Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 41 thereof,

Whereas:

Pursuant to Article 6 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1972/2003 of 10 November 2003 on transitional measures to be adopted in respect of trade in agricultural products on account of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia^f1, the Hungarian authorities have informed the Commission that they intend to sell a maximum quantity of 54 000 tonnes of wheat and 40 000 tonnes of maize from national security stocks as part of a rotation procedure.

The sale of such a large quantity of wheat and maize is liable to disturb the Community market in cereals. Transitional measures should therefore be taken to lay down conditions for sale similar to those provided for in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2131/93 of 28 July 1993 laying down the procedure and conditions for the sale of cereals held by intervention agencies^f2 to ensure that operators are treated equally and market conditions respected.

Since any restocking operation could also disturb the Community market, a procedure should be introduced allowing the Commission to approve the restocking arrangements.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: