No L 61/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 4. 3. 94 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 479/94 of 3 March 19%4 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3478/92 laying down detailed rules for the application of the premium system for raw tobacco THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, ' Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organization of the market in raw tobacco ('), and in particular Articles 7 and 27 thereof, Whereas, in order to improve the quality of production, Member States should endeavour to limit the areas of production recognized for the grant of the premium and notify the Commission thereof within a suitable period ; whereas to that end the limited production areas should be defined using the municipal boundaries as a basis ; Whereas in view of the relatively small area of French communes, France should be authorized to base the defi- nition of the limited production areas on cantons and not communes ; Whereas, in view of the administrative difficulties expe- rienced by certain Member States in implementing Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3478/92(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 3477/93 (}), some dead- lines and periods have had to be extended, in particular the dates set for the conclusion and registration of cultiva- tion contracts and the final date for the reallocation of additional quantities ; whereas the extension of those time limits and periods should be prolonged for 1994 ; Whereas in some Member States producer groups carried out first processing themselves ; whereas it was possible under the system which had been established by Article 3 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 727/70 of 21 April 1970 on the common organization of the market in raw tobacco (), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 860/92 (), whereby first processing was to take place on the basis of a cultivation declaration instead of a cultiva- tion contract; whereas Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92, which replaces Regulation (EEC) No 727/70, no longer provides for this option ;. Whereas the absence of such an option has been found to create difficulties of switchover in the industry ; whereas the short space of time between the reform and its imple- mentation makes it difficult to discontinue this commer- cial practice within the time required ; whereas Regula- tion (EEC) No 3478/92 should therefore be amended so () OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 70. () OJ No L 351, 2. 12. 1992, p. 17. () OJ No L 317, 18. 12. 1993, p. 30. () OJ No L 94, 28. 4. 1970, p. 1. () OJ No L 91, 7. 4. 1992, p. 1. as to authorize operators who have availed themselves of this option in the past to undertake first processing for the 1993 harvest; whereas, however, Member States should provide for stringent and specific control measures to prevent fraud; whereas those provisions should be maintained for the 1994 harvest, whilst special provisions should be laid down for cases where additional quantities are allocated pursuant to Article 11 (3) of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3477/92 of 1 December 1992 laying down detailed rules for the application of the raw tobacco quota system for the 1993 and 1994 harvests (f), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 268/94("); Whereas Council Regulation (EC) No 164/94 (f) amends for the 1994 harvest certain guarantee thresholds provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 2076/92 of 30 June 1992 fixing the premium for leaf tobacco by group of tobacco varieties and the processing quotas allocated by group of varieties and by Member State (°) and introduces in parti- cular for Belgium a guarantee threshold of 200 tonnes for the light air-cured group of varieties; whereas for the cultivation of such a group of varieties in Belgium the production areas referred to in Article 5 (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 should be determined and Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 3478/92 should be amended accordingly ; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Tobacco, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION : Article 1 Regulation (EEC} No 3478/92 is hereby amended as follows : 1. Article 1 (1) is replaced by the following: ‘1. For each group of varieties, the production areas referred to in Article 5 (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92 shall be as laid down in Annex I hereto. Member States shall determine, before 15 February 1995, more limited production areas, based in parti- cular on quality criteria. Limited production areas shall not exceed a municipality in area or, in the case of France, a canton. () OJ No L 351, 2. 12. 1992, p. 11. () OJ No L 32, 5. 2. 1994, p. 20. () OF No L 24, 29. 1. 1994, p. 4. () OJ No L 215, 30. 7. 1992, p. 77.