14. 3. 85 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 73/15 COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 644/85 of 12 March 1985 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2541/84 fixing a countervailing charge on imports into the other Member States of ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin produced in France THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 46 thereof, Whereas the amount of the countervailing charge introduced by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2541/84 (") is determined by the difference recorded between, on the one hand, the lowest free-at-frontier price at which representative quantities of non-dena- tured alcohol from France are sold on the markets of the other Member States and, on the other, an equili- brium price which may be considered the normal price for non-denaturéd alcohol on the markets of the Community when competition is not distorted; whereas an appropriate abatement is applied to the said difference in order to prevent any possibility of the level of the countervailing charge being set too high as a result of calculating it on the basis of flat-rate figures ; Whereas pursuant to Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 2541/84 the countervailing charge must be adjusted in the event of a significant change in one or more of the factors used in the first fixing ; whereas, moreover, the said factors must be reviewed at least once every six months ; Whereas the information which the Member States have supplied to the Commission on a regular basis shows that alcohol of agricultural origin produced in France and imported into the other Member States continues, despite the countervailing charge, to have an adverse effect on competition ; whereas representa- tive quantities of the product are imported at prices below the importing Member States’ market prices ; whereas the volume of such imports has not followed a downward trend since the charge was introduced ; whereas the charge should therefore be adjusted accor- ding to the same criteria as were used for the first fixing ; ’ Whereas the free-at-frontier prices of non-denatured French alcohol sold in the Community have increased only slightly whilst the aforementioned equilibrium price has shown a major rise; whereas, following changes in the price of molasses during the fourth () OJ No L 238, 6. 9. 1984, p. 16. quarter of 1984, the equilibrium price stands at 52 ECU per hectolitre ; whereas the amount of the coun- tervailing charge should therefore be raised accor- dingly ; Whereas Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2541/84 specifies that the countervailing charge is to apply to all ethyl alcohol produced in France and exported to other Member States which is not accom- panied by a certificate showing either that it is of non-agricultural origin or that it has been denatured in accordance with the relevant provisions in France ; Whereas the implementation in practice of the said provision has revealed a number of problems of a technical nature relating to the customs classification of the products concerned under the headings of the Common Customs Tariff referred to in Article 1 (1) of the said Regulation and to the form of the said certifi- cate ; whereas, to remedy this situation, the wording of the said provisions should be amended; Whereas Article 10 of Council Directive 79/623/EEC of 25 June 1979 on the harmonization of provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action relating to customs debt(?) provides for cases of customs debt arising when goods traded between Member States are liable to customs or agricultural charges ; whereas reference to this provision would clarify the implementation of Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 2541/84; Whereas the terms on which goods may be exempted from the countervailing charge should be described in more detail ; Whereas there is a need to deal with certain problems: to which the implementation of the said Regulation could give rise as regards administrative cooperation between Member States ; whereas, with a view to defi- ning the terms on which the products concerned may be introduced into free zones, placed in bonded ware- houses or brought under inward processing rules, provision should be made for analogous application of " the procedures laid down in Council Directives 69/73/EEC (%), 69/74/EEC () and 69/7S/EEC (%); (® OJ No L 279, 17. 7. 1979, p. 31. () OJ No L 58, 8. 3. 1969, p. 1. () OJ No L 58, 8. 3. 1969, p. 7. () O] No L 58, 8. 3. 1969, p. 11.