No L 14/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 15. 1. 96 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 68/96 of 18 January 1996 on the country nomenclature for the external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States (Text with EEA relevance) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 of 22 May 1995 relating to the trading of goods by the Community and its Member States with non-member countries (), and in particular Article 21 (1) thereof, Whereas in accordance with Article 9 of the Regulation (EC) No 1172/95 the introduction of the country nomen- clature is the responsibility of the Commission ; Whereas the version thereof valid on 1 January 1995 was annexed to Commission Regulation (EC) No 3079/94 (3); whereas from 1 January 1996 minor amendments should be introduced to meet new statistical and technical requi-- rements ; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Statistics relating to the Trading of Goods with Non- Member Countries, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 The version valid on 1 January 1996 of the nomenclature of countries for the external trade statistics of the Community and statistics of trade between Member States is set out in the Annex hereto. Article 2 This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1996. This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. Done at Brussels, 18 January 1996. () OJ No L 118, 25. 5. 1995, p. 10. () OJ No L 325, 17. 12. 1994, p. 17. For the Commission Yves-Thibault DE SILGUY Member of the Commission