This document is meant purely as documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
"B COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 896/2001
of 7 May 2001
laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements
for importing bananas into the Community
(OJ L 126, 8.5.2001, p. 6)
Corrected by:
"C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 133, 16.5.2001, p. 19 (896/2001)2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 896/2001
of 7 May 2001
laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No
404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the
Community
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13 February 1993
on the common organisation of the market in bananas (1), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 216/2001 (2), and in particular Article 20 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) By Regulation (EC) No 216/2001 the Council amended the rules for
importing bananas introduced by Title IV of Regulation (EEC) No404/93. In particular, that Regulation opened an autonomous C tariff
quota of 850 000 tonnes at EUR 300/tonne customs duty in addition to
the 2 200 000 tonnes secured under the world Trade Organisation(WTO) and the additional quota of 353 000 tonnes. All the provisionsnecessary to implement those rules should be adopted, including such
transitional measures as are justified by the entry into force of this
Regulation on 1 July 2001, as well as provisions concerning imports atthe Common Customs Tariff rate.
(2) Under the last subparagraph of Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
404/93, where there is no agreement with World Trade Organisation
contracting parties with a substantial interest in the supply of bananas,the tariff quotas ‘A’ and ‘B’ need not be allocated among supplier
countries.
(3) Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 provides that the tariff
quotas may be managed in accordance with the method based ontaking account of traditional trade flows (‘traditional/newcomers’)
and/or other methods. To implement the new arrangements from the
second half of 2001, it is advisable to grant access to the tariff quotasto traditional operators who have undertaken on their own account thepurchase of fresh products from producers in third countries, or their
production, as well as their dispatch to and unloading in the customs
territory of the Community, during a reference period. For the purposesof this Regulation, these activities are called ‘primary imports’.
(4) A single definition of traditional operators should be adopted for all
tariff quotas, and their reference quantities should be determined
according to the same rules, but separately depending on whether theseoperators have supplied the Community market with bananasoriginating in non-ACP third countries and non-traditional imports
from ACP States or with traditional ACP bananas during the reference
period, within the meaning of the definitions in Article 16 ofRegulation (EEC) No 404/93 applicable before the amendment
introduced by Regulation (EC) No 216/2001.
(5) The reference period to be used for defining categories of operators
and determining the reference quantities of traditional operators shouldbe the three-year period 1994 to 1996. The three-year period 1994 to
1996 is the most recent for which the Commission has sufficiently
reliable data on primary imports. Using that period can also resolve adispute which has been going on for a number of years with certain ofthe Community’s trading partners. In the light of the available data
established for the purpose of administering the quotas opened in
1998, traditional operators need not be registered.
(6) A share of the tariff quotas must be reserved for non-traditional
operators. That share must allow operators who did not carry out any
primary imports during the reference period to continue trading and to
adapt to the new rules and to allow new operators to enter this importtrade, thereby encouraging healthy competition.!B
(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 31, 2.2.2001, p. 2.2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 2
(7) Experience from several years of applying the Community banana
import arrangements indicates the need to tighten the criteria fornon-traditional operators and the eligibility criteria for new operatorsso as to avoid the registration of purely fictious agents and the grant of
allocations in response to artificial or speculative applications. In
particular, it is justifiable to demand a minimum of experience inimporting fresh bananas. Also, to avoid applications for annualallocations which bear little relation to operators’ actual capacities and
which will not lead to applications for import licences for the
corresponding quantities, submission of an application for importlicences for the corresponding quantities, submission of an application
for an annual allocation should be subject to the requirement that a
security in lieu of the import licence security be lodged. That securityshould be released without delay in stages as operators actually use uptheir annual allocations and furnish proof that they have dispatched the
goods and unloaded them in the Community and had them released for
free circulation on their own account. For the same purpose, the grantof an annual allocation in subsequent years should be made subject to aminimum rate of use of the previous annual allocation.
(8) Operators should be remineded that they may form mergers or
groupings on terms and conditions defined in national legislation in
order to meet their obligations and exercise the rights arising under thisRegulation.
(9) Rules should be adopted for registering non-traditional operators and
determining their annual allocations and the verifications and checks
to be carried out by the competent national authorities should bespecified, as should the action to be taken in the event that certainobligations are not fulfilled, in particular as regards registration and
declarations made for the purpose of obtaining allocations under the
import arrangements.
(10) For the purposes of implementing the tariff quota arrangements on 1
July 2001, it is appropriate to maintain the administrative rules basedon periods as created by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 of
28 October 1998 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 regarding imports of bananasinto the Community (
1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1632/2000 (2), with adjustments where necessary. Those rules relate in
particular to fixing the indicative quantities for the first three quarters,the ceilings for individual applications, the frequency for thesubmission of licence applications and for the issue of licences, and
the issue of licences for the re-use of unused quantities. However, the
fact that tariff quotas A and B on the one hand and C on the other aremanaged separately as regards the share allocated to traditionaloperators means that those operators may submit licence applications
only under the tariff quota for which they have been granted and
notified of a reference quantity.
(11) For the purposes of Article 18(6) and (7) of Regulation (EEC) No
404/93, there is a need to define the items making up the balance sheet
of production, consumption, imports and exports which has to be
established before an increase in the autonomous quota can be made inthe event of an increase in demand or of exceptional circumstancesaffecting supplies to the Community market.
(12) Except where derogations are explicitly provided for, Commission
Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 of 9 June 2000 laying down common
detailed rules for the application of the system of import and exportlicences and advance-fixing certificates for agricultural products (
3), as
last amended by Regulation (EC) No 369/2001 (4), should apply.
Pursuant to Article 9 of that Regulation, rights resulting from licences
may be transferred by the holder only once per licence or per extractfrom a licence during the term of validity thereof.
(13) The rules for transferring licences should be specified in the light of
the definition of operator categories established by this Regulation.
Transfer restricted to a single transferee per licence or extracttherefrom will allow trade relations to develop between the variousregistered operators. However, artificial trade, speculation or disturb-!B
(1) OJ L 293, 31.10.1998, p. 32.
(2) OJ L 187, 26.7.2000, p. 6.
(3) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 55, 24.2.2001, p. 41.2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 3
ance of normal trade should not be encouraged by permitting transfer
from non-traditional operators to traditional operators.
(14) All the necessary communications between operators, Member States
and the Commission in pursuance of this Regulation should bespecified, in particular for the purpose of establishing operators’reference quantities and allocations, administering tariff quotas by
period and market monitoring.
(15) Under the transitional measures necessitated by the application of the
new arrangements on 1 July 2001, derogations should be provided for
from administrative rules on the timetable for registering non-traditional operators and on the transmission to the competent national
authorities of the documentary evidence relating to their registration.
(16) Further, the quantities which can be imported for the third quarter of
2001 under the tariff quotas should be determined and the ceiling for
individual licence applications from operators and a strict timetable forthe submission of those applications should be fixed.
(17) The changes made by this Regulation to the arrangements for
importing bananas into the Community to define non-traditionaloperators call for verifications and checks by the competent national
authorities, acting in cooperation with the Commission. Such
operations can, if need be, lead to corrections of operators’ allocations.It follows, inter alia , that those allocations may not be regarded as
vested rights, nor be pleaded by operators as legitimate expectations.
(18) Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 should be repealed.
(19) Pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 395/2001 (
1),
Regulation (EC) No 216/2001 applies from 1 July 2001. In order to
enable operators to benefit under that Regualation from that date
onwards, transitional measures should be enacted to allow the MemberStates and the Commission to assemble all the requisite informationfor ensuring that licences are used from 1 July 2001 onwards.
(20) The Management Committee for Bananas has not delivered an opinion
within the time limit set by its Chairman,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
TITLE I
INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS
Article 1
This Regulation lays down detailed rules for applying the arrangements for
importing bananas under the tariff quotas provided for in Article 18(1) ofRegulation (EEC) No 404/93 and also outside those quotas.
Article 2
The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be made available as follows:
(a) 83 % to ‘traditional operators’ as defined in Article 3(1);(b) 17 % to ‘non-traditional operators’ as defined in Article 6.!B
(1) OJ L 58, 27.2.2001, p. 11.2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 4
TITLE II
MANAGEMENT OF TARIFF QUOTAS
Chapter 1
Definition of operators
Section I: ‘Traditional operators’
Article 3
For the purposes of this Regulation:
1. ‘traditional operators’ means economic agents, whether natural persons
or entities having legal pesonality, individual agents or groups,established in the Community during the period for determining their
reference quantities, who have, for their own account, purchased a
minimum quantity of bananas originating in third countries from theproducers or, where applicable, produced, consigned and sold suchproducts in the Community.
Operations as defined in the previous subparagraph shall hereinafter be
called ‘primary imports’.
The minimum quantity referred to in the first subparagraph shall be 250
tonnes imported in any one year of the reference period. This minimumquantity shall be 20 tonnes where marketing or import concerns only
bananas with a length of 10 centimetres or less;
2. ‘traditional operators A/B’ means traditional operators who have carried
out the minimum quantity of primary imports of ‘third-country bananas’
and/or ‘non-traditional ACP’ bananas in accordance with the definitions
in Article 16 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, as amended by Regulation(EC) No 1637/98 (
1);
3. ‘traditional operators C’ means traditional operators who have carried out
the minimum quantity of primary imports of ‘traditional ACP bananas’ inaccordance with the definitons in the abovementioned Article 16, as
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1637/98.
Article 4
1. The reference quantity for each traditional operator A/B who submits a
written application no later than 11 May 2001 shall be established on the basisof the average of primary imports of third-country bananas and/or
non-traditional ACP bananas during 1994, 1995 and 1996 taken into account
for 1998 for the purposes of administering the tariff quota for imports ofthird-country bananas and non-traditional ACP bananas, in accordance with
the provisions of Article 19(2) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 applicable in
1998 to the category of operators referred to in paragraph 1(a) of that Article.
2. The reference quantity for each traditional importer C who submits a
written application no later than 11 May 2001 shall be established on the basis
of the average of primary imports of traditional ACP bananas during 1994,1995 and 1996 carried out for 1998 as traditional quantities of ACP bananas.
3. Operators resulting from a merger of other traditional operators, each
with their own rights under this Regulation, shall enjoy the same rights asthose former operators.
Article 5
1. The Member States shall notify the Commission of the sum of the
reference quantities referred to in Article 4(1) and (2) no later than 15 May2001.
2. Using the information received under paragraph 1, and in light of the
total quantities available under tariff quotas A/B and C, the Commission shall,where appropriate, set a single adjustment coefficient to be applied to each
operator’s reference quantity.!B
(1) OJ L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 28.2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 5
3. Where paragraph 2 applies, the competent authorities shall notify each
operator of their reference quantity as adjusted by the adjustment coefficientnot later than 7 June 2001.
4. The competent authorities in each Member State shall be as listed in the
Annex. That list shall be amended by the Commission at the request of theMember States concerned.
Section II: ‘Non-traditional operators’
Article 6
For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘non-traditional operators’ means
economic agents established in the Community at the time of their registration
who:
(a) have been engaged independently and on their own account in the
commercial activity of importing into the Community fresh bananas
falling within CN code 0803 00 19
"C1in one of the two years
immediately preceding the year in respect 3of which registration is
sought;
(b) by virtue of this activity, have imported produce to a declared customs
value of EUR 1 200 000 or more during the period referred to in point
(a); and
(c) do not have a reference quantity as a traditional operator under the tariff
quota for which they are applying for registration under Article 7 andwho are not a natural person or entity having legal personality related,
within the meaning of Article 143 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No
2454/93 (
1), to a traditional operator.
Article 7
1. Operators may be registered, in a single Member State of their choice, as
a non-traditonal operator under tariff quota A/B and/or tariff quota C.
Traditional operators under a tariff quota may be registered as non-traditional
operators under the tariff quota for which they do not have a referencequantity.
However, traditional operators C may be registered as non-traditional
operators under tariff quota A/B only if they can supply proof that they
have imported third-country bananas and/or non-traditional ACP bananas to
the declared customs value specified in point (b) of Article 6 during theperiod indicated.
2. For the purposes of registration, operators shall send to the competent
authority as listed in the Annex the following supporting documents:
(a) proof of entry in a commercial register of the Member State or other
alternative proof acceptable to the said authorities; and
(b) evidence of having imported bananas, by presenting the import licences
used or, in cases where such a licence was not compulsory, the relevant
customs documents; together with
(c) a copy of an attestation from an independent, professionally registered
chartered accountant certifying imports to the value required in point (b)of Article 6, or a copy of the corresponding customs declarations stampedby the customs authorities.
3. Applications for registration shall be submitted by 1 October each year.4. In order to have their registration renewed, operators shall provide the
competent authorities with proof that they have actually imported on theirown account at least 50 % of the quantity allocated to them for the current
year. For the purposes of renewing registration for 2002, that percentage shall
be 30 %.
Applications for renewal shall be submitted by 1 October each year and be
accompanied by copies of import licences used, proof of payment of thecustoms duties due on the date of the completion of customs import
formalities, and a copy of the import licence(s) issued for the current quarter.!B
(1) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 6
5. By 10 October each year, the Member States shall notify the Commission
of the list of operators who have submitted requests for registration and forrenewal of registration, and in the case of renewals the serial numbers oflicences or any licence extracts, used and issued.
As and when required, the Commission shall forward those lists to the other
Member States with a view to facilitating the detection or prevention of falseclaims by operators.
The Commission may publish some of the details contained in the
notifications from Member States.
Article 8
1. At the same time as the operators concerned apply for registration or
renewal of their registration, they shall also request their annual quota
allocation.
To be accepted, such requests:
(a) may not cover a quantity greater than 12,5 % of the total quantity
allocated annually to non-traditional operators; and
(b) shall be accompanied by proof that a security of EUR 150 per tonne
requested has been lodged in accordance with Title III of Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 (
1).
2. The security referred to in paragraph 1(b) shall be released in stages, in
proportion to the quantities actually imported, where operators furnish proofof dispatch and unloading in the customs territory of the Community on their
own account. In cases of force majeure , the security shall not be forfeited.
Proof of dispatch shall be furnished by producing copies of the bill of lading
and the ship’ s manifest or, where applicable, the road or air transportdocument, drawn up in the name of the operator, for the quantities actually
imported.
Evidence of actual import shall be furnished by producing a copy of the
import licences used and proof of payment of the customs duties value.
Article 9
1. By 10 October at the latest each year, the competent authorities shall send
the Commission a list of the non-traditional operators registered, indicating
for each one the annual allocation requested.
2. If the total quantity of allocations applied for under a given tariff quota
A/B or C exceeds the quantity available to non-traditional operators, theCommission shall immediately determine the percentage reduction to be
applied to each application for an allocation.
If the procedure described in the first subparagraph results in an operator’s
receiving an annual allocation smaller than the amount requested, the securityprovided for in Article 8(1)(b) shall be released in proportion to the reduction
arrived at.
3. By 15 November at the latest each year, the competent authorities in the
Member States shall determine and notify to each non-traditional operator thequantity allocated to them for the following year.
Article 10
1. The Member States shall be responsible for ensuring compliance with
this section.
In particular, they shall check that the operators concerned are commercially
active for their own account as importers in the Community in the sectorreferred to in Article 6 and as independent economic units in terms of
management, staffing and operations. Where there are grounds for suspecting
that these conditions are not met, applications for registration and requests forannual allocation shall be accepted only subject to the operator’s providingevidence of compliance which is considered satisfactory by the competent
national authorities.!B
(1) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 7
2. The Member States and the Commission shall exchange all information
relevant to the application of this Article.
Article 11
1. The competent national authorities shall register as non-traditional
operators all economic agents who submit an appropriate application, whetherphysical persons or legal entities, and whether individual agents or groups
thereof, provided that they are legally constituted under the national
legislation governing the exercice of the commercial activities in questionand that they satisfy the provisions of this Regulation.
A group of agents may be registered as a non-traditional operator if its
members jointly meet the requirements of this Regulation. The group shallstand for each of its members in exercising their rights and fulfilling theirobligations.
2. Operators resulting from a merger of other non-traditional operators, each
with their own rights under this Regulation, shall enjoy the same rights asthose former operators.
Article 12
1. Failure by non-traditional operators to comply with the obligation to
register in only one Member State shall lead to the rejection of all applications
for registration that have been submitted and the cancellation of any annualallocation already granted. In addition, such failure shall result in aprohibition on the submission of any further applications in the year
following detection of the irregularity.
2. Where fraudulent manipulations are undertaken or fraudulent docu-
mentation is supplied with a view to obtaining an unwarranted registration or
annual allocation, such registration or allocation shall be cancelled, without
prejudice to the application of any relevant national laws. In such cases, thesecurity referred to in Article 8(1)(b) shall be forfeit in full.
In addition, in such cases the operator shall be prohibited from applying for a
new registration in any Member State during the two years following the yearin which the irregularity is detected.
Chapter 2
Rules for issuing import licences
Article 13
1. For the purposes of administration, the quantities of tariff quotas A and B
provided for in Article 18(1)(a) and (b) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 shallbe added together. Applications under quotas A and B shall be dealt with
together.
Tariff quota C, provided for in Article 18(1)(c) of the above Regulation, shall
be administered separately.
2. Traditional operators A/B may submit licence applications only under
tariff quota A/B.
Traditional operators C may submit licence applications only under tariff
quota C.
Traditional operators as referred to in the first two subparagraphs may submit
licence applications under the other tariff quota if they are registered asnon-traditional operators for that quota.
3. Non-traditional operators may submit import licence applications under
tariff quotas A/B or C, or under both if they are registered for quotas A/B andC.
Article 14
1. For the first three quarters of the year, an indicative quantity expressed as
the same percentage of available quantities from each of the tariff quotas may
be fixed for the purposes of issuing import licences.!B2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 8
2. For the first three quarters of the year, it may be decided that applications
for licences submitted by a given operator may not in total exceed a setpercentage of the reference quantity fixed under Article 5 of the annualallocation fixed under Article 9(3).
Article 15
1. For each quarter, applications for import licences shall be submitted to
the competent authorities of the Member State listed in the Annex to thisRegulation during the first seven days of the month preceding the quarter forthe licences are being issued.
Applications for import licences shall be submitted to the competent
authorities of the Member State which established the reference quantity, in
the case of traditional operators, and of the Member in which the operators are
registered, in the case of non-traditional operators.
2. Licence applications submitted:
(a) by traditional operators A/B shall bear the wording ‘Licence application
traditional operator A/B — Regulation (EC) No 896/2001’;
(b) by traditional operators C shall bear the wording ‘Licence application
traditional operator C — Regulation (EC) No 896/2001’;
(c) by non-traditional operators shall bear the wording ‘Licence application
non-traditional operator A/B — Regulation (EC) No 896/2001’, or
‘Licence application non-traditional operator C — Regulation (EC) No896/2001’, as the case may be.
3. Licence applications submitted by an operator shall only be accepted
where:
(a) they bear the wording shown in paragraph 2;
(b) they cover a quantity no greater than that available for the tariff quota
indicated in the application, such quantity being published periodically
before the start of the application period;
(c) they cover a total quantity no greater than the quantity resulting from
applying Article 14(2) for the quarter concerned, or than the remaining
balance of that operator’s reference quantity or annual allocation, as the
case may be.
4. The words referred to in paragraph 2 shall be entered in box 20 of the
licence.
Article 16
The competent authorities shall notify the Commission of the quantities
covered by licence applications within two working days of the end of theapplication period.
This notification shall present the quantities requested, broken down for both
tariff quota A/B and tariff quota C as between traditional and non-traditional
operators.
Article 17
Where, for a given quarter, the quantities applied for appreciably exceed any
indicative quantity fixed under Article 14, or exceed the quantities available, apercentage reduction to be applied to the amounts requested shall be fixed.
Article 18
1. The competent authorities shall issue import licences not later than the
23rd day of the month in which the application is made. Where that day is nota working day, the licences shall be issued on the first following working dayat the latest.
2. Notwithstanding Article 23(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000, the
term of validity of import licences shall run from the date on which they are
actually issued and shall expire on the seventh day of the fourth month in
which they are issued. The date of actual issue shall be included in the term ofvalidity of a licence.!B2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 9
Article 19
1. Unused quantities covered by a given licence shall be reallocated to the
same operator — whether holder or transferee — upon application, for use in
a subsequent quarter but still within the year of issue of the original licence.
This reallocation shall be made for an importation of bananas under the quotafor which the original, fully or partially unused licence was issued.
The security for the initial licence shall be retained in proportion to the
quantities not used up.
2. Applications for reallocation shall be submitted within the time limit laid
down in Article 15(1) and accompanied by the original or a certified copy ofthe unused or partly used licence(s), as well as proof as the security referred to
in Article 24 has been lodged.
Applications for reallocation and the reallocation licences themselves shall
bear the following wording in Box 20: ‘Reallocation licence — Article 19 of
Regulation (EC) No 896/2001’ and one of the four following entries, as thecase may be: ‘traditional operator A/B’, ‘traditional operator C’, ‘non-
traditional operator A/B’ or ‘non-traditional operator C’.
3. Applications for reallocation shall not be subject to any reduction
percentage that may be set under Article 17.
4. The competent authorities shall notify the Commission of the quantities
covered by any applications for reallocation licences received, within the time
limit laid down in Article 16.
Article 20
1. Rights arising under licences issued in accordance with this Chapter shall
be transferable to a single transferee operator on the terms and conditions laiddown in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000, without prejudice toparagraph 2 of this Article.
2. Rights may be transferred only:(a) between traditional operators, under a single tariff quota, either A/B or C,
as the case may be;
(b) from traditional operators to non-traditional operators registered under
Article 7, under a single tariff quota, either A/B or C, as the case may be.
(c) between non-traditional operators registered under a single tariff quota,
either A/B or C, as the case may be.
Article 21
1. Operators shall declare without delay to the competent authorities, before
the term of validity of the import licences concerned expires, all quantities ofbananas which have been released for free circulation and then re-exported
out of the Community. They shall return to the same authorities the originals
of the import licences involved.
2. Within a month of the end of each quarter, the competent authorities shall
notify the Commission of all quantities re-exported, specifying in each casethe category of operators (traditional or non-traditional) to whom the importlicences were issued and quoting the serial numbers of the relevant import
licences or licence extracts.
3. One or more import licences shall be issued, up to the amount of the
quantities re-exported, either to the holder or to the transferee of the original
licence, during a subsequent quarter but still within the year in which theoriginal licence(s) was, or were, issued.
4. The competent authorities shall check that the quantities declared under
paragraph 1 have actually been re-exported from the Community.
5. The quantities of bananas re-exported shall not be taken into account in
calculating the reference quantities of traditional operators and the allocations
of non-traditional operators.
The first subparagraph shall also cover re-exports carried out in 1994 from
Member States to Austria, Finland or Sweden, and re-exports from the latter
countries to third ocuntries, including the Community as constituted on 31December 1994.!B2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 10
TITLE III
RULES FOR IMPORTING BANANAS OUTSIDE THE TARIFF
QUOTAS
Article 22
1. Import licence applications may be submitted in any Member States.
2. Licence applications and the licences themselves shall bear the following
wording in Box 20: ‘Non-quota imports — Article 22 of Regulation (EC) No
896/2001’.
3. Licences shall be issued immediately, in accordance with Article 23(1) of
Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000. The term of validity of licences shall be three
months.
4. Within a month of the end of each quarter, Member States shall notify the
Commission of the quantities covered by licences issued under this Article.
TITLE IV
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 23
For the purposes of Article 18(6) and (7) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, the
balance sheet showing Community production, consumption, imports and
exports shall be based on:
(a) available data on the quantities of bananas marketed in the Community
during the preceding year, broken down by origin;
(b) forecast production and sales of Community bananas;(c) forecast imports of bananas from all origins;
(d) forecast consumption on the basis, in particular, of recent consumption
trends and movements in market prices.
Article 24
1. Import licence applications shall be accompanied by proof that a security
has been lodged under Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85. This
security shall amount to EUR 50 per tonne. However, this requirement shall
not apply to licence applications submitted by non-traditional operators underthe import arrangements provided for in Title II.
2. Where licences are issued for quantities lower than those applied for, the
security shall be released forthwith in respect of the quantity not allocated.
Article 25
Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 shall apply, with the exception of the fourth
indent of Article 5(1) and Article 8(4) and (5) thereof, account being taken of
the derogations contained in this Regulation.
Notwithstanding Article 35(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000, proof of
acceptance of an import declaration for the quantity concerned shall be
furnished within 30 days of expiry of the validity of an import licence, except
in cases of force majeure .
Article 26
1. The customs offices at which the import declarations are lodged with a
view to the release into free circulation of third-country bananas under thetariff quota arrangements shall:
(a) keep a copy of each import licence and extract therefrom endorsed on
acceptance of a declaration of release into free circulation; and
(b) forward at the end of each fortnight a second copy of each import licence
or extract endorsed to the Member State authorities listed in the Annex to
this Regulation responsible for issuing the licences. Those authorities!B2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 11
shall at the end of each fortnight forward a copy of the licences and
extracts received to the competent authorities of the Member States listedin the abovementioned Annex which issued those documents.
2. Where there is doubt as to the authenticity of the licence, the extract, or
any information in or signatures on the documents presented, or as to the
status of the operators completing the formalities for relase into freecirculation or for the account of whom those formalities are completed, and
where irregularities are suspected, the customs offices at which those
documents were presented shall immediately inform the competent authoritiesof their Member State, as referred to in paragraph 1, thereof by tele-communication. The latter shall immediately forward that information by
telecommunication to the competent authorities which issued the documents
and to the Commission, for the purpose of a thorough check.
The Commission shall forward to the Member States’ customs authorities the
list of traditional and non-traditional operators operating under the import
arrangements concerned who may be holders or transferees of an importlicence or extract therefrom.
3. On the basis of the information received under paragraphs 1 and 2, the
Member States’ competent authorities listed in the Annex shall carry out the
additional checks needed to ensure the correct application of the tariff quotaarrangements, in particular verification of the quantities imported under those
arrangements, by means of a precise comparison of the licences and extracts
issued with the licences and extracts used. To that end, they shall verify inparticular the authenticity and conformity of the documents used and that thedocuments have been used by operators registered under Title II.
Article 27
The Member States shall forward to the Commission the following statistical
and economic data:
(a) every Wednesday: wholesale prices for yellow bananas, broken down by
country of origin, as recorded the previous week on the representative
markets listed in Article 3 of Commission Regulation (EC) No
3223/94 (
1);
(b) details, broken down by origin, of the quantities of bananas falling within
CN code 0803 00 19 released for free circulation in accordance with
Article 308d of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 for the purposes of the
surveillance of imports under the tariff quotas and otherwise;
(c) on the 10th day of the month following expiry of the validity of import
licences for each quarter: the quantities covered by import licences
issued, the quantities covered by licences used and returned to the issuingbody, and the quantities covered by unused licences;
(d) on request: forecasts of production and sales.
TITLE V
TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
Article 28
1. For the second half of 2001, the quantities available shall be:
— for tariff quotas A/B: 1 137 159 tonnes,— for tariff quota C: 509 359 tonnes.
2. For the second half of 2001, the reference quantity for each traditional
operator established in accordance with Article 4 and after the application ofArticle 5(2) shall be multiplied by the coefficient 0,4454 in the case oftraditional operators A/B and by the coefficient 0,5992 in the case of
traditional operators C.
Notwithstanding Article 5(3), the competent authorities shall notify each
operator of their reference quantity as adjusted by the adjustment coefficient
not later than 7 June 2001.!B
(1) OJ L 337, 24.12.1994, p. 66.2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 12
Article 29
1. Notwithstanding Article 7, non-traditional operators shall submit their
applications for registration for the second half of 2001 in the Member State
of their choice by 18 May 2001 at the latest.
2. For the second half of 2001, the Member States shall notify the
information on non-traditional operators required under Article 7(5) by 29
May 2001 at the latest.
3. Using the information received under paragraph 2, the Commission shall
determine the quantities for which the allocations for non-traditionaloperators are granted for the second half of 2001.
4. The competent authorities shall notify each non-traditional operator of
their allocation for the second half of 2001 by 7 June at the latest.
Article 30
1. Notwithstanding Article 15, operators shall submit applications for
import licences for the third quarter of 2001 between 11 and 14 June 2001.
To be accepted, applications for licences submitted by a single operator must
not exceed a total quantity greater than:
(a) 54 % of the reference quantity in the case of traditional operators;(b) 54 % of the allocation in the case of non-traditional operators.2. The competent national authorities shall issue import licences by 30 June
2001 at the latest.
Import licences shall be issued with a view to release for free circulation as
from 1 July 2001.
Licence applications and the licences themselves shall bear the following
wording in Box 24: ‘Issued with a view to release for free circulation as from1 July 2001’.
TITLE VI
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 31
Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 is repealed from 1 July 2001.
It shall, however, continue to apply to import licences issued for 2001.
Article 32
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in
theOfficial Journal of the European Communities .
It shall apply from 1 July 2001.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.!B2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 13
ANNEX
The authorities of the Member States competent for compiling the lists of operators and
of quantities marketed are as follows:
Belgium
Bureau d’intervention et de restitution belge/Belgisch Interventie- en Restitutiebureau
Rue de Trèves, 82/Trierstraat 827B-1040 Bruxelles/Brussel
Denmark
Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri
Direktoratet for Fødevareerhverv; EksportstøttekontoretKampmannsgade 3
DK-1780 København V
Germany
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung
Referat 322Adickesallee, 40D-60322 Frankfurt am Main
Greece
Ministry of Agriculture
GEDIDAGEPDirectorate Fruits and Vegetables, Wine and Industrial Products
241, Acharnon Street
GR-10446
Spain
Ministerio de Economía
Secretaría General de Comercio ExteriorPaseo de la Castellana, 162E-28046 Madrid
France
Office de développement de l’économie agricole des départements d’outre-mer
(ODEADOM)31, Quai de GrenelleF-75738 Paris Cedex 15
Irland
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
Horticulture DivisionAgriculture House (7W)Kildare StreetDublin 2Ireland
Italy
Ministero del Commercio con l’estero
DG Politica commerciale e gestione regime scambi — Div. IIViale Boston, 25I-00144 Roma
Luxembourg
Ministère de l’agriculture/Administration des services techniques de l’agriculture
Service de l’horticulture
16, Route d’Esch
Boîte postale 1904L-1014 Luxembourg
Netherlands
Produktschap Tuinbouw
Louis Pasteurlaan 6
Postbus 280
2700 AG ZoetermeerNederland!
B2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 14
Austria
Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft
Abteilung III 5 — Handelspolitik und AußenhandelStubenring 1A-1012 Wien
Portugal
Ministério da Economia
Direcção-Geral das Relações Económicas InternacionaisDirecção de Serviços de Licenciamento do Comércio ExternoAvenida da República, 79P-1069-059 Lisboa
Finland
Registration of operators
Maa- ja MetsätalousministeriöHallituskatu 3a, ValtioneuvostoPL 30FIN-00023 Helsinki
Licences issued by:
TullihallitusErottajankatu 2PL 512FIN-00101 Helsinki
Sweden
Jordbruksverket
Vallgatan 8–10S-551 82 Jönköping
United Kingdom
Intervention Board
External Trade DivisionLancaster House
Hampshire Court
Newcastle Upon TyneNE99 1AWUnited Kingdom!
B2001R0896 — EN — 09.05.2001 — 000.001 — 15