WAS PROVIDED BY THE ASSOCIATION NATIONALE INTERPROFESSIONNELLE DES FRUITS ET LEGUMES TRANSFORMES ( NATIONAL FEDERAL ASSOCIATION FOR PRODUCTS PROCESSED FROM FRUIT AND VEGETABLES ) SHOWS A CONSIDERABLE INCREASE IN STOCKS IN 1974 AND 1975 AND A SUBSTANTIAL DIMINUTION IN THOSE STOCKS IN 1976 . ON THE OTHER HAND , ACCORDING TO THE STATISTICS PRODUCED BY THE FEDERAL STATISTICS OFFICE , THE ANNUAL FIGURES FOR IMPORTS OF PRESERVED MUSHROOMS INTO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY FROM MEMBER STATES INDICATE A VIRTUALLY CONSTANT LEVEL , NOT ONLY FOR THE PERIOD IN QUESTION , BUT FOR EVERY YEAR FROM 1972 TO 1978 . FOR THOSE IMPORTS , TOO , THE MONTHLY FIGURES FOR 1976 SHOW FEW VARIATIONS .
14 AS FAR AS PRICES OBTAINING ON THE GERMAN MARKET ARE CONCERNED , THE APPELLANT IN THE MAIN ACTION PRODUCED A LETTER FROM A COMMERCIAL BROKER IN HAMBURG CONTAINING A LIST OF PRICES OF PRESERVED MUSHROOMS FROM NON-MEMBER COUNTRIES WHICH THE BROKER HAD CLEARED THROUGH CUSTOMS BETWEEN AUGUST 1974 AND DECEMBER 1976 . THAT LIST , WHICH DOES NOT INDICATE THE VOLUME OF SUCH IMPORTS , SHOWS A RISE IN PRICES OF 60 TO 70% BETWEEN THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD AND JULY 1976 .
15 SUCH A SIGNIFICANT RISE , WHICH , MOREOVER , IS DERIVED ONLY FROM FRAGMENTARY INFORMATION , IS NOT REFLECTED IN THE STATISTICS PRODUCED BY THE FEDERAL STATISTICS OFFICE , FROM WHICH IT APPEARS THAT THE RISE IN PRICES OF PRESERVED MUSHROOMS IN NON-MEMBER COUNTRIES DURING THE SAID PERIOD DID NOT EXCEED 30% OR THEREABOUTS . IN THAT REGARD , IT SHOULD BE RECALLED THAT , ACCORDING TO THE RECITALS IN THE PREAMBLE TO REGULATION NO 2107/74 , THE OFFER PRICES FROM NON-MEMBER COUNTRIES IN 1974 WERE 20 TO 30% LESS THAN THE COST PRICE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY INDUSTRY .
16 FINALLY , WITH REGARD TO THE PRICES OF THE PRODUCTS FROM MEMBER STATES , THE FIGURES OF THE FEDERAL STATISTICS OFFICE SHOW THAT THEY DECLINED CONSIDERABLY FROM 1972 TO 1974 BUT RECOVERED TO SOME EXTENT IN 1975 AND ROSE CONSIDERABLY DURING 1976 , WITHOUT , HOWEVER , UNTIL THE LATTER MONTHS OF THAT YEAR , FOR WHICH , MOREOVER , INFORMATION WAS NOT AVAILABLE AT THE TIME WHEN THE CONTESTED REGULATIONS WERE ADOPTED , REACHING THE LEVEL IN DM OF THE YEARS PRIOR TO 1972 .
17 IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES , IT CANNOT BE DENIED THAT THE COMMISSION KEPT WITHIN THE LIMITS OF ITS DISCRETION IN CONSIDERING , WHEN IT ADOPTED THE CONTESTED REGULATIONS , THAT THE SITUATION ON THE MARKET DID NOT YET PERMIT THE ABOLITION OF THE PROTECTIVE MEASURES INTRODUCED IN 1974 .
18 THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION REFERRED TO THE COURT SHOULD THEREFORE BE THAT CONSIDERATION OF COMMISSION REGULATIONS NOS 1412/76 AND 2284/76 HAS DISCLOSED NO FACTOR OF SUCH A KIND AS TO AFFECT THEIR VALIDITY .
Decision on costs
COSTS
19 THE COSTS INCURRED BY THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES , WHICH HAS SUBMITTED OBSERVATIONS TO THE COURT , ARE NOT RECOVERABLE ;