23.1.2004 Official Journal of the European Union L 16/3 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 103/2004 of 21 January 2004 laying down detailed rules for implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards inter- vention arrangements and market withdrawals in the fruit and vegetable sector THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables ('), and in particular Article 30(6) and (7) and Article 48 thereof, Whereas: (1)  The experience gained from the implementation of Commission Regulation (EC) No 659/97 of 16 April 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards inter- vention arrangements in the fruit and vegetables sector () has shown that certain changes need to be made to those arrangements. In the interests of ensuring that the rules implementing Regulation (EC) No 2200/ 96 are alway clear, Regulation (EC) No 659/97 should be replaced. With a view to rationalising the rules on withdrawals, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1492/97 of 29 July 1997 laying down detailed rules for the appli- cation of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards the fixing of the conditions for the distillation of certain fruit withdrawn from the market (°) should also be incorporated into the new regulation. Regulations (EC) No 659/97 and (EC) No 1492/97 should therefore be repealed. (2  Title IV of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 establishes the intervention arrangements for the products referred to in Article 1(2) thereof and provides for the grant of Com- munity compensation for the products listed in Annex II thereto. Article 15(3) of the same regulation provides that operational funds may be used to finance withdra- wals, particularly of products not listed in Annex II, or to pay a supplement to the Community compensation provided for in Title IV. Detailed rules should be laid down for implementing those provisions. (3)  Since the terms ‘products not put up for sale’, ‘market withdrawals’ and ‘products withdrawn from the market’ are equivalent, they should be covered by a single defini- tion. The terms ‘marketed quantity’ and ‘marketed production’ should also be covered by a single definition, which should be consistent with the term ‘value of () OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 472003 (O] L 7, 11.1.2003, p. 64). () OJ L 100, 17.4.1997, p. 22. Regulation as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 1135/2001 (OJ L 154, 9.6.2001, p. 9). () OJ L 202, 30.7.1997, p. 28. production marketed’ as used in Commission Regulation (EC) No 14332003 of 11 August 2003 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards operational funds, opera- tional programmes and financial assistance (*) and should thus include quantities withdrawn from the market for subsequent free distribution. (4) It should be specified that the provisions relating to packaging requirements are to apply to products with- drawn from the market only in the case of miniature products which might otherwise be confused with products not meeting the minimum size requirements. (5)  The marketing years for the products concerned and detailed rules on averages over a three-year period as referred to in Article 23(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/ 96 should be defined. (6)  In order to enable the inspection authorities to plan their inspection operations, producer organisations must notify them in advance of each withdrawal operation. Those authorities will then authorise each withdrawal operation on the basis of the findings from any checks they perform. Provision should be made for those autho- rities to be present at the denaturing of withdrawn products which are not intended for human consump- tion after free distribution. (7)  Article 23(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 determines the Community withdrawal compensation for the products listed in Annex II thereto. The arrangements for paying this compensation should permit compliance at all times with the limits laid down in Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as well as payment within reasonable deadlines. (8)  Since the withdrawals provided for in Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 are financed by the opera- tional funds, payment should be made in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1433/2003. In the interests of clarity, however, the maximum supplements to the Community withdrawal compensation referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 should be fixed. () OJ L 203, 12.8.2003, p. 25.