Introductory text

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania, and in particular the first paragraph of Article 41 thereof,

Whereas:

Under Article 27(3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine^f1, any natural or legal person or group of persons having made wine is required to deliver for distillation all the by-products of that winemaking. Since the accession of Bulgaria to the Community on 1 January 2007, that requirement also applies to wine producers in that Member State although the practice is not traditional in Bulgaria.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1623/2000^f2 lays down detailed rules for the implementation of this obligation to distil and Article 49 thereof provides for certain possible exemptions.

Despite the measures already established by Bulgaria, the distilleries in that Member State do not have sufficient capacity to distil all by-products. Bulgaria should therefore be authorised to exempt certain categories of producers from the obligation to distil by-products of winemaking.

In order that the exception granted to Bulgaria may be applied to the entire wine year, this Regulation should apply from 1 August 2007.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: