L1288 Official Journal of the European Communities 15.5.2002 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 796/2002 of 6 May 2002 amending Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 on the characteristics of olive oil and olive-pomace oil and on the relevant methods of analysis and the additional notes in the Annex to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 136/66/EEC of 22 September 1966 on the establishment of a common organ- isation of the market in oils and fats (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1513/2001 (3, and in particular Article 35a thereof, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 265887 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (%), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 578/2002 (%), and in particular Article 9 thereof, Whereas: (1)  Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 of 11 July 1991 on the characteristics of olive oil and olive- pomace oil and on the relevant methods of analysis (°), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2042/2001 (¢), defines the physical, chemical and organoleptic charac- teristics of olive and olive-pomace oils and stipulates methods of assessing these characteristics. From 1 November 2001, the definition of olive-pomace oil given in point 4 of the Annex to Regulation No 136/ 66/EEC stipulates that certain olive-pomace oils corre- spond to lampante olive oils with the exception of certain specific characteristics. 2)  In order to distinguish between oils obtained by centri- fuging olive pomace and lampante olive oils in the absence of an analytical parameter, limit values for wax, erythrodiol and uvaol composition or total aliphatic alcohol composition should be set for differentiating them independently of production method. To this end, a method for determining total aliphatic alcohol content should be specified. (3)  Introduction of these new limits requires an amendment to Additional Note 2 to Chapter 15 of the Combined Nomenclature in Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/ 87. This opportunity should also be taken to delete 172, 30.9.1966, p. 3025/66. L 201, 26.7.2001, p. 4. L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1. 97, 13.4.2002, p. 1. 248, 5.9.1991, p. 1. 276, 19.10.2001, p. 8. | ol onill ol Article 5 and Annex XIV to Regulation (EEC) No 2568/ 91 and to correct certain errors in the text of that Regulation. In order to harmonise methods for preparing methyl esters of fatty acids to be used for analysing the fatty- acid composition of oils, technical developments in analysis methods have made it possible to use the free acidity of oils, so that the number of methods included in Annex X B can be reduced to two. Drawing on experience, the International Olive Oil Council has devised a new method of organoleptic assessment of virgin oils that is simpler and more reli- able than that given in Annex XII to Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91. The method provided for in Annex XII should therefore be replaced by the new method of organoleptic assessment of virgin oils. Use of the new method requires that a new arbitration procedure be available for dealing with cases of discrep- ancy between the category declared and that assigned by the assessing panel. In order to ensure that analyses are carried out in the correct conditions and in view of the distances between regions, different time limits should be set for sending samples to the laboratory after sampling, taking account of the weather conditions in each season. For the purpose of grading oils, the results of analyses should be compared with the limits laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91, which already include the repeatability and reproducibility limits for the analysis methods used. In order both to give time for adjustment to the new standards and assembly of the means of applying them and to avoid disturbance to commercial transactions, the amendments to this Regulation should not apply until 1 September 2002, and olive and olive-pomace oil pack- aged for retail sale before that date should be exempt. The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Oils and Fats and the Customs Code Committee regarding the issues coming within their respective areas of responsibility,