COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 766/97 of 28 April 1997 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2251/92 on quality inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (1), and in particular Articles 7 and 10 thereof,

Whereas Article 11 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2251/92 (2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3148/94 (3), lays down that, in the case of imports from third countries, cases of non-compliance with Community quality standards must be notified to the Commission; whereas, at the moment, such notifications are sent to the Commission by telefax; whereas this means of transmission no longer meets the requirements of the system monitoring commercial quality; the IDES system should therefore be used as the sole means of notification to ensure a rapid transmission of documents and to allow for a statistical evaluation of the data notified;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fruit and Vegetables,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The following sub-paragraph is added to Article 11 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 2251/92:

'Notification to the Commission shall be done by the interactive data entry system known as "IDES".`

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply from 1 September 1997.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 April 1997.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ No L 297, 21. 11. 1996, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 219, 4. 8. 1992, p. 9.

(3) OJ No L 332, 22. 12. 1994, p. 28.