No L 166/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 5.7.96 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1294/96¢ of 4 July 1996 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 as regards harvest, production and stock declarations relating to wine-sector products THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organization of the market in wine ('), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1544/95 (3, and in particular Articles 3 (4) and 81 thereof, Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3929/87 of 17 December 1987 on harvest, production and stock declarations relating to wine-sector products (°), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 330/96 (*), has been amended substantially; whereas, for reasons of clarity, the said Regulation should be recast on the occasion of the latest amendments; Whereas, under Article 3 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, producers of grapes intended for wine-making and produ- cers of must and wine are required to make harvest decla- rations in respect of the most recent harvest; whereas the said Article also lays down that producers of must and wine, and commercial operators other than retailers, must declare their stocks at the end of the wine year; Whereas, for the purposes of Article 39 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, not only should the quantity produced be known but also the yield per hectare from which it was obtained; whereas, in certain cases, that information can only be worked out from the figures for the quantity of grapes obtained by the producer; whereas provision should therefore be made not only for a wine production declaration but also for a grape harvest declaration; Whereas certain information provided by way of the various declarations must, inter alia, enable the Commis- sion to draw up, at the beginning of each year, the forward estimate provided for in Article 31 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87; Whereas, in order to facilitate market management opera- tions, a time limit should be laid down for making decla- () OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1. () O] No L 148, 30. 6. 1995, p. 31. () OJ No L 369, 29. 12. 1987, p. 59. () OJ No L 47, 24. 2. 1996, p. 8. rations; whereas, given that harvesting takes place at diffe- rent times in different Member States, the deadlines for declarations by producers should be staggered; whereas provisions should also be made to oblige operations selling wine sector products before the dates specified for declarations to make declarations; Whereas it is unnecessary to require producers who can provide all the necessary information by way of a single declaration, namely that relating to wine production, to make two declarations; Whereas very small producers may be exempted since their production taken together accounts for a relatively modest percentage of Community production; Whereas the arrangements applicable to cooperative wineries should be specified; whereas small grape produ- cers who are members of cooperative wineries and who deliver their entire harvest to them should also be exempted, as should those who keep a small quantity of grapes for their own requirements; Whereas, in order to facilitate the application of this Regulation, while allowing Member States to decide the precise form in which operators should notify the particu- lars which must be included in the declarations, provision should be made for the said particulars to be in tabular form; whereas it is necessary both to lay down time limits by which Member States must centralize and forward to the Commission the data they have collected, and to specify the manner in which the latter should be forwarded; Whereas, under Article 31 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, the forward estimate must show the proportion of table wines and quality wines produced in specified regions, hereinafter called ‘quality wines psr’, within the meaning of Council Regulation (EEC) No 823/87 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3011/95 (); whereas the declarations by operators and the stock estimates to be notified by the Member States should therefore be broken down on that basis; whereas the category ‘other wines’ should also be defined in keeping with the classification () OJ No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 59. (9 OJ No L 314, 28. 12. 1995, p. 14.