14. 7. 98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 196/7 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1490/98 of 13 July 1998 amending Regulation (EC) No 659/97 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards intervention arrangements in the fruit and vegetables sector THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables ('), as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2520/97 (3, and in par- ticular Article 30(6) and Articles 48 and 57 thereof, Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 659/97 (%), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1946/97 (*), lays down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as regards intervention arrangements in the fruit and vegetables sector; Whereas minimum requirements should be laid down for products to be withdrawn for which there is no Com- munity marketing standard; Whereas tomatoes produced in the period 16 July to 15 October must meet the marketing standard and must therefore comply with the packaging requirements, given the particular harvest and production conditions for that product; Whereas the second subparagraph of Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 provides that Member States may set a maximum level for the supplement to the Community withdrawal compensation; whereas, however, that Article provides that the amount of the supplement added to the Community withdrawal compensation may not exceed the maximum level of withdrawal prices applying in the 1995/96 marketing year; whereas criteria should be laid down for setting that supplement in order to maintain the withdrawal of products from the market as an instrument for stabilising the market in fresh products and not an outlet substituting the market; Whereas, in the case of tomatoes intended for processing, the Community withdrawal compensation plus any supplement set by the Member States may not exceed the minimum processing price set for the marketing year in () OJ L 297, 21. 11. 1996, p. 1. () OJ L 346, 17. 12. 1997, p. 41. ¢) OJ L 100, 17. 4. 1997, p. 22. () OJ L 274, 7. 10. 1997, p. 4. question to prevent withdrawal of those products from being an alternative to processing; Whereas Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 provides that growers who are not members of any producer organisation may benefit from the intervention system via such organisations; whereas provision should be made to allow measures to be laid down at national level where necessary to ensure that those provisions are applied effectively; Whereas, for the purposes of the free distribution of products withdrawn from the market, social, educational and/or health institutions should be treated in the same way as the institutions laid down to that end in Regula- tion (EC) No 2200/96; Whereas in the case of free distribution operations in third countries the Member States must submit plans for those operations to the Commission; whereas plans must contain in particular the agreement of the third countries concerned; whereas, in the case of transport by sea, a coef- ficient of 0,6 should be applied to the transport costs that may be borne by the Commission; Whereas Article 15a of Regulation (EC) No 659/97 should be prolonged until the 2000/01 marketing year; Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 659/97 is hereby amended as follows: 1. Article 2(2) is replaced by the following: 2. Where standards have been adopted pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, products withdrawn from the market comply with those standards, with the exception of the provisions on the presentation and marking of the product. Products may be withdrawn without sizing by quality class, provided that the lower limit for class II is met. However, tomatoes withdrawn from 16 July to 15 October must comply with the marketing standard laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 778/83’