Leaf tobacco: premiums and guarantee thresholds for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 harvests (amend. Regulation (EEC) No 2075/92)

PURPOSE : to fix the premium and guarantee thresholds for tobacco and amend the objectives of the Community Tobacco Fund. COMMUNITY MEASURE : Council Regulation 546/2002/EC fixing the premium and guarantee thresholds for leaf tobacco for the 2002, 2003 and 2004 harvests and amending Regulation 2075/92/EEC. CONTENT : The premium and supplementary amounts for each tobacco harvest are fixed, taking particular account of past and foreseeable possibilities for the disposal of the various types of tobacco, under normal conditions of competition. These are linked to the guarantee thresholds fixed for the same years. With regard to the cultivation contract auction scheme, under the provisions of Regulation 2075/92/EEC the scheme must cover all the groups of tobacco varieties produced in a Member State. The scheme has not yet been applied because Member States believe that auctioning is only warranted for certain variety groups and only for contracts of producer groups which manifest an interest. This Regulation introduces more flexible provisions so that Member States can restrict this mechanism to certain variety groups only and to producer groups which wish to participate. The national quota reserves created under Regulation 2075/92/EC have failed to achieve the conversion or farm-restructuring objectives for which they were created. The possibility does, however, remain open under this Regulation for Member States which wish to do so to have recourse to the system where they consider it to be useful. The Community Tobacco Fund is set up, financed by a deduction of 2% of the premium for the 2002 harvest and 3% of the premium for the 2003 harvest. The Commission may ask for an increase of up to 5% for the 2004 harvest. The Fund will finance the following: -improve public awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco consumption, particularly through information and education, support for the collection of data to establish tobacco consumption patterns and to study nicotinism; -specific measures to help tobacco growers to switch to other crops or other economic activities that create employment and studies of the possibilities for tobacco growers to do so. ENTRY INTO FORCE : 29/03/02.�