Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1952/2005 provides that the products referred to in Article 1 of that Regulation, harvested or prepared within the Community are to be subject to a certification procedure.

Detailed rules for the certification of hops are laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77 of 19 July 1977 concerning the certification of hops2 and Commission Regulation (EEC) No 890/78 of 28 April 1978 laying down detailed rules for the certification of hops3. Since further amendments are to be made, it is appropriate, in the interest of clarity, to repeal Regulations (EEC) No 1784/77 and (EEC) No 890/78 and to replace them by a single Regulation.

In order to ensure substantially uniform application of the certification procedure in the Member States, it is necessary to specify the products subject to certification, the operations involved and the information to be given on the documents which accompany the products.

In view of their special nature and their use, certain products should be excluded from the certification procedure.

To enable control to be exercised in respect of hop cones, a declaration signed by the producer should accompany hop cones presented for certification. This declaration should contain information which makes it possible to identify the hops from the moment they are presented for certification until the certificate is issued.

Article 4(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1952/2005 provides for that certificates may be issued only for products having minimum quality characteristics. Provision should therefore be made to ensure that hop cones comply with minimum marketing requirements from the initial marketing stage onwards.

For the purposes of determining the quality characteristics which hops must possess, the moisture content and extraneous matter content should be taken into consideration. In view of the reputation for quality that Community hops have acquired, the existing procedures customary in commercial transactions should be taken as a basis.

The choice of method for checking the moisture content of hops should be left to the Member States, provided that the methods adopted give comparable results. In case of disputes, a Community method should be used.

Strict rules governing blends should be laid down. Blends of hop cones should therefore be authorised only if they consist of certified products of the same variety coming from the same harvest and the same production area. It should also be specified that blending must be done under supervision and that blends must be subject to the same certification procedure as their components.

In view of users' requirements, it should be permissible under certain conditions to blend certified hops which are not of the same variety and do not come from the same production area in the manufacture of powder and extracts.

Hops prepared from hops certified unprepared may themselves be certified only if preparation is carried out within a closed operating circuit.

To ensure compliance with the certification procedure in the case of hop products, provision should be made for surveillance in accordance with appropriate rules.

The subsequent certification procedure should also be simplified for hop products where the packaging of a product is changed under official surveillance and without processing.

In order to ensure that certified products can be identified, rules should be laid down to the effect that the packaging should bear the necessary entries for official surveillance purposes and for the information of buyers.

In order to ensure that users have exact information on the origin and characteristics of products put on the market, common rules should be laid down for the marking of packages and the numbering of certificates.

In order to take account of current commercial practice in certain Community regions, hops marketed seeded and seedless should be defined and provision made for the appropriate entry on the certificate.

Experimental strains of hops in the course of development may be identified by a name or a number.

Products which are excluded from the certification procedure should be subject to specific requirements, to ensure that those products cannot disturb the normal marketing pattern for certified products and that they are suitable for their declared use and are used only by those to whom they are consigned.

Member States should certify products in accordance with this Regulation through authorised bodies specially designated for that purpose. The lists of those bodies should be communicated to the Commission.

The Member States should define the zones or regions to be considered as hop production areas and communicate the list thereof to the Commission.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Hops,