COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 965/2006
of 29 June 2006
amending Regulation (EC) No 327/98 opening and providing for the administration of certain tariff quotas for imports of rice and broken rice
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in rice (1), and in particular Articles 10(2) and 11(4) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Kingdom of Thailand pursuant to Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 relating to the modification of concessions in the schedules of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic in the course of their accession to the European Union (2), approved by Council Decision 2006/324/EC (3), provides for an increase in the current annual global tariff quota at zero duty for wholly milled and semi-milled rice covered by CN code 1006 30 of 25 516 tonnes for all origins and of 1 200 tonnes for Thailand. It also provides for the opening of a new zero-duty tariff quota of 31 788 tonnes of broken rice covered by CN code 1006 40 for all origins.
(2)
The above Decision also provides for new quotas at 15 % duty valid for all origins of 7 tonnes of paddy rice covered by CN code 1006 10 and 1 634 tonnes of husked rice covered by CN code 1006 20.
(3)
For the sake of simplification and given the small volume of the paddy rice quota provided for in Decision 2006/324/EC, that quota should be managed in accordance with Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (4).
(4)
The quota of 20 000 tonnes of husked rice covered by CN code 1006 20 at a duty of EUR 88 per tonne provided for in Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 327/98 (5) has become obsolete as a result of the amendment of the duty applicable to husked rice laid down in Article 11a of Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003. That quota should therefore be abolished.
(5)
In order not to disturb the normal marketing of rice produced in the Community the quotas should be opened in such a way that the imports can be better absorbed by the Community market. In particular, where the application of a reduction percentage would give rise to the allocation of licences for quantities of less than 20 tonnes and Member States organise that allocation by drawing lots, provision should be made for the redistribution by the competent national authorities of the remaining quantities with a view to utilising the quota to the maximum possible extent and avoiding the allocation of very small quantities. For the same reasons, provision should also be made for redistribution in cases where the application of a reduction percentage fails to result in the constitution of a lot of 20 tonnes.
(6)
To ensure the proper management of the quotas, provision should be made for the compulsory presentation of a certificate of origin when the quota is opened for a specific country and an export licence issued by that country is not required.
(7)
Regulation (EC) No 327/98 should be amended accordingly.
(8)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 327/98 is hereby amended as follows:
1.
Article 1 is replaced by the following:
‘Article 1
1. The following annual global tariff quotas are hereby opened on 1 January each year:
(a)
63 000 tonnes of wholly milled or semi-milled rice covered by CN code 1006 30, at zero duty;
(b)
1 634 tonnes of husked rice covered by CN code 1006 20 at an ad valorem duty fixed at 15 %;
(c)
100 000 tonnes of broken rice covered by CN code 1006 40 00, with a reduction of 30,77 % in the duty fixed in Article 11d of Council Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 (6);
(d)
40 216 tonnes of wholly milled or semi-milled rice covered by CN code 1006 30, at zero duty;
(e)
31 788 tonnes of broken rice covered by CN code 1006 40 00, at zero duty.
These quotas shall be managed in accordance with this Regulation and broken down by country of origin and by periodical tranches in accordance with Annex IX. However, for 2006 they shall be broken down in accordance with Annex X.
2. An annual quota of 7 tonnes of paddy rice covered by CN code 1006 10, at an ad valorem duty fixed at 15 %, shall be opened on 1 January each year under serial number 09.0083.
It shall be managed by the Commission in accordance with Articles 308a to 308c of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (7).
2.
In Article 3, ‘Article 1(1)(a), (b) and (c)’ is replaced by ‘Article 1(1)(a) and (c)’.
3.
Article 4 is amended as follows:
(a)
In the third indent of paragraph 2, ‘Article 1(1)(c)’ is replaced by ‘Article 1(1)(c) and (e)’;
(b)
In paragraph 4, the following point (e) is added:
‘(e)
in the case of the quota referred to in Article 1(1)(e), one of the indications in Annex XI’;
(c)
In paragraph 5, the third indent is replaced by the following:
‘-
if no export licence is required applicants may submit a single application up to the maximum quantity laid down for each tranche and serial number.’
4.
Article 5(3) is replaced by the following:
‘3. If the reduction referred to in the first indent of paragraph 2 results in one or more quantities of less than 20 tonnes per application, Member States shall allocate the total of such quantities by drawing lots for each lot of 20 tonnes, plus the remaining quantity equally distributed between the 20-tonne lots.
However, where adding together the quantities of less than 20 tonnes does not result in the constitution of a 20-tonne lot the remaining quantity shall be distributed by the Member State equally between the operators whose licence is for 20 tonnes or more.’
5.
In the first subparagraph of Article 6(1), ‘Article 5(2)’ is replaced by ‘Article 5(2) and (3)’.
6.
Article 7 is amended as follows:
(a)
Paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:
‘4. Notwithstanding Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1342/2003 (8) and pursuant to Article 23(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 (9), import licences for husked, semi-milled and wholly milled rice shall be valid from the date of their actual issue until the end of the third month following that date.
However, the duration of validity of the import licences may not exceed 31 December of the year of issue.
(b)
The following paragraph 5 is added:
‘5. Under the quotas referred to in Article 1(1), the release of the products into free circulation in the Community shall be subject to the presentation of a certificate of origin issued by the competent national authorities of those countries in accordance with Article 47 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93.
However, in respect of those parts of the quotas relating to countries for which a certificate of origin is required in accordance with Article 3 of this Regulation or in respect of quotas the origin of which is described as “all countries”, a certificate of origin is not required.’
7.
Annex VI is replaced by the text of Annex I to this Regulation.
8.
Annexes IX and X are replaced by the text of Annex II to this Regulation.
9.
The text of Annex III to this Regulation is added as Annex XI.
Article 2
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 July 2006, with the exception of Article 1(6), which shall apply from 1 January 2007.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 29 June 2006.