No L 241/88 Official Journal of the European Communities 1. 9. 88 COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2721/88 of 31 August 1988 laying down detailed rules for voluntary distillation as provided for in Articles 38, 41 and 42 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty estabhshmg the European Economic Commumty, Having regard to the Act of Accession of Spain and . Portugal, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organization of the market in wine ("), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2253/88 (¥, and in particular Articles 47 (3), 38 (5), 41 (10), 42 (6) and 81 thereof, Whereas the voluntary distillation operations provided for in Articles 38 and 41 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 should 'restore balance to the market without the quantities in keeping with good market management being exceeded ; whereas, to that end, provision should be made so that only a certain maximum quantity of table wine may be distilled by each producer, depending on the area used for the production of table wine ; whereas, however, to take account of national provxsmns on the recognition of quality wines psr in certain Member States, the maximum’ quantities of table wine which may be distilled in the zones conerned should be related not to the area used for the production of table wine but to the total area used by each producer concerned; whereas, however, in all cases where a precise reference to the area from which the wine comes is difficult to establish, provision should be made so that for one further wine year the quantity which may be distilled does not exceed a certain percentage of the quantity of table wine produced during the wine year; whereas that percentage must enable results to be achieved which are comparable with those obtained by limiting the quantity in relation to the area used ; whereas that percentage must consequently be established taking: into account the average vyield recorded per hectare ; whereas, as the yields in the Greek parts of zone C III and in the Spanish parts of the C zones are markedly lower than those recorded in the rest of the Community, a different percentage must be laid down for those' parts of the wine-growing zones concerned ; Whereas Article 1 (4) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2179/83 of 25 july 1983 laying down general rules for the distillation of wine and the by-products of wine- making (%), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No- 2505/88 (*), provides that the producer may () OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1. () OJ No L 198, 26. 7. 1988, p. 3. () OJ No L 212, 3. 8. 1983, p. 1. () O] No L 225, 15. 8. 1988, p. 14. deliver wine for distillation only after the contract or the delivery declaration has been approved by the intervention agency ; whereas, in accordance with Article 11 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3929/87 of 17 December 1987 on harvest, production and stock declarations relating to wine-sector products (), that “approval is subject to the presentation of the production declaration ; whereas production declarations may be made until 15 December in the Federal Republic of Germany and until 30 November in the other Member States ; whereas those provisions are liable to delay distil- lation operations; whereas, for that reason, provision should be made so that Member States may authorize the approval of contracts at an earlier date, on condition that they introduce a system for penalizing, where appropriate those producers who have not complied with the provisions referred to above or the provisions of this Regulation, and in particular those of Article 2 (1); ‘Whereas Atticle 41 (4) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 fixes the total quantity to be distilled at not more than 6,2 million hectolitres ; whereas a procedure for meeting that requirement must consequently be defined; Whereas a prerequisite for the opening of distillation as referred to in the second indent of the second subparagraph of Article 42 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 for a certain type of table wine is that its represen- tative price must be recorded as less than the activating price for three consecutive weeks; whereas, accordingly, the three-week period in question should be defined; whereas the maximum quantity to be distilled by each holder of a long-term storage contract is expressed as a percentage of the total quantity of table wine produced by that holder during the wine year in which the long-term storage contract was concluded ; whereas that percentage is to be determined by the Commission; whereas, in accordance with Article 42 (3) of Régulation (EEC) No 822/87, that percentage cannot exceed 18 % ; Whereas during the storage period the volatile acidity of the wine undergoes a natural change which is likely to exceed the limit provided for in the Regulation whereby long-term private storage contracts may be concluded for certain table wines for a given wine year, such limit being fixed by reference to a storage period of nine months; whereas wine should be deemed to meet the conditions laid down even if the volatile acidity is higher than that | laid down in the said Regulation, provided that the limit () OJ No L 369, 29. 12. 1987, p. 59.