1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No520/94
of7March1994
establishingaCommunityprocedureforadministeringquantitativequotas
(OJ L 66, 10.3.1994, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EC) No 138/96 of 22 January 1996 L 21 6 27.1.1996
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COUNCILREGULATION(EC)No520/94
of7March1994
establishingaCommunityprocedureforadministeringquantitative
quotas
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, andinparticular Article 113 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1023/70 of 25 May 1970 estab-
lishing a common procedure for administering quantitative quotas(
1)
established, for the Community, a procedure for administering quanti-tive quotas based onthe allocationof quotas amon g the MemberStates, which might entail the compartmentalization of the Communitymarket and checks at internal frontiers for the products concerned;
Whereas under Article 7a of the Treaty, the internal market comprises
since 1 January 1993 of an area without internal frontiers in which the
free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured;
Whereas a new system for administering quantitative quotas should
therefore be established in line with this objective and based on theprinciple of a uniform common commercial policy, in accordancewith the guidelines laid down by the Court of Justice of the EuropeanCommunities;
Whereas there should be a choice betweenseveral allocationmethods,
depending on criteria such as the situation of the Community market,
the type of product concerned, specific characteristics of the suppliercountries and the Community's international obligations, particularlythose which undertake to allow for traditional trade flows;
Whereas the administration of import and export quotas should be
based on a system of licences issued by the Member States in linewith quantitative criteria established at Community level;
Whereas the administrative procedure must ensure that all applicants
have fair access to quotas, and whereas the documents issued must be
such that they canbe used throughout the Commun ity;
Whereas it is necessary to set up a committee to organize close and
effective cooperationbetweenthe Member States an d the Commissionfor the purposes of the implementation of this Regulation;
Whereas the provisions of this Regulation and those governing its
implementation should not prejudice existing national and Community
rules concerning profesional secrecy;
Whereas the products listed in Annex II to the Treaty, together with
textiles and other products that are subject to specific common importarrangements laying down specific provisions as regards quota admin-istrationshould be excluded from the scope of this Regulation ;
Whereas this Regulationshould replace Regulation(EEC) No 1023/70
and the said Regulation should therefore be repealed; whereas, by
Regulation(EEC) No 1024/70(
2), the Council applied Regulation
(EEC) No 1023/70 to the French overseas departments; whereas thereis no longer any need for a separate regulation, given that the commonprovisions laid down in this Regulation apply to Community territoryin its entirety, as defined in Article 227 of the Treaty; whereas Regula-tion(EEC) No 1024/70 should therefore also be repealed,1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 124, 8. 6. 1970, p. 1. Regulationas last amen ded by the 1985 Act
of Accession.
(2) OJ No L 124, 8. 6. 1970, p. 5.
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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
PART I
GENERALADMINISTRATIVEPRINCIPLES
Article 1
1. This Regulation establishes the rules governing the administration
of quantitative import and export quotas, hereinafter referred to as
‘quotas’, whether autonomous or conventional, established by theCommunity.
2. This Regulation shall not apply to products listed in Annex II to
the Treaty, nor to other products that are subject to specific common
import or export arrangements laying down special provisions for quota
administration.
Article 2
1. Quotas shall be allocated among applicants as soon as possible
after they have been opened. It may be decided, in accordance with
the procedure laid downinArticle 23, to allocate them inseveral
tranches.
2. Quotas may, inter alia , be administered using one of the
following methods, or a combination of these methods:
(a) a method based on traditional trade flows, in accordance with Arti-
cles 6 to 11;
(b) a method based onthe order inwhich application s are submitted
(ona ‘first come, first served’ basis), inaccordan ce with Article
12;
(c) a method allocating quotas in proportion to the quantities requested
when the applications are submitted (using the ‘simultaneous exam-
ination’ procedure), in accordance with Article 13.
3. The allocationmethod to be used shall be determin ed by
following the procedure laid down in Article 23.
4. If it is apparent that none of the methods indicated in paragraph 2
is appropriate to the specific requirements of a quota which has beenopened, the Commission shall determine whatever method may beappropriate following the procedure laid down in Article 23.
5. Quantities that are not allocated, assigned or used shall be redis-
tributed inaccordan ce with Article 14 intime to allow them to be usedbefore the end of the period covered by the quota.
If it is found that it has not been possible to redistribute such quantities
intime, the Commissionshall decide, ona case-by-case basis, inaccor-dance with the procedure laid down in Article 23, on their possibleredistribution during the following quota period.
6. Save where other provisions are adopted when the quota is set,
the release for free circulationor export of products subject to quotasshall be conditional on the presentation of an import or export licenceissued by the Member States in accordance with this Regulation.
7. Member States shall designate the administrative authorities
competent to carry out implementing measures for which they areresponsible under this Regulation. They shall notify the Commissionof the authority thus designated.
Article 3
The Commission shall publish a notice announcing the opening of
quotas inthe Official Journal of the European Communities , setting
out the allocation method chosen, the conditions to be met by licenceapplications, time limits for submitting them and a list of the compe-tent national authorities to which they must be sent.1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 3
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Article 4
1. All Community importers and exporters, no matter where they are
established in the Community, may submit a single licence application
for each quota or tranche of a quota to the competent authority of the
Member State of their choice, drawnup inthe official lan guage orlanguages of the Member State concerned.
Where a quota is limited to one or several regions of the Community,
the applicationshall be made to the competen t authorities intheMember State(s) of the region(s) in question.
2. Applications for licences shall be submitted in accordance with
the arrangements determined following the procedure laid down in
Article 23.
Article 5
The Commission shall ensure that the licences to be issued are for
economically significant quantities, having regard to the nature of theproduct covered by the quota.
PART II
SPECIFIC RULES FOR THE DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATIVE
METHODS
SectionA
Methodbasedontraditionaltradeflows
Article 6
1. Where quota allocation takes account of traditional trade flows,
one portion of the quota shall be reserved for traditional importers or
exporters while the other shall be set aside for other importers orexporters.
2. Importers or exporters deemed to be traditional are those able to
demonstrate that in the course of a previous period, to be known as ‘thereference period’ they have imported into the Community or exportedfrom it the product or products covered by the quota.
3. The portionset aside for tradition al importers or exporters, the
reference period and the portion allocated to other applicants shall bedetermined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23.
4. Until 31 December 1996, the Commission shall ensure that the
portion set aside for other applicants makes due and fair allowance forthe situation created by the existence of national restrictions appliedunder Council Regulation (EEC) No 288/82 of 5 February 1982 on
commonrules onimports(
1) and Council Regulation (EEC) No 3420/
83 of 14 November 1983 on import arrangements for products origi-nating in State-trading countries, not liberalized at Community level(
2).
5. The allocation shall be carried out in accordance with the princi-
ples set out inArticles 7 to 11.
Article 7
To qualify for the allocationof the part of the quota set aside for them,
and to provide evidence of the imports or exports carried out during the
reference period, traditional importers or exporters shall enclose with
their licence applications:
— a certified copy of the original of the entry for free circulation or
export declarationmade out inthe n ame of the importer or exporter1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ No L 35, 9. 2. 1982, p. 1. Regulationas last amen ded by Regulation
(EEC) No 2875/92 (OJ No L 287, 2. 10. 1992, p. 1).
(2) OJ No L 346, 8. 12. 1983, p. 6. Regulationas last amen ded by Regulation
(EEC) No 2456/92 (OJ No L 252, 31. 8. 1992, p. 1).
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concerned or, where applicable, that of the operator whose activities
they have takenover;
— any equivalent evidence, as determined by the Commission in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 23.
Article 8
Member States shall, within the period laid down in the notice opening
the quota concerned, inform the Commission of the number and theaggregate amount of the import or export applications, broken down
into those from traditional importers or exporters and other importers
or exporters, and of the amount of the previous imports or exportscarried out by the applicants during the reference period.
Article 9
The Commission shall examine the information provided by the
Member States at the same time and shall establish the quantitativecriteria according to which traditional importers' or exporters' applica-tions are to be met as follows:
— where aggregate applications are equal to or less than the amount
set aside for traditional importers or exporters, applications will be
met infull,
— where aggregate applications exceed the amount set aside for tradi-
tional importers or exporters, applications will be met on a pro rata
basis, calculated in accordance with each applicant's share of the
total reference imports or exports,
— where the use of this quantitative criterion would entail allocating
amounts greater than those applied for, the excess quantities shallbe reassigned following the procedure laid down in Article 14.
Article 10
The portion of the quota set aside for non-traditional importers or
exporters shall be allocated inaccordan ce with Article 12.
Article 11
Where no applications are received from traditional importers or expor-
ters, the importers or exporters that do apply shall have access to thewhole quota or tranche concerned.
Insuch cases, the allocationshall be carried out followin g the proce-
dure laid downinArticle 12.
SectionB
Methodbasedontheorderinwhichapplicationsaresubmitted
Article 12
1. Where a quota or tranche of a quota is allocated on a ‘first come,
first served’ basis, the Commissionshall apply the procedure laid downin Article 23 to determine the quantity to which operators are entitleduntil the quota is exhausted.
In setting this quantity, the same for all operators, allowance shall be
made for the need to assign economically significant quantities havingregard to the nature of the product concerned.
2. When the competent authorities have checked the Community
balance still available, they shall assign each importer or exporter the
quantity determined in accordance with paragraph 1.
3. When licence-holders can prove that they have indeed imported
or exported the total quantity for which they were issued a licence ora portion to be determined in accordance with the procedure laid downin Article 23, they may submit a new licence application. This applica-tion will be processed in accordance with the same conditions as1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 5
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previously. This procedure may be repeated until the quota is
exhausted.
4. To ensure that all applicants have equal access to the quota, the
Commissionshall specify the dates an d times of access to the Commu-nity balance available in the notice opening the quota.
SectionC
Methodallocatingquotasinproportiontothequantitiesrequested
Article 13
1. Where a quota is allocated inproportionto the quan tities applied
for, the competent authorities of the Member States shall inform the
Commission of the licence applications they have received in compli-ance with the deadlines and conditions established following theprocedure laid downinArticle 23.
This information shall specify the number of applicants and the aggre-
gate quantities applied for.
2. Within the deadline set following the procedure laid down in
Article 23, the Commission shall examine the information provided bythe competent authorities of the Member States at the same time, andshall determine the quantity of the quota or of the tranches concernedfor which the said authorities are to issue import or export licences.
3. Where aggregate licence applications are equal to, or less than,
the quantity of the quota concerned, applications shall be met in full.
4. Where aggregate applications exceed the quantity of the quota
concerned, they shall be met on a pro rata basis, in proportion to thequantities applied for.
SectionD
Allocationofquantitiesforredistribution
Article 14
1. Quantities for redistribution shall be determined by the Commis-
siononthe basis of the in formationprovided by Member States inaccordance with Article 20.
2. Where the quota is initially allocated using the method laid down
inArticle 12, the Commissionshall immediately add the quan tities forredistribution to any amounts still available, or use them to reconstitutethe quota if the latter is exhausted.
3. Where the quota is initially allocated using another method, the
quantities for redistribution shall be assigned in accordance with the
procedure laid downinArticle 23.
If this is the case, the Commission shall publish an additional notice in
theOfficial Journal of the European Communities .
PART III
RULESCONCERNINGIMPORTOREXPORTLICENCES
Article 15
1. Where the method used is that laid downinArticle 12, Member
States shall issue licences immediately on verification of the Commu-nity balance available.
2. Inother cases:
— the Commission shall notify the competent authorities in the
Member States, within a period to be determined in accordancewith the procedure laid downinArticle 23, of the quan tities forwhich they issue licences to the various applicants. If shall informthe other Member States thereof;1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 6
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— the competent authorities in the Member States shall issue import or
export licences within ten working days of notification of theCommissiondecisionor withinthe time limit set by the Commis-
sion;
— the said authorities shall inform the Commission that import or
export licences have been issued.
Article 16
The issue of licences may be made conditional upon the lodging of a
security, inaccordan ce with the procedure laid downinArticle 23.
Article 17
1. Import or export licences shall authorize the import or export of
products which are subject to quotas and shall be valid throughout the
Community, regardless of the place of import or export mentioned inthe applications by the operators.
Where a quota is limited to one or several regions of the Community,
import or export licences shall be valid only in the Member State(s) ofthe region(s) in question.
2. The period of validity of import or export licences to be issued by
the competent authorities of the Member States shall be four months.However, a different period of validity may be set in accordance withthe procedure laid downinArticle 23.
3. The holders of import or export licences may, on request, obtain
extracts thereof from the competent authorities which issued the
licences in the Member State concerned.
Such extracts shall have the same legal effects as the licences from
which they are derived, up to the quantity for which the licences were
issued.
4. Applications for import or export licences, licences and extracts
shall be drawn up on forms conforming to a specimen the characteris-
tics of which shall be established inaccordan ce with the procedure laiddowninArticle 23.
Article 18
Without prejudice to the specific provisions to be adopted in accor-
dance with the procedure laid down in Article 23, import or export
licences and their extracts may not be loaned or transferred, whetherfor a consideration or free of charge, by the person in whose namethe document was issued.
Article 19
1. Import or export licences or extracts ►
M1 ◄shall,
except incases of force majeure , be returned to the competent authori-
ties of the Member State of issue withintenworkin g days of theirexpiry date at the latest.
2. Where the issue of import or export licences is conditional upon
the lodging of a security, the security shall, except in cases of force
majeure, be forfeit where the time limit referred to inparagraph 1 is
not complied with.
Article 20
The competent authorities of the Member States shall notify the
Commission, immediately upon being so informed and in any case nolater than twenty days after the expiry date of the licences, of the quan-tities of quotas assigned and not used, with a view to their subsequentredistributionpursuan t to Article 2 (5).1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 7
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Article 21
The competent authorities of the Member States shall inform the
Commission, by the end of each month, of the quantities of productssubject to quotas which have beenimported or exported durin g thepreceding month.
PART IV
FINALPROVISIONS
Article 22
The Commissionshall be assisted by a Committee made up of repre-
sentatives of the Member States and chaired by the Commissionrepresentative.
Article 23
1. Where reference is made to the procedure laid down in this
Article, the representative of the Commission shall submit to the
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall
deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairmanmay lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinionshall be delivered by the majority laid downinArticle 148 (2) of theTreaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt
ona proposal from the Commission .
The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the
Committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article.
The chairmanshall n ot vote.
2. (a) The Commissionshall adopt measures which shall apply imme-
diately.
(b) However, if the measures are not in accordance with the opinion
of the Committee, they shall be communicated by the Commis-sionto the Coun cil forthwith.
Inthat even t, the Commissionmay defer applicationof the measures
which it has decided for a period of not more than one month fromthe date of such communication.
The Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a different deci-
sionwithinthe time limit referred to inthe previous subparagraph.
Article 24
The procedures for applying this Regulation shall be adopted by the
Commissioninaccordan ce with the procedure laid downinArticle23. They shall in particular determine the implementation of themethods of allocation, the information to be transmitted by the compe-tent authorities in the Member States and the measures intended to
ensure compliance with this Regulation.
Article 25
1. The information received by the Council, the Commission or the
Member States pursuant to this Regulation may be used only for thepurposes for which it was requested.
2. The Council, the Commission and the Member States, and those
acting on their behalf, shall not disclose information in respect ofwhich a duly substantiated request for confidential treatment has been
lodged, except where express authorizationis gran ted by the party
providing the information.
3. This Article shall not prevent the Community authorities from
disclosing information of a general nature, in particular the groundson which decisions are taken pursuant to this Regulation, or evidenceused by them to justify their arguments in the event of legal proceed-ings. Such disclosure must take into account the legitimate interest ofthe parties concerned in preserving commercial confidentiality.1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 8
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Article 26
Member States and the Commission shall provide each other with the
requisite information and shall cooperate in applying this Regulation.
Communication and information dissemination procedures shall, where
necessary, be established in accordance with the procedure laid downinArticle 23.
Article 27
Regulations (EEC) No 1023/70 and (EEC) No 1024/70 are hereby
repealed. References to the repealed Regulations shall be construed asreferences to this Regulation.
Article 28
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publicationinthe Official Journal of the European Communities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
inall Member States.1994R0520 — EN — 30.01.1996 — 001.001 — 9