18.12.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 326/39 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2691/1999 of 17 December 1999 on rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road (Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 of 25 May 1998 on statistical returns in respect of the carriage of goods by road ('), and in particular, Article 9 thereof, Whereas: (1)  In accordance with Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 117298, the Commission should determine the arrangements for the transmission of data by the Member States. (2) It is necessary to specify the country codes for inter- national transport during the transitional period foreseen in Article 5 of the said Regulation. (3)  The use of the two different systems of country codes specified in Annexes A and G of Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 is not compatible with the efficient transmis- sion of data by the Member States. (4) It is desirable to establish a new list of country codes following the system used for the NUTS region codes. (5)  The contents of Annexes A and G of Regulation (EC) No 1172/98 needs to be adapted accordingly. (6)  The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion delivered by the Statistical Programme Committee, set up by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom (?), HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 117298 shall be amended as follows: 1. In Annex A, part A2, the text of section 7 shall be replaced by the following: ‘7. Countries crossed in transit (not more than 5), coded according to Annex G. 2. Annex G shall be replaced by the Annex to this Regulation. Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 17 December 1999. () O] L 163, 6.6.1998, p. 1. For the Commission Pedro SOLBES MIRA Member of the Commission () OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.