L 90/54 Official Journal of the European Union 27.3.2004 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 579/2004 of 26 March 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 708/98 as regards the maximum quantities and the minimum quality of rice eligible for intervention in the 2003/2004 marketing year THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, (6)  The Management Committee for Cereals has not deliv- ered an opinion within the time limit set by its Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 of 22 December 1995 on the common organisation of the market in rice (1), and in particular Article 8(b) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in rice (%), and in particular Article 32(3) thereof, Whereas: (1) The conditions governing the taking over of paddy rice by the intervention agencies are laid down in Commis- sion Regulation (EC) No 708/98 (). (2)  Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 limited the quantities bought in by the intervention agencies in the period from 1 April to 31 July 2004 to 100 000 tonnes. To distribute this quantity fairly over space and time, quan- tities must be laid down by producer Member State and by tranche. (3)  To ensure that the total available quantity is used in full, provision should be made for the carry-over of unused quantities from one tranche to the next, and the final tranche should be available to the Community as a whole. (4  To avoid speculative applications, operators must be required to provide a security. This security should however be modulated on the basis of the category of operators, taking account of any other guarantees provided, and distinguishing in particular those produ- cers and producer groups who have met the require- ments of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1709/2003 of 26 September 2003 on crop and stock declarations for rice (%). (5)  To strengthen the role of intervention as a safety net and encourage the production of good quality rice, the level of the minimum yield for milling required for interven- tion buying-in should be increased. (") OJ L 329, 30.12.1995, p. 18. Regulation last amended by Commis- sion Regulation (EC) No 411/2002 (O] L 62, 5.3.2002, p. 27). Regulation repealed by Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 (O] L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 96.) with effect from the date of entry into force of that Regulation. () OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 96. Regulation amended by the Treaty of Accession 2003. () OJ L 98, 31.3.1998, p. 21. Regulation last amended by Regulation (EC) No 610/2001 (O] L 90, 30.3.2001, p. 17). () OJ L 243, 27.9.2003, p. 92. chairman, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Atrticle 1 Regulation (EC) No 708/98 is amended as follows: (a) in Article 2(2), the second indent is replaced by the following: ‘— the yield after processing is not less than six points below the basic yields listed in Annex ILB,; (b) the following Article 3a is inserted: ‘Article 3a The quantities of paddy rice eligible for intervention in the 2003/04 marketing year shall be broken down into two tranches for the producer Member States, and a shared tranche for the Community as a whole, integrating all the available quantities not used by this period, in accordance with the table shown in Annex IV.; (c) Article 4 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 4 1. All offers for sale into intervention shall be made in writing to an intervention agency on the basis of the form drawn up by it. To be eligible, the offer must be presented from 1 to 9 April 2004, 10 to 14 May 2004 and 14 to 18 June 2004 respectively for tranches 1, 2 and 3, as shown in Annex IV, and must contain the following: (a) name of the applicant; (b) place of storage of the rice offered; (¢) quantity offered in accordance with Article 1; (d) variety; (e) main characteristics, including overall yield and whole grain yield after processing; (f) year of harvest;