Article 1
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is amended as follows:
1. The following article is inserted:
Article 290a
Examination of bananas falling within CN code 0803 00 19 for the purposes of checking the net mass on importation shall involve a minimum of 10 % of declarations per year and per customs office.
Examination of bananas shall be carried out at the time of release for free circulation, in accordance with the rules laid down in Annex 38b.
2. The following Annex 38b is inserted:
Annex 38b
1
For the purposes of the application of Article 290a, the customs authorities of the customs office at which the declaration for free circulation of fresh bananas is lodged shall determine the net mass, based on a sample of units of packaging for each type of packaging and for each place of origin.
2
The units of packaging weighed should constitute a representative sample of the declaration. It shall involve at least the quantities indicated below:
Number of units of packaging declared (by type of packing and by origin) | Number of units of packaging to be examined
— up to 400 | 5
— from 401 to 700 | 7
— from 701 to 1 000 | 10
— from 1 001 to 2 000 | 13
— more than 2 000 | 15
Where a whole cargo load is covered by a single declaration, the customs office may, unless fraud is suspected, base the calculation of the net mass on a minimum sample of 15 units of packaging (of the same type of packaging and from the same place of origin).
The net mass shall be determined as follows:
  - opening at least one unit of packaging, then calculating the mass of the packaging,
  - the mass of the packaging shall be accepted for all packaging of the same type and shall be deducted from the mass of all the units of packaging weighed,
  - the average mass per unit of packaging of bananas thus established, based on the mass of the sample checked, shall be accepted as the basis for determining the net mass of the bananas covered by the declaration.
OJ No L 253, 11. 10. 1993, p. 1.