excluded from classification as 'whole grains`; whereas grains which are not fully mature must therefore be included in the definition of 'whole grains`;

Whereas Annex A to Regulation (EEC) No 1418/76 specifies the methods of measuring grains and defines what is meant by broken rice;

Whereas, to enable importers to determine the rate of levy to be applied to the rice they import, it is necessary to simplify the definition of broken rice by specifying that only fragments whose length does not exceed 6 mm shall be classified as broken rice; whereas this new definition makes it necessary to establish a new method by which the percentage by weight of broken rice shall be determined,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

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

1. In Article 13 (2), the last sentence is replace by the following:

'In this case, a premium shall be added to the levy.`;

2. In Article 17 (4), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following:

'A corrective amount may be fixed. It shall be applied to the refund where this is fixed in advance. The corrective amount shall be fixed according to the procedure specified in Article 27. However, when necessary, the Commission may modify the corrective amounts.`;

3. Annex A is hereby amended as follows:

(a) Point 2 (d) (ii) is replaced by the following:

'(ii) sieve the sample so as to retain only whole grains including grains which are not fully mature.`;

(b) Point 3 is replaced by the following:

'3. Broken rice: grain fragments, excluding clipped grains, whose length does not exceed 6 mm.`;

(c) the following point is added:

'4. Determination of broken rice: the percentage by weight of broken rice in a given consignment shall be determined by the following method:

(i) take a representative sample of at least 40 g from the consignment;

(ii) sieve the sample, including grains which are not fully mature, dividing broken rice from whole grains;

(iii) determine the percentage by weight of broken rice in relation to the total weight of the sample.`

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 1994/95 marketing year.

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

Done at . . .

For the Council

. . .

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

(2) OJ No L 154, 25. 6. 1993, p. 5.