30.11.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L 313/9 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2318/2001 of 29 November 2001 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 as regards the recognition of producer organisations in the fishery and aquaculture sector THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 of 17 December 1999 on the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products ('), amended by Commis- sion Regulation (EC) No 939/2001 (3, and in particular Article 5(4) and Article 6(7) thereof, Whereas: (1)  Commission Regulation (EC) No 2939/94 of 2 December 1994 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 105/76 on the recognition of producers' organisations in the fishing industry (%), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1762/ 96 (%, requires considerable amendments. It should therefore be repealed and replaced. (2) It is necessary to lay down the conditions and procedure for the Member States' granting of recognition to, and withdrawal of recognition from, producer organisations in such a way as to guarantee consistent application of the rules governing the common organisation of the markets in fishery and aquaculture products. (3) A producer organisation is required, under Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, to provide evidence that it is sufficiently active economically to merit recog- nition. It is therefore necessary to define the criteria for considering that condition to have been met. (4) It is also necessary to specify the conditions for recog- nising an association of producer organisations. (5)  There is a need to provide for the laying down of common rules which members of producer organ- isations would be obliged to observe. (6) It would be advisable to specify what information must be supplied by an applicant for recognition. Deadlines for granting and refusing recognition and certain rules on the withdrawal of recognition should be laid down. (7)  Measures should be provided for verifying compliance with the conditions attaching to recognition, and for () O] L 17, 21.1.2000, p. 22. () O] L 132, 15.5.2001, p. 10. () O] L 310, 3.12.1994, p. 12. () O L 231, 12.9.1996, p. 6. determining the consequences of any fraudulent applica- tion for, or use of, such recognition. (8)  The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fishery Products, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 1. A producer organisation as defined in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 shall be deemed to be suffi- ciently active economically, for the purposes of Article 5(2) thereof, if: (a) on the basis of its size, the total capacity of fishing vessels operating from it and the regularity and size of the land- ings, the area covered by the application for recognition is deemed by the Member State to be of sufficient impor- tance; and (b) any of the following conditions is fulfilled: (i) the number of vessels operated by members of the producer organisation is at least 20 % of the total number of vessels habitually present in that area; or (ii) for the species or group of species for which recogni- tion is sought, the producer organisation disposes of either: — at least 15 % by weight of the total production in its area, or — at least 30 % by weight of the total production in a major port or market in its area, the Member State concerned defining what is meant by ‘major’ for this purpose. 2. The Member States shall decide which of the conditions laid down in paragraph 1(b) shall apply in their territory. They shall notify the Commission and interested parties of their decision within two months of publication of this Regula- tion. In the event of the structure of a market being altered, the Member States may decide to change the condition. They shall notify the Commission and interested parties thereof without delay.