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"B COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1555/96
of 30 July 1996
on rules of application for additional import duties on fruit and vegetables
(OJ L 193, 3.8.1996, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2623/98 of 4 December 1998 L 329 17 5.12.1998
"M2 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2370/1999 of 8 November 1999 L 286 6 9.11.19991996R1555 — EN — 12.11.1999 — 002.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1555/96
of 30 July 1996
on rules of application for additional import duties on fruit and
vegetables
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 of 18 May 1972 on
the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (
1), as last
amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1363/95 (2), and in particular
Article 24 (4) thereof,
Whereas under Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 import duty additional to that
provided for in the Common Customs Tariff (‘additional duty’) can be
imposed on certain products covered by that Regulation if the terms of Article
5 of the Agreement on Agriculture (3) are met, unless there is no risk of
disturbance of the Community market or the impact would be dispropor-
tionate to the end sought;
Whereas additional duty may be imposed if import volumes of the products
concerned, determined from import licences issued by Member States or byprocedures introduced under a preferential agreement, exceed trigger levels
determined by product and period of application as specified in Article 5 (4)
of the Agreement on Agriculture;
Whereas additional duty may be imposed only on imports the tariff
classification of which made in line with Article 5 of Commission Regulation
(EC) No 3223/94 (
4), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2933/95 (5),
entails application of the highest specific duty and on imports made outsidethe tariff quotas set in the World Trade Organization framework; whereas noadditional duty may be imposed on products which enjoy preferences in
respect of the entry price, in so far as their tariff classification does not entail
application of the highest specific duty;
Whereas, in the case of imports enjoying tariff preference as to ad valorem
duty, calculation of the additional duty must take account of this;
Whereas goods en route to the Community are exempt from additional duty;
whereas specific provisions on these should therefore be enacted;
Whereas the introduction of the import licence arrangements will not prevent
their being replaced by a rapid computerized procedure for recording importsas soon as it is legally and practically possible to set one up; whereas there
will be an evaluation in this respect by 31 December 1997;
Whereas the Management Committee for fresh Fruit and Vegetables has not
delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Additional import duty as referred to in Article 33(1) of Council
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 (
6), termed ‘additional duty’ below, may be
applied to the products and during the periods listed in the Annex hereto onthe conditions set out below.
2. Trigger levels for the additional duties are listed in the Annex hereto.!B
(1) OJ No L 118, 20. 5. 1972, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 132, 16. 6. 1995, p. 8.
(3) OJ No L 336, 23. 12. 1994, p. 22.
(4) OJ No L 337, 24. 12. 1994, p. 66.
(5) OJ No L 307, 20. 12. 1995, p. 21.
(6) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1.!M11996R1555 — EN — 12.11.1999 — 002.001 — 2
Article 2
1. For each of the products listed in the Annex hereto and during the periods
indicated Member States shall notify the Commission of details of thevolumes put into free circulation using the method for the surveillance of
preferential imports set out in Article 308d of Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 2454/93 (
1).
Such notification shall take place no later than midday Brussels time each
Wednesday for the volumes put into free circulation during the preceding
week.
2. Declarations for release for free circulation of products covered by the
present Regulation which the customs authorities may accept at the
declarant’s request without their containing certain particulars referred to in
Annex 37 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall contain, in addition to theparticulars referred to in Article 254 of that Regulation, an indication of thenet mass (kg) of the products concerned.
Where the simplified declaration procedure referred to in Article 260 of
Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is used to put into free circulation productscovered by the present Regulation, the simplified declarations shall contain, in
addition to other requirements, an indication of the net mass (kg) of the
products concerned.
Where the local clearance procedure referred to in Article 263 of Regulation
(EEC) No 2454/93 is used to put into free circulation products covered by the
present Regulation, the notification to the customs authorities referred to inArticle 266(1) of that Regulation shall contain all necessary data for theidentification of the goods, as well as an indication of the net mass (kg) of the
products concerned.
Article 266(2b) shall not apply to imports of the products covered by the
present Regulation.
Article 3
1. If it is found that, for one of the products and one of the periods listed in
the Annex hereto, the quantity put into free circulation exceeds the
corresponding triggering volume the Commission shall levy an additionalduty.
2. The additional duty shall be levied on quantities put into free circulation
after the date of application of the said duty, provided that:
— their tariff classification determined in accordance with Article 5 of
Regulation (EC) No 3223/94 entails application of the highest specific
duties applicable to imports of the origin in question,
— importation is effected during the period of application of the additional
duty.
Article 4
1. The additional duty imposed under Article 3 shall be one third of the
customs duty applicable to the product given in the Common Customs Tariff.
2. However, for imports enjoying tariff preference as to ad valorem duty the
additional duty shall be one third of the specific duty on the product in so far
as Article 3 (2) applies.
Article 5
1. The following are exempt from additional duty:
(a) goods imported against the tariff quotas listed in Annex 7 to the
combined nomenclature;
(b) goods en route to the Community as defined in paragraph 2.
2. Goods shall be considered to be en route to the Community that:— left the country of origin before the decision to impose additional duty,
and!M1
(1) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.!B1996R1555 — EN — 12.11.1999 — 002.001 — 3
— are being transported under cover of a transport document valid from the
place of loading in the country of origin to the place of unloading in theCommunity, drawn up before imposition of additional duty.
3. Interested parties shall provide evidence to the satisfaction of the customs
authorities that the requirements of paragraph 2 are met.
However, these authorities may deem that goods left their country of origin
before the date of imposition of additional duty if one of the followingdocuments is provided:
— for sea transport, the bill of lading showing that loading took place before
that date,
— for rail transport, the waybill accepted by the rail authorities of the
country of origin before that date,
— for road transport, the road carriage contract (CMR) or another transit
document made out in the country of origin before that date, if the
conditions laid down in bilateral or multilateral arrangements concludedin the context of Community transit or common transit are observed,
— for air transport, the air way bill showing that the airline accepted the
goods before that date.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third 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.!B1996R1555 — EN — 12.11.1999 — 002.001 — 4
ANNEX
Without prejudice to the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the
description of the products is deemed to be indicative only. The scope of the additionalduties for the purposes of this Annex is determined by the scope of the CN codes as theyexist at the time of the adoption of this Regulation. Where ‘ex’ appears before the CNcode, the scope of the additional duties is determined both by the scope of the CN code
and by the corresponding trigger period.
Serial No CN code Description Trigger periodTrigger level
(tonnes)
78.0015 ex 0702 00 00 Tomatoes — 1 October to 31 March 501 111
78.0020 — 1 April to 30 September 639 88478.0065 ex 0707 00 05 Cucumbers — 1 May to 31 October 16 028
78.0075 — 1 November to 30 April 3 865
78.0085 ex 0709 10 00 Artichokes — 1 November to 30 June 19 30278.0100 0709 90 70 Courgettes — 1 January to 31 December 45 160
78.0110 ex 0805 10 10
ex 0805 10 30
ex 0805 10 50Oranges — 1 December to 31 May 753 719
78.0120 ex 0805 20 10 Clementines — 1 November to end of February 100 949
78.0130 ex 0805 20 30
ex 0805 20 50
ex 0805 20 70ex 0805 20 90Mandarins (including tanger-
ines and satsumas); wilkingsand similar citrus hybrids— 1 November to end of February 93 803
78.0155 ex 0805 30 10 Lemons — 1 June to 31 December 285 329
78.0160 — 1 January to 31 May 24 448
78.0170 ex 0806 10 10 Table grapes — 21 July to 20 November 190 422
78.0180 ex 0808 10 20
ex 0808 10 50ex 0808 10 90Apples — 1 September to 31 December 395 887
78.0190 — 1 January to 31 March 51 279
78.0200 — 1 April to 31 August 575 829
78.0220 ex 0808 20 50 Pears — 1 January to 30 April 155 48778.0235 — 1 July to 31 December 202 569
78.0250 ex 0809 10 00 Apricots — 1 June to 31 July 2 432
78.0260 ex 0809 20 Cherries — 21 May to 10 August 108 19378.0270 ex 0809 30 Peaches, including nectarines — 11 June to 30 September 1 166
78.0280 ex 0809 40 05 Plums — 11 June to 30 September 112 005!
M21996R1555 — EN — 12.11.1999 — 002.001 — 5