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COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2405/89
of 1 August 1989
laying down special detailed rules for the application of the system of import licences and advance fixing certificates for products processed from fruit and vegetables
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 426/86 of 24 February 1986 on the common organization of the market in products processed from fruit and vegetables (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1125/89 (2), and in particular Articles 14 (3) and 15 (4) thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3909/87 of 22 December 1987 amending Regulation (EEC) No 426/86 on the common organization of the market in products processed from fruit and vegetables (3), and in particular Article 2 thereof,
Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 743/87 (4) lays down special detailed rules for the application of the system of import licences and advance fixing certificates for products processed from fruit and vegetables; whereas the provisions of that Regulation have been amended several times; whereas, therefore, in the interests of clarity and administrative efficiency it is desirable to revise the provisions applicable in order to take account of a new definition of the products caused by the entry into force of the new combined nomenclature and to make certain amendments which experience has shown to be desirable;
Whereas the special detailed rules for the application of the system of import licences and advance fixing certificates in question either supplement or derogate from Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 of 16 November 1988 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (5), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1903/89 (6);
Whereas, in order to facilitate the adoption of appropriate measures in the event of disturbance or threatened disturbance of the market, provision should be made for introducing a fixed period between the application for and the issue of the import licence;
Whereas the term of validity of import licences, with or without advance fixing of the levy in respect of the various added sugars, should be determined in the light of the practices of international trade; whereas the amount of the security to be lodged for import licences and advance fixing certificates should be fixed at levels which will enable the system to function properly;
Whereas, in order to ensure better knowledge of the trade pattern for certain products, the country of origin must be indicated and the importer should be compelled to import from the country thus indicated; whereas, however, in view of the characteristics of trade in the products concerned, provision should be made to allow a change of the country origin;
Whereas in licence applications applicants must indicate the combined nomenclature subheading; whereas, in the case of certain products falling within headings 2008 and 2009 of the combined nomenclature, it is not always possible, owing to considerable variations in natural sugar content or to fluctuations in exchange rates, to know the exact subheadings at the time of application for licences; whereas special provision should be made for those products;
Whereas in advance fixing certificates the product is described with reference to the relevant subheading of the combined nomenclature; whereas the criterion for classifying a product in a specific subheading is in many cases the sugar content; whereas, as a consequence, variations in the sugar content of a specific product may lead exporters to submit several applications on account of the product's successive classifications; whereas that situation could be avoided if the issue of a single certificate for such a product with a varying sugar content were to be authorized;
Whereas the fourth indent of Article 5 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 provides that no licence is required for the purposes of operations relating to quantities for which the amount of the security for the corresponding licence would be ECU 5 or less; whereas Article 14 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 provides that no security is required in respect of an import or export licence or advance fixing certificate where the amount of security involved is ECU 5 or less or, under certain circumstances, ECU 25 or less; whereas the application of these provisions to products processed from fruit and vegetables results, because of the range of security rates, in a wide variation in the quantity of products covered; whereas it is necessary, with a view especially to administrative simplicity, to specify the quantity of products which may be imported thus without a licence; whereas the quantity below which an import licence or advance fixing
certificate is to be issued without a security being lodged should also be specified; whereas the second subparagraph of Article 14 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 should not apply;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Products Processed from Fruit and Vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
This Regulation lays down special detailed rules for the application of the system of import licences and advance fixing certificates as provided for in Articles 14 and 15 of Regulation (EEC) No 426/86.
TITLE I
Import licences without advance fixing
Article 2
1. Import licences without advance fixing of the levy shall be valid for a period of three months from their date of issue as defined in Article 21 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88.
2. For products in respect of which import trends need to be monitored closely in order to evaluate the possibility of disturbance or threatened disturbance of the market, the Commission may decide that import licences, with or without advance fixing of the levy shall be issued on the fifth working day following that on which applications are lodged.
Article 3
1. The amount of the security for import licences without advance fixing of the levy shall be, for each product, as shown in the table set out in Annex I.
2. Notwithstanding the first subparagraph of Article 14 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88, no security shall be required in respect of an import licence concerning a quantity not exceeding 1 000 kilograms. The second subparagraph of Article 14 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 shall not apply.
3. Notwithstanding the fourth indent of Article 5 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88, no licence shall be required for operations relating to a quantity not exceeding 500 kilograms where the amount of the security is less than ECU 1 per 100 kilograms.
Article 4
Where certain of the products falling within one subheading of the combined nomenclature are subject to the system of import licences, licence applications and the import licences themselves shall contain in section 15 the description of products subject to the system and in section 16 the combined nomenclature code preceded by 'ex'.
Licences shall be valid for the products so described.
Article 5
1. For the products set out in the table continued in Annex II, licence applications and the import licences themselves shall indicate the country of origin in section 8.
Licences shall make it obligatory to import from the country indicated thereon.
2. Holders of licences may apply, once only, to have the country of origin altered subject to the following rules:
(a) applications for alteration of the country of origin:
- must be submitted to the body which issued the original licence,
- must be accompanied by the original licence and by any extract issued,
- shall be subject to the provisions of Articles 13, 14 (1) and 15 of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88;
(b) the body which issued the licence shall retain the original licence and any extract and shall issue a replacement licence and, where appropriate, one or more replacement extracts.
However, if during the time taken to issue the replacement licence the issue of licences for the new country of origin is suspended, the replacement licence application concerned shall be rejected and the original licence and, where appropriate, the extract or extracts shall be returned to the holder;
(c) replacement licences and, where appropriate, the replacement extract or extracts shall:
- be issued for a quantity of products which, when the tolerance is added corresponds to the maximum available quantity shown on the document which they replace,
- contain in section 20 the number, and if wished the date, of the document which they replace,
- contain in section 8 the name of the new country of origin,
- contain in the other sections the same entries as the document which they replace, and in particular the same date of expiry.
Article 6
1. In the case of:
- mixtures of dried fruit falling within CN code ex 0813 50,
- tomato juice falling within CN code 2009 50,
- peaches, apricots and pears falling within CN code ex 2008, and
- cherry juice falling within CN code ex 2009 80 applicants may indicate in section 16 of their applications for import licences the CN codes, and in particular the following ones:
0813 50 91 and 0813 50 99, or 2008 40 51 and 2008 40 59, or 2008 40 71 and 2008 40 79, or 2008 50 61 and 2008 50 69, or 2008 50 71 and 2008 50 79, or 2008 70 61 and 2008 70 69, or 2008 70 71 and 2008 70 79, or 2009 50 10 and 2009 50 90, or ex 2009 80 31 and ex 2009 80 39, or ex 2009 80 80, ex 2009 80 91 and ex 2009 80 93.
The codes indicated in the application shall be entered on the import licence.
2. Where applicants avail themselves of the provisions of paragraph 1 and the amounts of the securities are different in respect of the subheadings concerned, the amount of the sole security to be lodged shall be the highest amount.
3. Where, as a result of the application of paragraph 1, a product not subject to an import levy is imported under cover of a licence including advance fixing of the levy, the obligation to import with advance fixing of the levy shall be considered to have been met.
TITLE II
Advance fixing certificates
Article 7
1. The products for which an advance fixing certificate may be applied for are set out in Annex III.
2. The amount of the security for advance fixing certificates shall be, for each product, as shown in Annex III.
3. Article 3 (2) shall apply by analogy to advance fixing certificates.
Article 8
Where applications for advance fixing are restricted to certain of the products falling within a subheading of the combined nomenclature, the applications for certificates and the certificates themselves shall contain in section 15 the description of the products qualifying for advance fixing and in section 16 the combined nomenclature code preceded by 'ex'.
Certificates shall be valid only for the products so described.
Article 9
Where citrus fruit juices falling within CN code ex 2009 other than grapefruit juice are imported into a Member State where they are subject to quantitative restrictions, the validity of the advance fixing certificate in the Member State shall be conditional on the production of a national document showing that importation has been authorized.
Article 10
Advance fixing certificates shall be valid for five months from their date of issue as defined in Article 21 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88.
Article 11
In the case of certificates for products falling within CN code 2009, a tolerance of 0,03 shall be permitted in relation to the tariff specification as to the density of the product.
Section 24 of the certificate in the case of imports and section 22 in the case of advance fixing of the refund shall contain one of the following entries:
- Tolerancia en densidad de 0,03
- Tolerance for densitet paa 0,03
- Toleranzdichte 0,03
- Anochí pyknótitas 0,03
- Density tolerance of 0,03
- Tolérance de densité de 0,03
- Tolleranza di densità di 0,03
- Dichtheidstolerantie 0,03
- Tolerância de densidade de 0,03
Article 12
1. In the case of advance fixing of the export refund:
(a) applications for certificates and the certificates themselves shall indicate in section 20 the basic product in respect of which the refund is fixed in advance.
For this purpose 'basic product' shall mean:
- sugar, including white sugar, raw sugar and beet and cane syrup,
- glucose in the form of white crystalline powder, whether or not agglomerated,
- other glucose and glucose syrup, or
- isoglucose;
(b) the products to be exported may, in applications for certificates and in the certificates themselves, be described by reference to the CN code within which they fall.
Certificates shall be valid for all products attracting an export refund and falling within that heading.
2. Where paragraph 1 (b) is applied, the amount of the security shall, notwithstanding Article 7 (2), be ECU 1,80 per 100 kilograms net.
TITLE III
Communications
Article 13
1. Member States shall communicate to the Commission no later than the ninth of each month the following particulars in respect of products for which import licences or advance fixing certificates were issued in the preceding month: (a) import licences, with or without advance fixing of the levy:
- quantities,
and
- in respect of the products referred to in Article 5, country of origin
broken down according to the combined nomenclature and according to the description contained in Annex I.
For the products listed in Article 6, the particulars shall be communicated for the first of the CN codes indicated in section 16;
(b) advance fixing certificates for import, other than those referred to in (a):
quantities broken down according to the combined nomenclature;
(c) advance fixing certificates for export:
quantities broken down according to the combined nomenclature.
2. If no import licences or advance fixing certificates have been issued during a calendar month, the Member States concerned shall inform the Commission accordingly not later than the ninth of the following month.
3. During periods when the provisions of Article 2 (2) are applied, and notwithstanding paragraph 1, Member States shall communicate to the Commission the particulars referred to in paragraph 1 (a) in respect of applications for import licences as follows:
- each Wednesday, as regards applications made on Monday and Tuesday of that week,
- each Friday, as regards applications made on Wednesday and Thursday of that week,
- each Monday, as regards applications made on Friday of the previous week.
TITLE IV
Final provisions
Article 14
1. Regulation (EEC) No 743/87 is hereby repealed.
2. References to Regulation (EEC) No 743/87 shall be construed as references to this Regulation.
Article 15
This Regulation shall enter into force on the eighth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 1 August 1989.