No L 77/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 19. 3. 97 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 495/97 of 18 March 1997 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of export refunds on agricultural products and Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organization of the market in cereals (), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 923/96 (3, and in particular Article 9 (2), and Article 13 (11) thereof, and to the corresponding provisions in other Regulations on the common organiza- tion of the market in agricultural products, Whereas pursuant to Article 2a of Commission Regula- tion (EEC) No 3665/87 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 313/97 (), the entitlement to a refund is con- ditional upon presentation of an export licence com- prising advance fixing of the refund; whereas for reasons of proportionality it is appropriate in some sectors to extend the validity of export licences to product groups defined for this purpose; whereas to prevent abuse, whereby products with the highest rates of refund are selected systematically, a system of reductions for chan- ging the product for which the refund has been fixed in advance should be introduced where the actual rate of refund is less than the rate for that product; Whereas experience gained from the application of the sanctions laid down in Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 has shown that some provisions should be clari- fied and amended; whereas, for reasons of clarity, the text of Article 11 should be replaced; Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1222/96 () introduced a twelve-digit refund nomenclature code; Whereas, in order to facilitate customs verification, it is appropriate to provide the possibility of indicating on the export licence the product codes belonging to the product group as referred to in Article 2a (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87; Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2402/96 (), should be amended accordingly; () OJ No L 181, 1. 7. 1992, p. 21. () O] No L 126, 24. 5. 1996, p. 37. () OJ No L 351, 14. 12. 1987, p. 1. () OJ No L 51, 21. 2. 1997, p. 31. () OJ No L 161, 29. 6. 1996, p. 62. () OJ No L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1. L () OJ No L 327, 18. 12. 1996, p. 14. Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinions of the Management Committees concerned, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 3665/87 is hereby amended as follows: 1. In Article 2a, the existing text becomes paragraph 1 and the following paragraphs 2 and 3 are added: ‘2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1, an export licence comprising advance fixing of the refund shall also be valid for the exportation of a product falling under a twelve-digit product code other than that indicated in section 16 of the licence if both products belong: (a) to the same category as referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 13a of Commission Regu- lation (EEC) No 3719/88 (), or (b) to the same product group, provided that such product groups have been defined for this purpose in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 or the corresponding articles of the other Regulations governing the common organizations of the market. In such cases, the following further conditions apply: (a) if the rate of refund corresponding to the actual product is equal to or higher than the rate ap- plicable to the product indicated in section 16 of the licence, the latter rate shall apply; (b) if the rate of refund corresponding to the actual product is lower than the rate applicable to the product indicated in section 16 of the licence, the refund to be paid shall be that resulting from the application of the rate corresponding to the actual product, reduced, save in cases of force majeure, by 20 % of the difference between the refund corres- ponding to the product indicated in section 16 of the licence and the refund for the actual product.