11.3.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 64/13 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 531/2000 of 10 March 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 as regards the premium scheme, the production quotas and the specific aid to be granted to producer groups in the raw tobacco sector THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organisation of the market in raw tobacco (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 660/ 1999 (3, and in particular Articles 7, 9(5) and 11 thereof, Whereas: (1)  Articles 18(4) and 20(4) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 (°), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2637[1999 (4, stipulate that payments to producers and to producer groups of the premium paid by the Member State or by the first processor must be made by bank or postal transfer to a single account. Application of that provision is posing difficulties for producer groups because the system does not allow for fund management to be evenly spread throughout the territory or for operating loans to be obtained from banks not managing the premiums. Provision should therefore be made for the premiums to be paid into accounts earmarked for premium payments and for the account numbers to be communicated to the competent control body. (2)  Under Article 20 of the above Regulation certain Member States have, for a period of two years, been able to make premium payments to producers via the inter- mediary of the first processor without an advance payment facility. That situation has caused producers cash flow problems since they are not paid until after they have delivered their entire production. Those producers should therefore be given the opportunity to obtain advance payments via first processors under the same conditions as those laid down in Article 19 for producers receiving their premiums direct from the Member States. (3)  Article 29 of the same Regulation states that the national reserve may be made up, inter alia, of quotas released by a linear reduction of up to 2% of the quantities that have been permanently transferred. The national reserve is to be allocated by the end of February pursuant to Article 22(3) and that time limit does not permit the use of quotas deriving from permanent trans- fers for the same production year. Provision should therefore be made for the permanently transferred quantities to be applied to the harvest in progress and, 215, 30.7.1992, p. 70. ) O] L ) O] L 83, 27.3.1999, p. 10. ) O] L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 17. ) O] L 323, 15.12.1999, p. 8. to that end, for those quantities to be allocated up to the time limit for the conclusion of cultivation contracts. (4)  Article 33(3) of the same Regulation stipulates that transfers of production quotas may not involve quant- ities of less than 100 kg. That provision should be relaxed to allow tobacco producers whose quota for the group of varieties in question is less than 100 kg to transfer it in its entirety. (5)  The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Tobacco, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 is amended as follows: 1. In Article 18, paragraph 4 is replaced by the following: ‘4. Payment to producer groups of the amounts referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, and payment of the purchase price to producers by first processors may be made only by bank or postal transfer, to accounts earmarked for such payments the numbers of which shall be communicated to the competent control body and which, in the case of a producer group, must be linked to payments to individual producer group members. 2. Article 19 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 19 1.  Member States shall apply a system of advances on premiums for producers in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 8. 2. The advance referred to in paragraph 1 shall be paid, on application by the producer or, for the 2000 harvest, the first processor, on the basis of a statement of eligibility for the advance, prepared by the competent control body. 3. The following documents must accompany producers' applications for an advance save where a Member State provides otherwise on the grounds that they are already in its possession: (@) a copy of the cultivation contract concluded by the producer issued in his name; (b) a copy of the quota statement issued to the producer and covered by the said cultivation contract; (c) a written declaration from the producer concerned spec- ifying the quantities of tobacco he is in a position to deliver during the current harvest.