23. 8. 78 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 231/5 COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 1998/78 of 18 August 1978 laying down detailed rules for the offsetting of storage costs for sugar THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 3330/ 74/EEC of 19 December 1974 on the common organi- zation of the market in sugar (!), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1396/78 (?), and in particular Article 8 (3) thereof, Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1358/77 of 20 June 1977 laying down general rules for offsetting storage costs for sugar (%), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1397/78 (), provides for the reimbursement of storage costs not only to every sugar manufacturer to whom a basic quota has been allocated and to every sugar refiner, but also to every manufacturer of powdered, lump or candy sugar or specialized sugar trader who has been approved by the Member State on whose territory he is established ; whereas detailed rules were adopted in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 442/70 of 9 March 1970 laying down detailed rules for the application.of the system of offsetting storage costs for sugar (°), as last amended by Regula- tion (EEC) No 1465/77 (¢) ; whereas Regulation (EEC) No 442/70 has already been amended several times; whereas new amendments are needed in particular with regard to the extension of the system provided for in Article 8 of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/74 to syrups obtained directly from sugar in the solid state ; whereas, therefore, in the interests of clarity a new Regulation should be introduced containing the detailed rules for the offsetting of storage costs ; Whereas the granting of reimbursement to these trades makes it necessary to define the terms ‘manufac- turer of powdered, lump or candy sugar and ‘special- ized sugar trader’ ; whereas for this purpose it is neces- sary to lay down certain objective criteria to be used for assessment, in particular as regards substantial participation in storing ; Whereas, in order not to hinder possible development of these activities, any applicant likely to fulfil the required conditions in the future should be approved ; ) O] No L 359, 31. 12. 1974, p. 1. ) O] No L 170, 27. 6. 1978, p. 1. ) O] No L 156, 25. 6. 1977, p. 4. ) O] No L 170, 27. 6. 1978, p. 3. ) O] No L §5, 10. 3. 1970, p. 10. ) O] No L 162, 1. 7. 1977, p. 1. whereas provision should be made for recognition by a Member State of the approval given by the other Member States subject to certain conditions; Whereas, in order to avoid abuse, approval must be withdrawn, where appropriate retroactively, when the conditions for granting that approval are not fulfilled ; Whereas, pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 1358/77, reimbursements are granted only for quantities of white and raw sugar produced within the maximum quota and stored in a warehouse approved by the Member State on whose territory the warehouse is situ- ated ; whereas, therefore, it is necessary to limit approval in relation to the facilities for supervision by Member States and to compel those entitled to reim- bursement to facilitate such supervision; Whereas it should be clearly stated that no reimburse- ment of storage costs may be granted in respect of preferential sugar until the customs formalities on importation have been completed and the sugar stored in an approved warehouse ; Whereas the method of calculating reimbursements and levies must not, in the case of raw sugar, give rise to distortion of competition between that sugar and white sugar ; whereas, to this end, raw sugar should be expressed in terms of white sugar, taking account, at the choice of the Member State concerned, of either the yield formula laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 431/68 of 9 April 1968 laying down the standard quality for raw sugar and fixing the Commu- nity frontier crossing point for calculating cif prices for sugar (7), or a fixed yield formula; Whereas inclusion in the system of offsetting storage costs of certain syrups within the meaning of the third indent of the first subparagraph of Article 8 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3330/74, which must later be processed under supervision into sugar in the solid state, necessitates such syrups being stored in specal containers; whereas the reimbursements and the levies for these syrups should be calculated, at the choice of the Member State concerned, either according to the actual yield or according to the extractable sugar content; whereas the extractable () OJ No L 89, 10. 4. 1968, p. 3.