3.12. 96 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 313/9 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2311/96 of 2 December 1996 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3886/92 laying down detailed rules for the application of premium schemes in the beef and veal sector THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organization of the market in beef and veal (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2222/96 (3, and in particular Articles 4b (8), 4e (5), 4f (4), 4h (2), 41 (5) and 25 thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3813/92 of 28 December 1992 on the unit of account and the conversion rates to be applied for the purposes of the common agricultural policy (*), as last amended by Regu- lation (EC) No 150/95 (*), and in particular Article 6 (2) thereof, Whereas Regulation (EC) No 2222/96 amends the common organization of the market in beef and veal es- tablished by Regulation (EEC) No 805/68; whereas where the implementation of the amendments affects the various premium schemes Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3886/92 of 23 December 1992 laying down detailed rules for the application of the premium schemes provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 on the common organization of the market in beef and repealing Regulations (EEC) No 1244/82 and (EEC) No 714/89 (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) 1871/96 (%), should be amended accordingly; Whereas, from the 1997 calendar year, the special premium for non-castrated male bovine animals will be granted only in respect of the single age bracket of 10 to 21 months; whereas, for the grant of the special premium according to the so-called ‘slaughter’ model, these age conditions will be replaced by the requirement for a minimum carcase weight of 200 kilograms; whereas these changes should be taken into account in the provisions concerning applications for premiums and the required retention period; Whereas, by way of derogation from the above restriction of the premium to a single age bracket, bulls raised in regions with traditional extensive production methods () OJ No L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 24. () OJ No L 296, 21. 11. 1996, p. 50. () O] No L 387, 31. 12. 1992, p. 1. () OJ No L 22, 31. 1. 1995, p. 1. () OJ No L 391, 31. 12. 1992, p. 20. (% OJ No L 247, 28. 9. 1996, p. 26. will still be eligible for the special premium in respect of the two age brackets, up to a ceiling on the number of animals equivalent to 3 % of the regional ceilings in each Member State; whereas this transitional scheme requires certain specific rules to be adopted, in particular as regards the definition of a region with traditional exten- sive production methods and measures to be taken where the 3 % ceiling is exceeded; Whereas, under the suckler cow premium scheme, freez- ing the individual rights not used by producers in respect of a calendar year can help to control production; whereas, to this end, from the 1997 calendar year, the percentage of rights to be used should be increased from 70 % to 90 % and, where a producer fails to achieve this percentage, the rights transferred to the national reserve should not be allowed to be reallocated to other producers for the next two years; Whereas the amount of the processing premium should be fixed; whereas, to take account of actual differences in market prices, the amount for animals of dairy breeds should be set at a lower level than that for animals of other breeds; Whereas Article 4i (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 805/68 provides that a premium may or, in certain cases, must, be granted for the early marketing of veal calves; whereas the premium concerned may only be granted for calves whose carcases weigh not more than the average weights on the scale derived from 1995 Eurostat statistics or other statistics published and accepted by the Commission; whereas, in order to ensure that the objective of the operation is achieved, it should be provided that the presentation of the carcase at weighing should be the same as that used to establish the above statistics; Whereas the amount of the premium for the early mar- keting of veal calves should be fixed at a level which takes particular account of both the loss of income associated with the sale of a lighter carcase and the economy asso- ciated with a shorter production period; whereas, however, in order to take account of certain foreseeable disturb- ances on the veal market at the beginning of the scheme, higher premiums should be granted as a transitional measure; Whereas speculative transport of animals between Member States in connection with the early marketing premium for veal calves should be avoided; whereas, for this purpose, a retention period within the country of