13.10.1999 Official Journal of the European Communities L 265/13 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2162/1999 of 12 October 1999 amending Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 in the raw tobacco sector and laying down transitional provisions on use of the specific aid and on the relation between the variable part of the premium and the premium for Group VII (Katerini) in Italy for the 1999, 2000 and 2001 harvests 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, 14a and 27 thereof, Whereas: 1) Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 of 22 December 1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 as regards the premium scheme, production quotas and the specific aid to be granted to producer groups in the raw tobacco sector (?), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1373/1999 (%), lays down the requirements which producer groups must satisfy to be recognised. In order better to compare the quality of tobacco produced by each producer group and to ensure that its members are given technical assistance, producer groups should be allowed to restrict their activity to recognised production areas. In order to ensure that the variable part of the premium functions correctly and that effective checks are carried out, it should be laid down that the purchase price to be used for calculating the variable part of the premium must be that established on delivery, that tobacco must be replanted before 15 June for each harvest and that failure to comply with that provision should be penal- ised. The first subparagraph of Article 19(5) of Regulation (EC) No 284898 provides for payment to the producer of an advance on the premium equal to 50 % of the premium payable. In order to simplify the administrative procedures in the Member States, the maximum amount of the advance should be equal to the fixed part of the premium. The second subparagraph of Article 19(5) of Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 provides that the advance may be paid from 16 October of the year of harvest and must be 215, 30.7.1992, p. 70. 83, 27.3.1999, p. 10. () O] L () O] L () O] L 358, 31.12.1998, p. 17. () OJ L 162, 26.6.1999, p. 47. paid within 30 days of submission of the application, save where it is submitted before 16 September, in which case that period is increased to 60 days. Since in certain Member States the harvest begins on 1 August, the payment period should be increased to 77 days. Article 31(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 provides that where a tobacco-producing holding is transferred to a third party for any reason whatsoever, the new incum- bent is entitled to the production quota statement from the date of transfer for the entire reference period. In order to improve the efficiency of inspection procedures and to prevent evasion of the rules, in the case of transfers not due to death, Member States should be allowed to fix a date by which the new incumbent must obtain entitlement to the production quota statement for the current harvest year. The cultivation contract is concluded between a first processor, on the one hand, and a producer group or individual producer who does not belong to a group, on the other, as provided for in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2848/98 and the contract includes details, inter alia, of the exact location where the tobacco is produced and the area of the parcel concerned. The fifth indent of Article 40(2) of that Regulation lays down that groups may use the specific aid to ensure that they comply with Community rules. Penalties should therefore be applied to individual producers where the parcel on which the tobacco is grown is different to that indicated in the cultivation contract and the penalties strengthened by imposing them not only on individual growers but also on the producer groups to which they belong. At least half of the amount of the specific aid must be used by producer groups for the expenditure referred to in the first, second and third indents of Article 40(2) of Regulation (EC) No 2848/98, as provided for in para- graph 3 of that Article. In view of the amended condi- tions for the recognition of producer groups due to take effect from the 1999 harvest, provision should be made for a two-year transitional period during which use of the specific aid is more flexible so as to enable producer groups to reorganise with a view to enhancing the value of products supplied by their members and ensuring that the group complies with Community rules.