20. 11. 84 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 301/1 (Acts whose publication is obligatory) COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 3220/84 of 13 November 1984 determining the Community scale for grading pig carcases THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Comimunity, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2759/75 of 29 October 1975 on the common organi- zation of the market in pigmeat ('), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2966/80 (), and in particular Articles 2 and 4 (5) thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, Whereas, before 1 August of each year, a basic price must be fixed for slaughtered pigs of a standard quality defined by reference to a Community scale for grading pig carcases ; Whereas it is therefore necessary to lay down general rules ensuring uniform grading of pig carcases, parti- cularly in order to guarantee producers fair payment based on the weight and composition of the pigs they have delivered to slaughterhouses; whereas this grading is also intended to make the market more transparent as regards trade in pig carcases; Whereas the value of a pig carcase is determined in particular by its lean-meat content in relation to its weight ; whereas assessment of the lean-meat content on the basis of an objective consideration of the weight of the carcase and the thickness of the backfat together with a subjective assessment of muscle deve- lopment in the principal parts of the carcase can provide a correct assessment of this value; whereas, however, the subjective element represented by the assessment of muscle development can also lead to wide variations in assessments ; whereas, therefore, it 1s necessary to introduce throughout the Community the principle of direct establishment of the lean-meat () O] No 1. 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 1. () O] No L. 307, 18. 11. 1980, p. . percentage, on the basis of objective measurement of one or more anatomical parts of the pig carcase, without however ruling out possible use of further criteria for the determination of its commercial value ; Whereas the presentation, weight and lean-meat content of the carcase need to be accurately defined to ensure that the assessment results are comparable ; Whereas, given the differences in pig production in the Community, pig carcases should be divided according to their lean-meat content into five commercial grades, each covering a range of 5 % of lean meat ; whereas Member States should nonetheless be given the option of adding an additional grade for carcases with a high percentage of lean meat; Whereas a monitoring system should be established to ensure that the methods for assessing the percentage of lean meat are correctly applied ; whereas, in addi- tion, market transparency should be improved by requiring carcases to be marked according to their lean-meat content; Whereas, in order to establish quotations for pig carcases on a common basis and to make them comparable to the basic price valid for the standard quality, the Community scale should be used in parti- cular for determining the average price for pig carcases referred to in Article 4 of Regulation (EEC) No 2759775 Whereas, in view of the amendments referred to above, all the rules which apply should be consolidated and Council Regulation (EEC) No 2760/75 of 29 October 1975 determining the Community scale for grading pig carcases (‘) should accordingly be repealed ; Whereas, however, in view of the variety of slaughter- house structures and practices, it is not possible to provide for simultaneous implementation throughout () OJ No L 282, 1. 11. 1975, p. 10.