Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in cereals^f1, and in particular Article 8(3) thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 of 22 December 1995 on the common organisation of the market in rice^f2, and in particular Article 8(e) thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1722/93^f3 lays down the conditions for granting a production refund on starch and certain starch products obtained in particular from rice and broken rice. Council Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in rice^f4 no longer provides for the possibility of granting that refund. The provisions on that category of starch should therefore be removed from Regulation (EEC) No 1722/93 with effect from 1 September 2004, the date from which Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 applies.

As a result, the validity of refund certificates for starch obtained from rice or broken rice should be limited to 31 August 2004.

In accordance with Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 1722/93, the method for calculating the production refund is based, in particular, on the market price of maize taking into account the price levels noted for wheat. In the case of maize, this provision should be made more explicit both as regards the geographical origin of the maize and certain limits to be applied to the price levels where there is a significant increase. Since taking wheat prices into account has not had any practical effect in the past on calculating the amount of the refund, that reference should be deleted.

The special provisions for esterified and etherified starches have proved disproportionate where the amount of the refund is relatively small; a maximum amount should be introduced below which these conditions need not be fulfilled.

Regulation (EC) No 1722/93 should be amended accordingly.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: