L 83/40 Official Journal of the European Communities 27.3.1999 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 676/1999 of 26 March 1999 amending for the fifth time Regulation (EC) No 785/95 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 603/95 on the common organ- isation of the market in dried fodder THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 603/95 of 21 February 1995 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1347/95 (%), and in particular Article 18 thereof, Whereas the first indent of Article 2(2)(a) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 785/95 of 6 April 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 603/95 on the common organisation of the market in dried fodder (°), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1794/97 (*), stipulates that the driers to be used for the dehydration of fodder must reach an air tempera- ture at the entry point not less than 93 °C; Whereas a large number of scientific studies show that high-temperature fodder drying safeguards the nutritional value of a high-quality product, in particular its beta-caro- tene content; Whereas the situation on the market in dried fodder, characterised by price reductions and production increases, is such that it is necessary to guarantee supplies of a finished product of high nutritional quality obtained under comparable competitive conditions and to justify the amount of aid granted as a contribution to processing costs; whereas that objective can be achieved by extending the practice of high-temperature drying; Whereas fodder processing is carried out at high tempera- ture in most processing plants; whereas provision should therefore be made for those plants still operating at an air temperature at the entry point of 93 °C to be modified within a reasonable time limit so as to conform to that practice; Whereas the technical modifications needed for that purpose make confirmation of approval of the plant by the competent authority indispensable; 63, 21. 3. 1995, p. 1. 131, 15. 6. 1995, p. 1. 79, 7. 4. 1995, p. 5. 255, 18. 9. 1997, p. 12. 0000 S | ol ol ol o Whereas a small number of horizontal belt driers producing an air temperature at the entry point of a least 110 °C are currently in use in some Member States; whereas these are small, low-capacity installations whose operating temperature cannot be increased without considerable technical modifications; whereas they may, therefore, be granted a derogation from the requirement for a minimum drying temperature of 350 °C, on the understanding that no new installations of this type will be approved after the beginning of the 1999/2000 marketing year; Whereas Article 15(b) of Regulation (EC) No 785/95 provides that Member States must inform the Commis- sion of the areas and quantities covered by delivery contracts and declarations; whereas experience has shown that that notification can be the source of contradictory and unsatisfactory information; whereas it should there- fore be abolished; Whereas the Management Committee for Dried Fodder has not delivered an opinion within the timelimit set by its chairman, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: Article 1 Regulation (EC) No 785/95 is hereby amended as follows: 1. in Article 2(2)(a), the first indent is replaced by the following: ‘— air temperature at the entry point not less than 350 °C; however, horizontal belt driers producing an air temperature at the entry point of not less than 110 °C approved before the beginning of the 1999/2000 marketing year need not comply with this requirement,’; 2. in Article 15, point (b) is deleted.