L 74/4 Official Journal of the European Union 20.3.2003 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 497/2003 of 18 March 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 94/2002 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000 on information and promotion actions for agricultural products on the internal market THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000 of 19 December 2000 on information and promotion actions for agricultural products on the internal market (!), and in parti- cular Article 12 thereof, Whereas: 1 With a view to providing correct information to and protecting consumers, Article 2 of Commission Regula- tion (EC) No 94/2002 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2097/2002 (%), should provide that nutritional messages are to be based on recognised scientific data, the sources of which are available. In the interests of legal certainty, it should be specified that the proposed programmes must comply, in parti- cular, with all the Community legislation covering the products concerned and their marketing. In the light of both the experience gained from the scru- tiny of the programmes presented and developments in scientific knowledge, the guidelines should be adapted for some sectors. Olive oil, table olives and beef and veal are key sectors where market balance could be improved through infor- mation and/or generic promotion measures, in particular by providing adequate information to consumers. In the fibre-flax sector, high quality products must face stiff competition from flax originating outside the Community and from other types of fibre. The sector's results from the last marketing year show that informa- tion measures on Community fibre flax have had a posi- tive impact. Olive oil, table olives, fibre flax and beef and veal should therefore be included in the list of products to be promoted, and general guidelines on campaigns should be laid down already at this stage for the purpose of managing the programmes to be implemented for these sectors. The guidelines in the Annex hereto take account of the market situation and the available results from the evaluation of the most recent promotion campaign. L 328, 21.12.2000, p. 2. L 17, 19.1.2002, p. 20. L 323, 28.11.2002, p. 41. ®) (10) (11) In view of the date on which these guidelines were adopted, specific deadlines should be fixed for the trans- mission and approval of programmes submitted in 2003 for olive oil, table olives and fibre flax. Annex II, which lists the competent bodies of the Member States, needs updating. Regulation (EC) No 94/2002 should be amended accord- ingly. The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion delivered at the joint meeting of the management committees on agricultural product promotion, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Atrticle 1 Regulation (EC) No 94/2002 is hereby amended as follows: In Article 2, the following paragraph 3 is added: ‘3. Any reference in promotion and information messages to the effects on health of consuming the products concerned must be based on generally-accepted scientific data. Such messages must be accepted by the national authority responsible for public health. The trade federation or interbranch organisation making the proposal shall keep a list available for the Member State concerned and the Commission of the scientific studies and the opinions of authorised scientific institutions on which such messages are based. Article 5(1) is replaced by the following: ‘1. For the purpose of implementing measures under the programmes referred to in Article 6 of Regulation (EC) No 2826/2000, the Member State concerned shall receive, in response to a call for proposals and no later than 31 January and 31 July each year, programmes drawn up by trade and interbranch associations in the Community which are representative of the sector or sectors concerned. However, the Member States concerned shall receive programmes to be submitted in 2003 relating to olive oil, table olives and fibre flax in response to a call for proposals no later than 31 May 2003.