No L 326/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 12. 96 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2385/96 of 16 December 1996 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92 laying down provisions implementing Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States and amending it by simplifying the concept of net mass THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3330/91 of 7 November 1991 on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States ('), amended by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92 (%), and in particular Article 23 (3) and Article 30 thereof, Whereas the quantity of goods is a reliable and stable item of information which is necessary for comparisons of international trade; Whereas the quantity units are used for checking the reli- ability of the data collected and for calculating indices; Whereas, pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92, of the quantity units, net mass, in kilograms, is the main indicator and should in principle be mentioned for every type of goods but is not the most appropriate unit of measurement for certain products; whereas the party responsible for providing information should therefore be exempted from indicating net mass in such cases; Whereas this simplification might cause practical diffi- culties for certain national administrations; whereas three Member States are consequently authorised to postpone the application of this Regulation until 1 July 1997, Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are consonant with the opinion of the Committee on stat- istics relating to the trading of goods between Member States, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EEC) No 3046/92 is modified as follows: (a) Article 11 (a) shall be replaced by: (a) “net mass” shall mean the actual mass of the goods excluding all packaging and shall be given in kilograms. However, the specification of net mass for the subheadings of the combined nomenclature set out in Annex IV shall be optional for the parties responsible for providing information.’ (b) The annex to this Regulation shall be included as Annex IV. Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. It shall apply from 1 January 1997, except in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden, where it shall apply from 1 July 1997 at the latest. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 16 December 1996. () O] No L 316, 16. 11. 1991, p. L. () O] No L 307, 23. 10. 1992, p. 27. For the Commission Yves-Thibault DE SILGUY Member of the Commission