Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3779/91 of 20 December 1991 fixing the export refunds on baled tobacco from the 1991 harvest

COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 3779/91  of 20 December 1991  fixing the export refunds on baled tobacco from the 1991 harvest
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 727/70 of 21 April 1970 on the common organization of the market in raw tobacco (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1737/91 (2), and in particular the second subparagraph of Article 9 (1) and the  first sentence of the third subparagraph of Article 9 (2) thereof,
Whereas under Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 727/70 the difference between world prices and Community prices for the products referred to in Article 1 of the said Regulation may be covered by an export refund;
Whereas under Council Regulation (EEC) No 326/71 of 15 February 1971 laying down general rules for granting export refunds on raw tobacco and fixing the amount of such refunds (3), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1977/87 (4), the granting of refunds  must be limited to baled tobacco produced from leaf tobacco harvested in the Community; whereas the refunds must be fixed for each variety produced in the Community in the light of the factors referred to in Article 2 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 326/71;
Whereas for some varieties the outlets are very limited or involve high transport costs; whereas, moreover, some third countries exporting tobacco charge prices which have a marked effect on the competitive position of Community tobacco; whereas Article  4 of Regulation (EEC) No 326/71 foresees criteria to be taken into account in the assessment of the exceptional cases referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 9 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 727/70; whereas in view of the abovementioned situation  it may be concluded that these circumstances constitute exceptional cases which therefore justify the refund being fixed outside the limits specified in the second subparagraph of Article 9 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 727/70;
Whereas, as a result of progress in processing and market preparation, an increasingly large part of Community production of certain varieties of tobacco is being exported in the form of threshed (stripped) tobacco; whereas, consequently, the amount of  the refund should be differentiated according to the form in which the baled tobacco is presented; whereas for exports of entirely threshed (stripped) tobacco it should be specified that the refund is to be granted only on the strips, not scraps, and  the amount should be increased accordingly to take account of the results of threshing; whereas, to avoid any risk of confusion, the strips must measure at least 0,5 centimetres;
Whereas the trade in threshed (stripped) tobacco involves only a few tobacco varieties; whereas some oriental varieties in particular are not threshed on account of their small leaf size; whereas the refund should therefore be differentiated only for  strips from varieties which are actually threshed and the differentiated amount worked out by applying to the basic amount set for unthreshed tobacco of the particular variety the coefficient set in the Annex to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 410/76 of  23 February 1976 fixing the maximum permissible weight losses in connection with the supervision of the first processing and market preparation of tobacco (5), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 838/91 (6);
Whereas, to apply the rules and criteria referred to above in the present situation on the market in tobacco, and in particular in the light of Community and world prices, a refund should be fixed for the products listed in the Annex, at the levels and  for the countries specified therein;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Tobacco,