L 124/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 25. 4. 98 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 880/98 of 24 April 1998 establishing reference methods for the determination of the water, solids-non-fat and fat content of butter THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 of 27 June 1968 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products ('), as last amended by Regula- tion (EC) No 1587/96 (%), and in particular Articles 6(7), 12(3), 14(7), 16(2) and 17(4) thereof, Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1854/96 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 745/98 (*) estab- lished a list of reference methods to be applied for the analysis and quality evaluation of milk and milk products under the common market organisation; Whereas the internationally accepted reference methods for the determination of the water, solids-non-fat and fat content of butter referred to in that list have not been validated; whereas, therefore, no information on the between-laboratory-variation of analytical results is available; Whereas the methods had to be modified to facilitate their application; Whereas the methods have been validated according to internationally established rules; Whereas the validated methods should be applied as reference methods; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 1.  The method of analysis described in Annex I shall be applied as a reference method for the determination of the water content of butter. 2. The method of analysis described in Annex II shall be applied as a reference method for the determination of the solids-non-fat content of butter. 3. The method of analysis described in Annex III shall be applied as a reference method for the determination of the fat content of butter. Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force four weeks after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 24 April 1998. () () () ) OJ L 148, 28. 6. 1968, p. 13. OJ L 206, 16. 8. 1996, p. 21. OJ L 246, 27. 9. 1996, p. 5. OJ L 103, 3. 4. 1998, p. 8. For the Commission Franz FISCHLER Member of the Commission