4. 3.97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 62/9 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 411/97 of 3 March 1997 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards operational programmes, operational funds and Community financial assistance THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables('), and in particular Articles 48 and 57 thereof, Whereas Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 provides for financial assistance to be granted to producer organizations setting up an operational fund maintained and used within the framework of an operational programme in accordance with certain rules and within certain limits; whereas Article 13 of the abovementioned Regulation grants the same financial assistance to existing producer organizations needing a transitional period in order to qualify for recognition, provided that they comply with certain requirements and carry out a plan of action in accordance with certain rules; whereas Article 16 of the abovementioned Regulation lays down certain rules for the implementation of operational programmes; whereas detailed rules should be laid down for the appli- cation of those provisions; Whereas, in the interests of simplification, operational programmes should be presented and approved in the same way as plans of action, and the producer organiza- tions referred to in Articles 11 and 13 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 should be treated as producer organizations; whereas, to prevent misuse of the scheme, the marketed production of producer organizations should be defined as the entire production marketed by the organization itself or with its authorization; whereas, in order to facilitate the preparation of operational programmes and the calcula- tion of the estimated amounts of the operational funds by the producer organizations in foreseeable conditions, the ceilings on Community financial assistance should be calculated on the basis of the value of production marketed during the year preceding that to which those ceilings relate; Whereas, in the interests of sound management, the dead- lines for the presentation and approval of operational programmes should be determined in the light not only of the time needed for the administrative procedures but also of the information and undertakings to be included in, and activities to be excluded from, the programmes; whereas, since the programmes are managed on an annual basis, it should be stipulated that programmes not () OJ No L 297, 21. 11. 1996, p. 1. approved before a given date should be postponed for one year; Whereas there must be room for discrepancies between the actual execution of the programmes and the estimates contained therein, subject to certain limits and conditions, to prevent approved programmes from slipping away from their targets; whereas, in addition, there should be an annual procedure for amending operational programmes for the following year so that they can be adjusted to take account of any new conditions which could not have been foreseen when they were initially presented; Whereas the procedure for determining and notifying information on the estimated amounts of the operational funds and the estimated amounts of financial assistance as referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 16 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 should be supplemented by an additional stage whereby the Commission sets the es- timated ceiling on the financial assistance, since this will give producer organizations guidance as to the definitive ceiling likely to be set in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 15 (5) of the abovementioned Regulation; Whereas arrangements should be made for creating a system of advance payments accompanied by appropriate securities; whereas it should be stipulated that, in order to prevent the systematic recovery of advances, such payments should not exceed the minimum level of finan- cial assistance; whereas it should be possible for furnished securities to be progressively released as implementation of the operational programme proceeds, to the extent of up to 80 % of the advances paid, the remaining amount being retained until the balance of the assistance has been paid; Whereas the information to be included in applications for assistance should be specified; whereas, in the interests of uniform application, the marketing stage at which the value of production is to be calculated must be specified; whereas it should also be specified that the financial contributions of members of the producer organization are based on the marketed production used to calculate the Community financial assistance; whereas, in order to avoid needless duplication of applications for amend- ments to operational programmes because of technical delays in their implementation, it must be possible for advances to be settled at the end of the operational programme, provided that the equivalent contribution from the producer organization is maintained in the operational fund;