1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No936/97
of27May1997
opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas for high-quality fresh, chilled and
frozenbeefandforfrozen buffalomeat
(OJ L 137, 28.5.1997, p. 10)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1CommissionRegulation(EC) No 2048/97 of 20 October 1997 L 287 10 21.10.1997
►M2CommissionRegulation(EC) No 31/98 of 8 Jan uary 1998 L 5 3 9.1.1998
►M3CommissionRegulation(EC) No 260/98 of 30 Jan uary 1998 L 25 42 31.1.1998
►M4CommissionRegulation(EC) No 1299/98 of 23 Jun e 1998 L 180 6 24.6.1998
►M5CommissionRegulation(EC) No 1680/98 of 29 July 1998 L 212 36 30.7.1998
►M6CommissionRegulation(EC) No 134/1999 of 21 Jan uary 1999 L 17 22 22.1.1999
►M7CommissionRegulation(EC) No 361/2002 of 27 February 2002 L 58 5 28.2.2002
►M8CommissionRegulation(EC) No 1524/2002 of 26 August 2002 L 229 7 27.8.2002
►M9CommissionRegulation(EC) No 1781/2002 of 7 October 2002 L 270 3 8.10.2002
►M10CommissionRegulation(EC) No 649/2003 of 10 April 2003 L 95 13 11.4.2003
▼B
COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No936/97
of27May1997
opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas for
high-quality fresh, chilled and frozen beef and for frozen buffalo
meat
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1095/96 of 18 June 1996
on the implementation of the concessions set out in Schedule CXL
drawn up in the wake of the conclusion of the GATT XXIV.6 negotia-tions (
1), and in particular Article 1 (1) thereof,
Whereas the Community has undertaken, pursuant to the Agreement on
agriculture concluded under the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade
negotiations, to open tariff quotas for high-quality beef and frozenbuffalo meat, fixed at an annual quantity of 58 100 tonnes and 2 250tonnes respectively; whereas those quotas should be opened on a multi-annual basis and detailed rules should be adopted for their applicationfor 12-month periods starting on 1 July;
Whereas the exporting third countries have undertaken to issue certifi-
cates of authenticity guaranteeing the origin of the products; whereasthe form and layout of the certificates and the procedures for using
them must be specified; whereas certificates of authenticity must be
issued by authorities in third countries affording all the necessary guar-antees to ensure that the arrangements concerned are properly applied;
Whereas the quota in question should be managed using import
licences; whereas to this end rules should be laid down on submission
of applications and the information to be given on applications andlicences, by way of derogation, if necessary, from certain provisionsof CommissionRegulation(EEC) No 3719/88 of 16 November 1988laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system
of import and export licences and advance-fixing certificates for agri-
cultural products (
2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2350/
96 (3), and of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1445/95 of 26 June
1995 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beefand veal sector and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2377/80 (
4), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 266/97 (5);
Whereas, in order to ensure proper management of the imports of meat,
provision should be made, where relevant, for import licences to beissued subject to verification, in particular of entries on certificates ofauthenticity;
Whereas experience has shown that importers do not always inform the
competent authorities which issued the import licences of the quantityand origin of the beef imported under the quota in question; whereas
this information is important for the assessment of the market situation;
whereas a security should therefore be introduced to ensure that impor-ters comply with this requirement;
Whereas provisionshould be made for the Member States to forward
information concerning such imports;
Whereas the measures provided for inthis Regulationare inaccor-
dance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Beef andVeal,1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 146, 20. 6. 1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1.
(3) OJ No L 320, 11. 12. 1996, p. 4.
(4) OJ No L 143, 27. 6. 1995, p. 35.
(5) OJ No L 45, 15. 2. 1997, p. 1.
▼B
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The following tariff quotas are hereby opened on a multiannual
basis for the period from 1 July one year to 30 June the year after,hereinafter called ‘import year’:
—►
M859100 tonnes ◄for high-quality fresh, chilled or frozen
meat of bovine animals covered by CN codes 0201 and 0202 and
for products covered by CN codes 0206 1095 and 0206 2991.
This quota carries serial No 09.4002,
— 2 250 tonnes for frozen boneless buffalo meat covered by CN code
0202 3090, expressed inweight of bon eless meat. This quotacarries serial No 09.4001.
For the purposes of attributing the said quota, 100 kilograms of
bone-in meat shall be equivalent to 77 kilograms of boneless meat.
However, the total volume of tariff quotas shall be 69100 tonnes in the
2002/03 import year.
2. For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘frozen meat’ means meat
with an internal temperature of −12 ºC or lower when it enters thecustoms territory of the Community.
3. The ad valorem customs duty under the quotas referred to in
paragraph 1 shall be 20%.
Article 2
The tariff quota for fresh, chilled and frozen beef provided for in the
first indent of Article 1 (1) shall be allocated as follows:
(a) 28000 tonnes for boneless meat covered by CN codes 0201 30 and
0206 1095 and meeting the following definition: ‘Special or good-quality beef cuts obtained from exclusively pasture-grazed animalsaged between 22 and 24 months, having two permanent incisorsand presenting a slaughter liveweight not exceeding 460 kilograms,referred to as “special boxed beef”, cuts of which may bear the
letters “sc” (special cuts)’.
However, for the 2002/03 import year the tariff quota shall be
38000 tonnes, of which 10 000 tonnes, expressed in product
weight, shall fall withinCN codes 0201 30 00, 0202 3090,
0206 1095 and 0206 29 91;
(b) 7 000 tonnes product weight for meat covered by CN codes
0201 2090, 0201 30, 0202 20 90, 0202 30, 020610 95 and
0206 2991 and meeting the following definition: ‘Selected cuts of
fresh, chilled or frozen beef obtained from bovine animals whichdo not have more than four permanent incisor teeth, the carcasesof which have a dressed weight of not more than 327 kilograms(720 pounds), a compact appearance with a good eye of meat oflight and uniform colour, and adequate but not excessive fat cover.
The meat shall be certified “high-quality beef EC”’;
(c) 6 300 tonnes for boneless meat covered by CN codes 0201 30,
0202 3090, 0206 10 95 and 0206 29 91 and meeting the following
definition: ‘Special or good-quality beef cuts obtained from exclu-sively pasture-grazed animals presenting a slaughter liveweight notexceeding 460 kilograms, referred to as “special boxed beef”.These cuts may bear the letters “sc” (special cuts)’;
(d) 5 000 tonnes for boneless meat covered by CN codes 0201 30,
0202 3090, 0206 10 95 and 0206 29 91 and meeting the following
definition:
‘Beef cuts obtained from steers (novilhos) or heifers (novilhas)
aged between 20 and 24 months, which have been exclusivelypasture-grazed, have lost their central temporary incisors but do1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 3
▼M8
▼B
▼M8
▼B
▼B
not have more than four permanent incisor teeth, which are of good
maturity and which meet the following beef-carcase classificationrequirements:
meat from B or R class carcases of rounded to straight conforma-
tion and a fat-cover class of 2 or 3; the cuts, bearing the letters “sc”(special cuts) or an“sc” (special cuts) label as a signof their highquality are to be boxed in cartons bearing the words “high qualitybeef”;’
(e) 300 tonnes product weight for meat covered by CN codes
0201 2090, 0201 30, 0202 20 90, 0202 30, 020610 95 and0206 2991 and meeting the following definition: ‘Selected chilledor frozenpremium beef cuts derived from exclusively pasture-grazed bovine animals which do not have more than four perma-
nent incisor teeth in wear, the carcases of which have a dressed
weight of not more than 325 kilograms, a compact appearancewith a good eye, of meat of light and uniform colour and adequatebut not excessive fat cover. All cuts will be vacuum packaged andreferred to as “high-quality beef”’;
(f) 11500 tonnes product weight for meat falling within CN codes
0201, 0202, 0206 10 95 and 0206 2991, and meeting the followingdefinition: ‘Carcasses or any cuts obtained from bovine animals notover 30 months of age which have been fed for 100 days or moreon nutritionally balanced, high-energy-content rations containing
not less than 70 % grain and comprising at least 20 pounds total
feed per day. Beef graded “choice” or “prime” according toUSDA (United States Department of Agriculture) standards auto-matically meets the above definition. Meat graded “Canada A”,“Canada AA”, “Canada AAA”, “Canada Choice” and “CanadaPrime”, “A1”, “A2” and “A3”, according to the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency — Government of Canada, corresponds to this
definition’;
(g) 1 000 tonnes of boneless meat falling within CN codes 0201 30 00
and 0202 30 90 and meeting the following definition:
‘fillet (lomito), striploinan d/or Cube roll (lomo), rump (rabadilla),
topside (carnaza negra) obtained from selected crossbred animalswith less than 50 % of breeds of the zebú type and having been
exclusively fed with pasture grass or hay. The slaughtered animals
shall be steers or heifers falling under category “V” of theVACUNO carcasse-grading system producing carcasses notexceeding 260 kg.
The cuts must be labelled according to Article 13 of Regulation
(EC) No 1760/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 17 July 2000 establishing a system for the identification andregistration of bovine animals and regarding the labelling of beefand beef products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 820/97(
1). The indication “high-quality beef” may be added to the
information on the label’.
Article 3
1. Imports of the quantities set out in Article 2 (f) shall be subject to
presentation, on release for free circulation, of:
— an import licence issued in accordance with Articles 4 and 5, and
— a certificate of authenticity issued in accordance with Article 6.
2. Import licences as referred to in paragraph 1 shall be allocated on
a monthly basis. The quantity available each month of each import yearshall correspond to one twelfth of the total quantity set out in Article 2(f), plus any quantity remaining from the preceding months as referredto inArticle 5 (3).1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 204, 11.8.2000, p. 1.▼M8
▼B
▼B
Article 4
Inorder to obtainimport licen ces as referred to inArticle 3:
(a) the licence applicants must be natural or legal persons who, at the
time their applications are submitted, have been engaged for at
least 12 mon ths intrade inbeef an d veal betweenMember Statesor with third countries and who are registered in a Member Statefor VAT purposes;
(b) the licence applications lodged may cover a total quantity corre-
sponding to not more than the quantity available for the month inwhich the applicationis lodged;
(c) section 8 of licence applications and licences must show the
country of origin; licences shall carry with them an obligation toimport from the country in question;
(d) section 20 of licence applications and licences shall contain one of
the following entries:
— Carne de vacuno de alta calidad [Reglamento (CE) n
o936/97]
— Oksekød af høj kvalitet (forordning (EF) nr. 936/97)— Qualitätsrindfleisch (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 936/97)—Βόειο κρέας εκλεκτής ποιότητας [κανονισµός (ΕΚ) αριθ.
936/97]
— High-quality beef/veal (Regulation(EC) No 936/97)— Viande bovine de haute qualité [règlement (CE) n
o936/97]
— Carni bovine di alta qualità [regolamento (CE) n. 936/97]— Rundvlees van hoge kwaliteit (Verordening (EG) nr. 936/97)— Carne de bovino de alta qualidade [Regulamento (CE) n
o936/
97]
— Korkealaatuista naudanlihaa (asetus (EY) N:o 936/97)— Nötkött av hög kvalitet (förordning (EG) nr 936/97).
Article 5
1. Licence applications as referred to in Article 4 may be lodged
solely during the first five days of each month of each import yearwith the competent authorities of the Member State in which the appli-
cant is registered for VAT purposes. If an applicant lodges more than
one application, none of his applications shall be considered.
2. On the second working day following the closing date for the
submission of applications, the Member States shall notify theCommission of the total quantity covered by applications. Such notifi-cations shall include the list of applicants and the countries of origin
indicated. All notifications, including nil returns, shall be sent before
4 p.m. onthe stipulated day.
3. The Commissionshall decide what proportionof quan tities
covered by applications may be granted. If the quantities covered bylicence applications exceed the quantities available, the Commissionshall reduce the quantities applied for by a fixed percentage. If the total
quantity covered by licence applications is less than the quantity avail-
able, the Commission shall determine the quantity remaining to beadded to the quantity available for the following month of each importyear.
4. Subject to a decisionby the Commissionto accept application s,
licences shall be issued on the 11th day of each month.
Article 6
1. Certificates of authenticity shall be made out in one original and
not less than one copy in accordance with the model at Annex I.
The forms shall measure approximately 210 × 297 mm and the paper
shall weigh not less than 40 g/m
2.
2. The forms shall be printed and completed in one of the official
languages of the Community; they may also be printed and completed1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 5
▼B
in the official language or one of the official languages of the exporting
country.
The relevant definition in Article 2 applying to the meat originating in
the exporting country shall be shown on the reverse of the form.
3. Certificates of authenticity shall bear an individual serial number
allocated by the issuing authorities referred to in Article 7. The copiesshall bear the same serial number as the original.
4. The original and copies thereof may be typed or hand-written. In
the latter case, they must be completed in black ink and in block capi-
tals.
5. Certificates of authenticity shall be valid only if they are duly
completed and endorsed in accordance with the instructions in Annexes
I and II by an issuing authority listed in Annex II.
6. Certificates of authenticity shall be deemed to have been duly
endorsed if they state the date and place of issue and if they bear the
stamp of the issuing authority and the signature of the person or
persons empowered to sign them.
The stamp may be replaced by a printed seal on the original of the
certificate of authenticity and any copies thereof.
Article 7
1. The issuing authorities listed in Annex II must:
(a) be recognized as such by the exporting country;
(b) undertake to verify entries on certificates of authenticity;
(c) undertake to forward to the Commission each Wednesday an infor-
mation enabling the entries on certificates of authenticity to beverified.
2. The list may be revised by the Commission where any issuing
authority is no longer recognized, where it fails to fulfil any of the
obligations incumbent on it or where a new issuing authority is desig-nated.
Article 8
1. Imports of the quantities set out in the second indent of Article
1(1) and in Article 2(a), (b) (c), (d), (e) and (g) shall be subject topresentation, on release for free circulation, of import licences issuedin accordance with Article 4(c) and (d) and paragraph 2 of this Article.
2. (a) The original of the certificate of authenticity drawn up in accor-
dance with Articles 6 and 7 plus a copy thereof shall be
presented to the competent authority together with the applica-
tion for the first import licence relating to the certificate ofauthenticity. The original of the certificate of authenticity shallbe kept by the abovementioned authority.
(b) Certificates of authenticity may be used for the issuing of more
than one import licence for quantities not exceeding that shownon the certificate. Where more than one licence is issued in
respect of a certificate, the competent authority shall endorse
the certificate of authenticity to show the quantity attributed.
(c) The competent authorities may issue import licences only after
they are satisfied that all the information on the certificate ofauthenticity corresponds to that received each week from theCommissiononthe subject. The licen ces shall be issued imme-diately thereafter.1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 6
▼M8
▼B
▼M8
3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2(a) and (c), and under the terms of
this paragraph, the competent authorities may issue import licenceswhen:
— the original of the certificate of authenticity has been presented but
the relevant information from the Commission has not yet beenreceived, or
— the original of the certificate of authenticity has not been presented,
or
— the original of the certificate of authenticity has been presented and
the relevant information from the Commission has been receivedbut certain data are not in conformity.
In these cases, notwithstanding the second indent of Article 4 of Regu-
lation(EC) No 1445/95, the security to be lodged for import licen ces
shall be equal to the amount corresponding, for the products in ques-tion, to the full customs duty under the common customs tariff (CCT)applicable onthe day onwhich the applicationfor the import licen ce issubmitted.
After having received the original of the certificate of authenticity and
the Commission information on the certificate in question and after
having checked that this data is in conformity, the Member States shall
release this security oncon ditionthat the security referred to inthesecond indent of Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1445/95 has beenlodged for the same import licence.
The presentation to the competent authority of the original of the
conforming authenticity certificate before expiry of the period of
validity of the import licence concerned shall constitute a main require-
ment within the meaning of Article 20 of Commission Regulation(EEC) No 2220/85(
1) for the security referred to inthe secon d subpar-
agraph.
The amounts of this security not released shall be forfeited and retained
as customs duties.
Article 9
Certificates of authenticity and import licences shall be valid for three
months from their dates of issue. Their term of validity shall, however,
expire at the latest on 30 June following the date of issue.
Article 10
1. The provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 and (EC)
No 1445/95 shall apply subject to the provisions of this Regulation.
2. Without prejudice to Article 8 (4) of Regulation(EEC) No 3719/
88, the full import duty provided for inthe CommonCustoms Tariff(CCT) shall be charged onquan tities inexcess of those stated onimport licences.
Article 13
This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 July 1997.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
inall Member States.1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 7
(1) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.▼B
▼M3
▼B
▼B
ANNEX I
1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 8
▼B
1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 9
▼B
ANNEX II
LIST OF AUTHORITIES IN EXPORTING COUNTRIES EMPOWERED
TOISSUECERTIFICATESOFAUTHENTICITY
—►M10SECRETARÍA DE AGRICULTURA, GANADERÍA, PESCA Y
ALIMENTOS (SAGPyA) ◄:
for meat originating in Argentina and meeting the definition in Article 2 (a).
—►M6DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND
FORESTRY — AUSTRALIA ◄:
for meat originating in Australia:
(a) meeting the definition in Article 2 (b);
(b) meeting the definition in the second indent of Article 1 (1).
— INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE CARNES (INAC):
for meat originating in Uruguay and meeting the definition in Article 2 (c).
— DEPARTAMENTO NACIONAL DE INSPECÇÃO DE PRODUTOS DE
ORIGEM ANIMAL (DIOPA):
for meat originating in Brazil and meeting the definition in Article 2 (d).
—►M5NEW ZEALAND MEAT BOARD ◄:
for meat originating in New Zealand, meeting the definition in Article 2 (e).
— FOOD SAFETY AND INSPECTION SERVICE (FSIS) OF THE UNITED
STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (USDA):
for meat originating in the United States of America and meeting the defini-
tioninArticle 2 (f).
—►M7CANADIAN FOOD INSPECTION AGENCY — GOVERNMENT
OF CANADA/AGENCE CANADIENNE D'INSPECTION DES
ALIMENTS — GOUVERNEMENT DU CANADA ◄:
for meat originating in Canada, and meeting the definition in Article 2 (f).
— MINISTERIO DE AGRICULTURA, GANADERÍA, DIRECCIÓN DE
NORMAS Y CONTROL DE ALIMENTOS:
for meat originating in Paraguay and meeting the definition in Article 2(g).1997R0936 — EN — 14.04.2003 — 004.001 — 10
▼M8