20. 1. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities - No L 12/§ COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 84/93 of 19 January 1993 on 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 Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organization of the market in raw tobacco ('), and in particular Article 12 (3) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3813/92 of 28 December 1992 on the unit of. account and the conversion rates to be applied for the purposes of the common agricultural policy (3), and in particular Article 6 (2) thereof, Whereas Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 stipulates that specific aid equivalent to 10 % of the premium is to be granted where cultivation contracts are concluded between a first processor and a recognized group of producers and the deliveries covered by such contracts account for the entire output of the group members ; Whereas the requirements for the recognition of producer groups should be laid down in order that they may qualify for that specific aid; Whereas to ensure compliance with the market structure, provision should be made that, except in certain special circumstances, a producer may be a member of one group only; Whereas in line with the intentions of Article 12 of Regu- lation (EEC) No 2075/92 and in particular to prevent distortion of competition and monitoring difficulties, producer groups should be debarred from engaging in first processing ; whereas a processor may, however, be a member of a group in his capacity as a tobacco producer ; Whereas to ensure uniformity of administrative proce- dures, rules should be laid down covering certain details regarding applications for recognition, its grant and with- ‘drawal, and the monitoring of requirements in its regard ; Whereas to ensure that the specific aid is used effectively, it should be limited to certain purposes, in particular the grant of additional payments to producer members of a group ; Whereas in view of the specific nature of the aid, a proce- dure should be adopted for its payment which differs from that for the premium; ' () OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 70. () OJ No L 387, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1. Whereas provision should be made that the premium, expressed in national currency, shall be identical for all producers who supply tobacco to processors during a certain period, using the conversion rate applicable at the beginning of the year following the harvest ; Whereas because of the time required for the provisions of this Regulation to be implemented in the Member States, special rules should be adopted in respect of the 1993 harvest ; ' Whereas 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 1. For the purposes of applying Article 12 of Regula- tion (EEC) No 2075/92, Member States shall recognize producer groups, at the request of the latter, on condition that they meet the conditions laid down in this Regula- tion. ’ 2.  Where a producer group consists wholly or partly of members who are themselves producer groups, each of those groups must meet the conditions laid down in this Regulation. 3. As from the 1994 harvest, producér groups may not carry out first processing of tobacco. 4. A tobacco producer may not belong to more than one group except where he cultivates more than one variety and the groups in his region of production are not recognized for all the variety groups concerned. Article 2 1. Producer groups shall satisfy the following require- ments : ’ (a) they shall be set up on the initiative of their members ; (b) they shall contribute by their activities to the attain- ment of the objectives of Article 39 of the Treaty; (c) they shall be set up with the aim of adapting collecti- vely the production of the producer members to meet ~the requirements of the market;