Regulation (EEC) No 1726/70 of the Commission of 25 August 1970 on the procedure for granting the premium for leaf tobacco

REGULATION (EEC) No 1726/70 OF THE COMMISSION  of 25 August 1970  on the procedure for granting the premium for leaf tobacco
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 (1) of 21 April 1970 on the common organisation of the market in raw tobacco, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 3 (3) and Article 15 thereof;
Whereas Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 727/70 provides under certain conditions, for the payment of a premium to natural or legal persons who purchase leaf tobacco direct from Community producers, and to individual producers or associations of producers who subject their own leaf tobacco to first processing and market preparation;
Whereas premiums were fixed for the first time by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1466/70 (2) of 20 July 1970 fixing the premiums granted to purchasers of leaf tobacco from the 1970 crop ; whereas these premiums must be fixed once a year;
Whereas a system of premiums for the purchase of Community leaf tobacco calls for administrative measures which will ensure that the premium is paid only in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 727/70 ; whereas, therefore, provision must be made for a system of supervision for leaf tobacco which has undergone first processing and market preparation and is circulating in the Community;
Whereas it is for Member States to introduce this system of supervision according to the needs and special circumstances prevailing in each country ; whereas, however, it must meet certain requirements to ensure its broadly uniform application in the Member States;
Whereas tobacco must come under supervision as soon as it enters the premises of the first processing and market preparation undertaking ; whereas it must remain under supervision until it has reached a processing stage at which it becomes distinct from leaf tobacco ; whereas, therefore, supervision must include checks at the beginning and the end of the first processing and market preparation stages;
Whereas supervision can only be effectively exercised by means of a certificate on which are entered, on the authority of the competent bodies of each Member State, full details of the tobacco brought under supervision ; whereas that certificate should be prepared at least in duplicate to ensure that it is filled in or completed in the manner laid down;
Whereas leaf tobacco consigned from one Member State to another must be subject to special requirements enabling the Member State to which it is sent to recognise it clearly as tobacco harvested in the Community, which alone qualifies for the premium ; whereas, to that end, use should be made of the forms provided for in Articles 39 and 41 (2) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 542/63 (3) of 18 March 1969 on Community transit and in Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2313/69 (4) of 19 November 1969 on the internal Community transit document for use in certifying the Community nature of goods;
Whereas leaf tobacco imported from third countries may undergo first processing and market preparation in the same premises as leaf tobacco harvested in the Community ; whereas, therefore, that tobacco also must come under supervision so that, in respect of each undertaking the quantities of each variety of tobacco for which the premium has been requested may be checked;
Whereas, since first processing and market preparation takes a long time for certain varieties, advances on the premium should be obtainable,  (1)OJ No L 94, 28.4.1970, p. 1. (2)OJ No L 164, 27.7.1970, p. 28. (3)OJ No L 77, 29.3.1969, p. 1. (4)OJ No L 295, 24.11.1969, p. 8.
subject to certain safeguards until such time as the quantities can be checked ; whereas it should be left to Member States to choose between two methods of payment, depending on their administrative requirements;
Whereas it should be permissible to forgo entitlement to the premium so that the tobacco may be offered for intervention ; whereas in such a case the fact must be stated on the certificate so that the intervention agency may know that no premium has been granted for the tobacco offered;
Whereas it is advisable to ensure that the premium is paid only for the actual weight of usable tobacco ; whereas, to that end, the definition of net weight laid down in Article 6 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1727/70 (1) of 25 August 1970 on intervention procedure for raw tobacco should be used;
Whereas contracts and auction documents should include certain information, as provided for in Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 727/70, which will enable the supervision certificate to be completed at a later date;
Whereas the Commission must be kept regularly informed of the quantities of tobacco dealt with under the rules for granting the premium so that the trend of the Community tobacco market may be assessed;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the Opinion of the Management Committee for Tobacco;