Commission Regulation (EC) No 1592/1999 of 20 July 1999 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2238/93 on the accompanying documents for the carriage of wine products and the relevant records to be kept

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1592/1999
of 20 July 1999
amending Regulation (EEC) No 2238/93 on the accompanying documents for the carriage of wine products and the relevant records to be kept
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organisation of the market in wine(1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1627/98(2), and in particular Article 71(3) thereof,
(1) Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2238/93(3) lays down detailed rules of application for accompanying documents for wine products, without prejudice to the application of Council Directive 92/12/EEC(4), as last amended by Directive 96/99/EEC(5), and rules on the records to be kept in the wine sector;
(2) Whereas Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2238/93 introduces the possibility for the Member States to lay down additional or specific provisions for the products in question in circulation on their territory; whereas one of those provisions stipulates that details of the density of grape may be replaced, for a transitional period, by a reference to the density expressed in degrees Oechsle; whereas that transitional period originally expired on 31 August 1996; whereas this traditional practice is used mainly by small agricultural producers; whereas several useful amendments to the Regulation in question were under discussion for a time, but did not lead to any final result pending the entry into force of a new common market organisation; whereas that new common market organisation (COM) has now been adopted and will enter into force on 1 August 2000; whereas, under those circumstances, the provision in question should be re-introduced until the entry into force of the new COM; whereas the date in question should therefore be replaced by 31 July 2000;
(3) Whereas a new closing device for small containers filled with wine products is in use in the Community; whereas Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2238/93 should therefore be amended so that it may be considered a "recognised closing device" within the meaning of Article 2(h) of that Regulation;
(4) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine,