Commission Regulation (EC) No 2308/2003
of 29 December 2003
laying down rules for the management and distribution of textile quotas established for the year 2004 under Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7 March 1994 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules(1), and in particular Article 17(3) and (6) and Article 21(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Regulation (EC) No 517/94 established quantitative restrictions on imports of certain textile products originating in certain third countries to be allocated on a "first come, first served" basis.
(2) Under that Regulation it is possible, in certain circumstances, to use other allocation methods, to divide quotas into tranches or to reserve a proportion of a specific quantitative limit exclusively for applications which are supported by evidence of the results of past import performance.
(3) Rules for management of the quotas established for 2004 should be adopted before the quota year begins so that the continuity of trade flows is not affected unduly.
(4) The measures adopted in previous years, such as those in Commission Regulation (EC) No 2357/2002 establishing rules for the management and distribution of textile quotas established for the year 2003 under Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94(2), proved to be satisfactory and it is therefore appropriate to adopt similar rules for 2004.
(5) In order to satisfy the greatest possible number of operators it is appropriate to make the "first come, first served" allocation method more flexible by placing a ceiling on the quantities which can be allocated to each operator by that method.
(6) To guarantee a degree of continuity in trade and efficient quota administration, operators should be allowed to make their initial import authorisation application for 2004 equivalent to the quantity which they imported in 2003.
(7) To achieve optimum use of the quantities, an operator who has used up at least one half of the amount already authorised should be permitted to apply for a further amount, provided that quantities are available in the quotas.
(8) For the sake of sound administration, import authorisations should be valid for nine months from the date of issue but only until the end of the year at the latest. Member States should issue licences only after being notified by the Commission that quantities are available and only if an operator can prove the existence of a contract and can certify, in the absence of a specific provision to the contrary that he/she has not already been allocated a Community import authorisation under this Regulation for the categories and countries concerned. The competent national authorities should, however, be authorised, in response to importers' applications, to extend by three months and up to 31 March 2005 licences of which at least one half has been used by the application date.
(9) Given that on 1 May 2004 the European Union will be enlarged, the allocation amongst importers of the 2004 quota should be divided into two tranches, corresponding to the Union's current and future membership respectively. Acceding States should be permitted to issue import authorisations only for goods to be imported on or after 1 May.
(10) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Textile Committee established by Article 25 of Regulation (EC) No 517/94,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The purpose of this Regulation is to lay down rules on the management of quantitative quotas for imports of certain textile products set out in Annexes IIIB and IV to Regulation (EC) No 517/94 for the year 2004.
The 2004 quotas shall be allocated in two separate tranches, of which the second shall become available from 1 May 2004 for the acceding States. The quantitative limits for the tranches shall be as listed in Annex I.
Article 2
The quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be allocated according to the chronological order of receipt by the Commission of Member States' notifications of applications from individual operators, for amounts not exceeding the maximum quantities per operator set out in Annex II.
The maximum quantities shall not, however, apply to operators able to prove to the competent national authorities, when making their first application for 2004, that, in respect of given categories and given third countries, they imported more than the maximum quantities specified for each category pursuant to import licences granted to them for 2003.
In the case of such operators, the competent authorities may authorise imports not exceeding the quantities imported in 2003 from given third countries and in given categories, provided that enough quota capacity is available.
Article 3
Any importer who has already used up 50 % or more of the amount allocated to him/her under this Regulation may make a further application, in respect of the same category and country of origin, for amounts not exceeding the maximum quantities laid down in Annex II.
Article 4
1. The competent national authorities listed in Annex III may, from 10.00 on 5 January 2004, notify the Commission of the amounts covered by requests for import authorisations.
The time fixed in the first subparagraph shall be understood as Brussels time.
Requests from the competent national authorities of Member States set out in section A of Annex III shall be processed initially by deduction from the first tranche. When the quantitative limit on a category of the first tranche is exhausted further requests shall be processed against the second tranche. Requests from the competent national authorities of Member States set out in section B of Annex III shall be processed only against the second tranche.
2. The competent national authorities shall issue authorisations only after being notified by the Commission pursuant to Article 17(2) of Regulation (EC) No 517/94 that quantities are available for importation. The competent national authorities of acceding States may only issue import authorisations for goods to be imported on or after 1 May.
They shall issue authorisations only if an operator:
(a) proves the existence of a contract relating to the provision of the goods; and
(b) certifies in writing that, in respect of the categories and countries concerned:
(i) he/she has not already been allocated an authorisation under this Regulation; or
(ii) he/she has been allocated an authorisation under this Regulation but has used up at least 50 % of it.
3. Import authorisations shall be valid for nine months from the date of issue, but until 31 December 2004 at the latest.
The competent national authorities may, however, at the importer's request, grant a three-month extension for authorisations which are at least 50 % used up at the time of the request. Such extension shall in no circumstances expire later than 31 March 2005.
Article 5
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2004.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 29 December 2003.