No L 198/4 Official Journal of the Buropean Communities 25.7.97 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1448/97 of 24 July 1997 amending Regulation (EEC) No 377/93 laying down detailed rules for the disposal of alcohol obtained from the distillation operations referred to in Articles 35, 36 and 39 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 and held by intervention agencies 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 (EEC) No 536/97 (3, and in particular Articles 37 (2) and 40 (5) thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3877/88 of 12 December 1988 laying down general rules for the disposal of alcohol obtained from the distillation opera- tions referred to in Articles 35, 36 and 39 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 and held by intervention agencies (°), and in particular Articles 2 and 3 thereof, Whereas alcohol losses may occur during land and sea transport operations and processing operations prior to final use; whereas account should be taken of the relevant technical standards to evaluate changes in volume of alcohol recorded on loading and unloading of alcohol and a specific tolerance limit should be set for each category of loss; Whereas an overall tolerance limit should be set for losses of alcohol due to multiple land and sea transport opera- tions in connection with an individual invitation to tender for the export of alcohol processed in one of the third countries listed in Annex II to Commission Regula- tion (EEC) No 377/93 (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3152/94(%); whereas a higher tolerance limit should also be set for alcohol losses due to processing operations in such third countries by comparison with similar operations in the Community to take account of operational, climatic and other conditions and the fact that some equipment is less efficient in those third coun- tries; Whereas penalties should be applied for losses exceeding the tolerance limits established by withholding a standard amount of the performance guarantee covering the cost price of the alcohol delivered to the intervention agency () Of No L 84, 27. 3. 1987, p. 1. () O] No L 83, 25. 3. 1997, p. 5. () OJ No L 346, 15. 12. 1988, p. 7. () O] No L 43, 20. 2. 1993, p. 6. () OJ No L 332, 22. 12. 1954, p. 34. under the distillation operations referred to in Articles 35, 36 and 39 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87; whereas part of the performance guarantee should be released only after the successful tenderer has produced evidence concerning all the losses relating to the tender in ques- tion so that the amount of security available is sufficient to penalize such illegal losses of alcohol; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 377/93 is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 34 (2) is replaced by the following: ‘2. (a) The alcohol awarded must be used entirely for the purposes specified in the invitation to tender in question without prejudice to any losses of alcohol occurring as a result of the transport or processing operations required for the final use of the alcohol. Each individual loss of alcohol shall be accepted only if it has been checked at the final destination and, in the case of alcohol for export, at the place where it left the customs territory of the Community, and certified by the competent inspection authority and/or by the international surveillance firm where such a firm has been appointed under Article 38, in so far as such losses are within the limits specified in point (b). (b) For alcohol awarded under a partial, individual or special invitation to tender, where alcohol losses during the operations referred to below exceed the following limits, an amount of ECU 96 per hectolitre of the performance guarantee shall be withheld except in the case of force majeure. — 0,4 % of the quantities of alcohol removed from storage in the case of an alcohol loss due to one or more land transport opera- tions,