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"B 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 bananas into the Community
(Text with EEA relevance)
(OJ L 293, 31.10.1998, p. 32)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 756/1999 of 12 April 1999 L 98 10 13.4.1999
NB: This consolidated version contains references to the European unit of account and/or the ecu, which from 1 January 1999 should be
understood as references to the euro — Council Regulation (EEC) No 3308/80 (OJ L 345, 20.12.1980, p. 1) and Council Regulation(EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 1
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 bananas into the Community
(Text with EEA relevance)
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 1637/98 (2), and in particular Article 20 thereof,
(1) Whereas by Regulation (EC) No 1637/98 the Council amended the
rules for the import of bananas introduced by Title IV of Regulation
(EEC) No 404/93; whereas, in particular, that Regulation opened anautonomous tariff quota of 353 000 tonnes at ECU 75/tonne customsduty in addition to the 2 200 000 tonnes secured under the World
Trade Organisation, and abolished the operator categories defined in
Article 19 in its original form; whereas all the provisions necessary toimplement those rules should be adopted, including such transitional
measures as are justified by the speedy entry into force of this
Regulation, as well as provisions concerning imports at the commoncustoms tariff rate;
(2) Whereas Article 18(4) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 stipulates that
if there is no possibility of securing the agreement of producer thirdcountries with a substantial interest in the supply of bananas to theCommunity for the purposes of allocating tariff quotas and, where
necessary, the traditional ACP quantity — hereinafter called
‘traditional ACP bananas’ — the Commission should be authorisedto carry out that allocation using a single criterion; whereas theCommission’ s negotiations with third countries having a substantial
interest in the supply of bananas to the Community in accordance with
the Council’s mandate have not achieved an agreement on theallocation of the tariff quotas; whereas the Commission is therefore
obliged to allocate the tariff quotas on the basis of a single objective
criterion, namely the exports to the Community by third countrieshaving a substantial interest in that supply during the years 1994, 1995and 1996 — these being the latest three-year period for which the
Community holds firm data;
(3) Whereas Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 provides that tariff
quotas for third-country bananas and imports of traditional ACP
bananas are to be managed in accordance with the method based on
taking account of traditional trade flows (‘traditionals/newcomers’);whereas, however, where necessary other suitable methods may beadopted; whereas, for the purpose of implementing the new
arrangements in 1999, it is advisable, in the light of available
knowledge on the de facto patterns of importation, to determine the
rights of traditional operators in accordance with their actual imports
during the three-year period 1994 to 1996; whereas the choice of that
reference period is in keeping with the general consensus within theCouncil;
(4) Whereas actual imports should be ascertained on the basis of the
documents used for placing bananas in free circulation, namely importlicences and the appropriate customs documents; whereas, however, inthe case of the new Member States those operations must be
established on the basis of the administrative documents valid prior
to accession and, for the first three quarters of 1995, by means of theauthorisations issued under the transitional measures in force duringthat period; whereas, in view of the large number of informal
communications and transfers of import documents against payment
which occurred during the final period of application of the initialarrangements established by Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, actual!B
(1) OJ L 47, 25. 2. 1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 210, 28. 7. 1998, p. 28.1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 2
imports can justifiably be based on proof of payment of the customs
duties applicable at the time at which the goods were imported;
(5) Whereas common administration of the tariff quotas and traditional
ACP bananas seems likely to favour an increase in international trade
and smoother trade flows and avoid unjustified distinctions; whereas,
therefore, ‘traditional operators’ and ‘newcomers’ should be definedaccording to the single criteria regardless of the third country or ACPcountry from which they are importing; whereas the rights of
‘traditional operators’ should be determined on the basis of actual
imports regardless of origin and supply source and should allowimports to be made from any origin; whereas that approach should be
reflected in the method of administering imports by period without
differentiation according to their different origins;
(6) Whereas a share of the tariff quotas and traditional ACP bananas must
be reserved for ‘newcomers’; whereas that overall allocation should be
sufficient to allow operators to participate in that import trade and
encourage healthy competition;
(7) Whereas the distribution of available quantities between ‘traditional
operators’ and ‘newcomers’ is likely to undergo adjustments in future,
to take account of changes in the number of operators in the two
groups, their imports and the number of newcomers qualifying forre-classification as traditional operators as a result of their import
activities; whereas adjustment should also be possible where necessary
to permit satisfactory use of the quantities available during a givenyear;
(8) Whereas experience from several years of applying the Community
banana import arrangements indicates the need to tighten the
eligibility criteria for new operators so as to avoid the registration ofpurely fictitious agents and the grant of allocations in response toartificial or speculative applications; whereas, in particular, it is
justifiable to demand a minimum of experience in importing
comparable products — fresh products falling within Chapters 7, 8and, under certain conditions, 9 of the Combined Nomenclature;
whereas, also, to avoid applications for annual allocations which bear
little relation to operators’ actual capacities and which will not lead toapplications for import licences 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; whereas that security should be released without delay instages as operators actually use up their annual allocations; whereas,for the same purpose, the grant of an annual allocation in subsequent
years should be made subject to a minimum rate of use of the previous
annual allocation; whereas, lastly, the conditions under which‘newcomers’ can gain access to the ‘traditional operators’ groupshould be determined;
(9) Whereas operators should be reminded that they may form mergers or
groupings on terms and conditions defined in national legislation inorder to meet their obligations and exercise the rights arising under this
Regulation;
(10) Whereas the provisions applying to the registration of operators and
the determination of their reference quantities or annual allocations, asthe case may be, should be adopted; whereas the verifications and
checks to be carried out by the competent national authorities should
be specified; whereas, lastly, the action to be taken in the event thatcertain obligations are not fulfilled, in particular as regards registrationand declarations made for the purpose of obtaining reference quantities
or allocations under the import arrangements, should also be specified;
(11) Whereas, for the purposes of implementing the tariff quota and
traditional ACP banana arrangements in 1999, the administrative rules
based on periods as created by Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 1442/93 of 10 June 1993 laying down detailed rules for theapplication of the arrangements for importing bananas into theCommunity (
1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1409/96 (2),
should be maintained, with adjustments where necessary; whereas
those rules relate in particular to fixing the indicative quantities for thefirst three quarters, the ceilings for individual applications, the!B
(1) OJ L 142, 12. 6. 1993, p. 6.
(2) OJ L 181, 20. 7. 1996, p. 13.1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 3
frequency for the submission of licence applications and for the issue
of licences, and the issue of licences for the re-use of unusedquantities;
(12) Whereas, for the application of Article 18(7) and (8) of Regulation
(EEC) No 404/93, there is a need to define the items making up the
balance of production, consumption, imports and exports which has to
be established before an increase in the autonomous quota can be madein the event of an increase in demand or of exceptional circumstances
affecting supplies to the Community market;
(13) Whereas, except where derogations are explicitly provided for,
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 of 16 November 1988laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system ofimport and export licences and advance-fixing certificates for
agricultural products (
1), as last amended by Regulation (EC)
No 1044/98 (2), should apply; whereas, pursuant to Article 9 of that
Regulation, rights resulting from licences may be transferred by theholder only once per licence or per extract from a licence during the
term of validity thereof;
(14) Whereas the conditions for and the effects of transferring licences
should be specified in the light of the definition of operator categoriesestablished by this Regulation; whereas a transfer restricted to a single
transferee per licence or certificate or extract therefrom will allow
trade relations to develop between the various registered operators;whereas, however, artificial trade, speculation or disturbance of normaltrade should not be encouraged by permitting transfers from
‘newcomers’ in favour of ‘traditional operators’;
(15) Whereas all the n ecessary communications between operators,
Member States and the Commission in pursuance of this Regulationshould be specified, in particular as regards the establishment of
operators’ reference quantities and allocations, the administration of
tariff quotas and traditional ACP bananas by period and marketmonitoring;
(16) Whereas, under the transitional measures n ecessitated by the
application of the new arrangements on 1 January 1999, derogations
should be provided for from the timetable for registering operators and
from the transmission to the competent national authorities of thedocumentary evidence needed to establish their rights; whereas,however, applications submitted must contain a list of and precise
references for all documentary evidence for the rights claimed;
(17) Whereas, further, the quantities which can be imported from the
various origins for the first quarter of 1999 under the tariff quotas andas traditional ACP bananas should be determined and the ceiling for
individual licence applications from operators and a strict timetable for
the submission of those applications should be fixed;
(18) Whereas the changes made by this Regulation to the arrangements for
the importation of bananas into the Community, and in particular theprovisions regarding the definition of operators, call for verifications
and checks by the competent national authorities, acting in cooperation
with the Commission; whereas such operations can, if need be, lead tocorrections of operators’ reference quantities or annual allocations;
whereas it follows inter alia that reference quantities and annual
allocations may not be regarded as vested rights, nor be pleaded byoperators as legitimate expectations;
(19) Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1442/93 and Commission Regulation
(EC) No 478/95 of 1 March 1995 on additional rules for the
application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the
tariff quota arrangements for imports of bananas into the Communityand amending Regulation (EEC) No 1442/93 (
3), as amended by
Regulation (EC) No 702/95 (4), should be repealed;
(20) Whereas Regulation (EC) No 1637/98 applies from 1 January 1999;
whereas, in order to enable operators to enjoy the benefit of theprovisions set out in that Regulation from that date onwards,transitional measures should be enacted which allow the Member!B
(1) OJ L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 149, 20. 5. 1998, p. 11.
(3) OJ L 49, 4. 3. 1995, p. 13.
(4) OJ L 71, 31. 3. 1995, p. 84.1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 4
States and the Commission to assemble all the requisite material for
ensuring that licences are used from 1 January 1999 onwards;
(21) Whereas 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
the importation of bananas under the tariff quotas provided for in Article
18(1) and (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 and for the importation ofquantities of traditional ACP bananas as referred to in Article 16 of thatRegulation, and also the arrangements outside those quotas.
The tariff quotas shall be divided up among the main supplier countries and
other countries as shown in Annex I hereto.
Article 2
1. The tariff quotas and the traditional ACP quantities shall be made
available as follows:
(a) 92 % to ‘traditional operators’ as defined in Article 3;(b) 8 % to ‘newcomers’ as defined in Article 7.2. The distribution given in paragraph 1 may be amended to make better use
of the tariff quotas and traditional ACP quantities, in particular in line withchanges in the numbers of ‘traditional operators’ and ‘newcomers’, thevolumes of their imports, and the accession of ‘newcomers’ to the group of
‘traditional operators’ under Article 10 below.
3. Where the total provisional reference quantities of ‘traditional operators’,
or the annual allocations requested by ‘newcomers’, is less than the total
amount allowed for the relevant category of operator, the available quantitymay be allotted to the other category.
TITLE II
Administration of tariff quotas and traditional ACP bananas
CHAPTER 1
Definition of operators
Section I: Traditional operators
Article 3
For the purposes of this Regulation, ‘traditional operators’ shall mean
economic agents established in the European Community during the period
for determining their reference quantities, and also at the time of their
registration under Article 5 below, who have actually imported a minimumquantity of third-country and/or ACP-country bananas on their own account
for subsequent marketing in the Community during a set reference period.
The minimum quantity referred to in the first paragraph shall be 100 tonnes
imported in any one year of the reference period. This minimum quantity shall
be 20 tonnes where the imports consist entirely of bananas with a length of 10centimetres or less.!B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 5
Article 4
1. Each traditional operator registered in a Member State in accordance with
Article 5 shall receive, for each year and for all the origins listed in Annex I, a
single reference quantity based on the quantities of bananas actually imported
during the reference period.
2. For imports carried out in 1999 under the tariff quotas or as traditional
ACP bananas, the reference period shall be made up of the years 1994, 1995and 1996.
Article 5
1. The registration of traditional operators and the determination of their
reference quantity shall be conducted on the basis of a written applicationsubmitted by operators in any one Member State of their choice.
Applications for registration shall be submitted by 1 July.The competent authorities in each Member State are listed in Annex II.2. For the purposes of determining their reference quantity, each operator
shall send to the competent authority by 1 July each year:
(a) a figure for the total quantity of bananas from the origins listed in Annex
I actually imported during each of the years making up the referenceperiod;
(b) the supporting documents detailed in paragraph 3.3. Actual imports shall be attested by both of the following:
(a) by presenting copies of the import licences used either by the holder or, in
the case of a transfer under Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88
duly endorsed by the competent authorities, by the transferee, in order torelease the relevant quantities for free circulation; and
(b) by presenting proof of payment of the customs duties due on the day on
which customs import formalities were completed. The payment shall be
made either direct to the competent authorities or via a customs agent or
representative.
Operators furnishing proof of payment of customs duties, either direct to the
competent authorities or via a customs agent or representative, for the releaseinto free circulation of a given quantity of bananas without being the holder ortransferee holder of the relevant import licence used for this purpose — or,
where appropriate, of the proper customs documents and import permits in
accordance with paragraph 4 — shall be deemed to have actually imported thesaid quantity provided that they have registered in a Member State underRegulation (EEC) No 1442/93 and/or that they fulfil the requirements of this
Regulation for registration as a traditional operator. Customs agents or
representatives may not call for the application of this subparagraph.
4. For operators established in Austria, Finland or Sweden, proof of the
quantities released into free circulation in those Member States in 1994, andin 1995 up to the third quarter thereof, shall be furnished by presenting copies
of the relevant customs documents and import permits issued by the
competent authorities and duly used.
Article 6
1. By 30 September at the latest each year, after making the necessary
checks and verifications, the competent authorities shall determine, inaccordance with Articles 3, 4 and 5, a single, provisional reference quantityfor each traditional operator, on the basis of the average quantities of bananas
actually imported by them from the origins listed in Annex I during the
reference period.
The reference quantities shall be based on a three-year average even where the
operator has not imported bananas for part of that period.
2. No later than 15 October of each year, the competent authorities shall
notify the Commission of the list of traditional operators they have registeredand the total provisional reference quantity determined. The same notificationshall contain, for each operator, the quantities of their actual banana imports
during the reference period, the serial numbers of the import licences or
licence extracts used, and their provisional reference quantity.!B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 6
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 any of the details contained in the notifications
from Member States.
3. Using the information received under paragraph 2, and in light of the
total volume of tariff quotas and traditional ACP bananas as referred to in
Article 2, the Commission shall, where appropriate, set a single adjustmentcoefficient to be applied to each operator’s provisional reference quantity.
4. The competent authorities shall then determine the reference quantity for
each operator, applying if need be the adjustment coefficient calculated underparagraph 3, and shall notify each operator of the reference quantity allocated
to him, by 15 November at the latest.
Section II: Newcomers
Article 7
For the purposes of this Regulation and as regards imports under the tariff
quotas and as traditional ACP bananas, ‘newcomers’ shall mean economic
agents established in the European Community who, at the time ofregistration:
(a) have been engaged independently and on their own account in the
commercial activity of importing fresh fruit and vegetables falling withinChapters 7 and 8, of the Tariff and Statistical Nomenclature and theCommon Customs Tariff, or products under Chapter 9 thereof if they
have also imported products falling within Chapters 7 and 8 in one of the
three years immediately preceding the year in respect of whichregistration is sought; and
(b) by virtue of this activity, have undertaken imports to a declared customs
value of ECU 400 000 or more during the period referred to in point (a).
Article 8
1. For the purposes of registering as a newcomer in the Member State of
their choice, operators shall send to the relevant competent authority as listed
in Annex II the following supporting documents:
(a) proof of entry in a commercial register of the Member State or proof of
any alternative registration acceptable to the said authorities;
(b) evidence of having imported the products of the sector referred to in point
(a) of Article 7, by presenting the import licences used or, in cases where
such a licence was not compulsory, the relevant customs documents;
(c) a copy of an attestation from an independent, professionally registered
chartered accountant certifying imports to the value required in point (b)
of Article 7, or a copy of the corresponding customs declarations stamped
by the customs authorities.
2. Applications for registration shall be submitted by 1 July each year.
3. Operators may submit only one application for registration in only one
Member State of their choice.
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 currentyear.
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 licence(s) issued for the current quarter.
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 for
renewal of registration, and in the case of renewals the serial numbers oflicences or any licence extracts, used and issued.!B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 7
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 any of the details contained in the notifications
from Member States.
Article 9
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) shall not cover a quantity greater than 10 % of the total quantity allocated
annually to newcomers; and
(b) shall be accompanied by proof that a security of ECU 18 per tonne
requested has been lodged in accordance with Title III of Commission
Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 (
1). This security shall be lodged against
an applicant’s performance of his obligation to apply for import licencesfor the amount of the allocation granted and actually to import thequantity allocated.
The security shall be released in stages, in proportion to the quantities actually
imported.
2. By 10 October each year, the competent authorities shall send the
Commission a list of the newcomer operators registered, indicating for each
one the annual allocation requested.
3. The allocation requests received by the Commission shall be ranked in
ascending order of quantity and an annual allocation shall then be determinedfor each ‘newcomer’ operator up to a maximum of the individual quantity
requested, arrived at by a process of allocating to all operators the smallest
requested quantity remaining in each round. The Commission shall determinewithout delay the quantities for which annual allocations are granted.
If the procedure in the first subparagraph results in an operator’s receiving an
annual allocation smaller than the amount requested, the security provided forin paragraph 1 shall be released in proportion to the reduction arrived at.
4. By 15 November each year, the competent authorities in the Member
States shall determine and notify to each newcomer operator the quantity
allocated to him for the following year.
Article 10
A newcomer operator shall obtain the status of traditional operators on
applying for registration in accordance with Article 5, provided that he fulfilsthe conditions specified in Article 3 after three years of commercial activityfollowing the date of first registration.
Applications shall be accompanied by the figures and supporting documents
referred to in Article 5(2) and (3).
Article 11
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 into the Community in the sector
referred to in Article 7 and as independent economic units in terms of
management, staffing and operations. Where there are grounds for suspectingthat these conditions are not met, applications for registration and requests for
annual allocations shall be accepted only subject to the operator’s providing
evidence of compliance which is considered satisfactory by the nationalcompetent authorities.
2. The Member States and the Commission shall exchange all information
relevant to the application of this Article.!B
(1) OJ L 205, 3. 8. 1985, p. 5.1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 8
Section III: Common provisions
Article 12
1. The competent national authorities shall register as traditional operators
and newcomers all economic agents who submit an appropriate application,
whether physical persons or legal entities, and whether individual agents orgroups thereof, provided that they are legally constituted under the nationallegislation governing the exercise of the commercial activities in question and
that they satisfy the provisions of this Regulation.
A group of agents may be registered as either a traditional operator or a
newcomer if its members jointly meet the requirements of this Regulation.
The group shall stand for each of its members in exercising their rights andfulfilling their obligations.
2. Operators resulting from a merger of several other operators, each with
their own rights under this Regulation, shall enjoy the same rights as thoseformer operators.
Article 13
1. In the case of both traditional operators and newcomer operators, failure
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, as the case may be, of any reference quantity or of anyannual allocation already granted. In addition, such failure shall result in a
prohibition 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,reference quantity or, where relevant, annual allocation, such registration,reference quantity or allocation shall be cancelled, without prejudice to the
application of any relevant national laws.
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 year
in which the irregularity is detected.
CHAPTER 2
Rules for issuing import licences
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 origins listed in
Annex I may be fixed for the purposes of issuing import licences.
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 set
percentage of the reference quantity fixed under Article 6(4) or the annualallocation fixed under Article 9(4).
Article 15
1. For each quarter of the year, applications for import licences shall be
submitted to the competent authorities of the Member State in which
operators are registered during the first seven days of the month preceding the
quarter in respect of which the licences are being issued.
2. Licence applications submitted:
(a) by traditional operators shall bear the wording ‘Licence application
traditional operator — Regulation (EC) No 2362/98’;
(b) by newcomer operators shall bear the wording ‘Licence application
newcomer — Regulation (EC) No 2362/98’.
3. Licence applications presented by an operator shall only be accepted
where:
(a) they bear the wording shown in paragraph 2;
(b) they indicate, in Box 8, one of the origins listed in Annex I;!B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 9
(c) they cover a quantity no greater than that available for the origin
indicated, such quantity being published periodically before the start ofthe application period;
(d) they cover a total quantity no greater than the quantity resulting from
applying Article 14(2) for the quarter concerned; or no greater than the
operator’s remaining reference quantity or annual allocation, as the casemay be.
4. Licences shall include:
(a) in Box 20, one of the statements shown in paragraph 2,(b) in Box 8, an indication of the country of origin in accordance with point
(b) of paragraph 3.
Receipt of a licence carries the obligation to import from the origin indicated.
Article 16
Within two working days following either the closing date for the submission
of import licence applications for the first period under Article 15(1) or theclosing date fixed under point (a) of Article 18(1), the competent authoritiesshall notify the Commission of the quantities covered by licence applications.
This notification shall present the quantities requested, broken down
according to the origins listed in Annex I and as between traditionaloperators and newcomers.
Article 17
Where, for a given quarter and for any one or more of the origins listed in
Annex I, the quantities applied for appreciably exceed any indicative quantity
fixed under Article 14, or exceed the quantities available, a percentage
reduction to be applied to the amounts requested shall be fixed.
Article 18
1. Where a percentage reduction has been fixed for one or more given
origins under Article 17, operators who have applied for import licences forthe origin(s) concerned may:
(a) either renounce their use of the licence by informing the relevant issuing
authority accordingly within 10 working days of publication of theRegulation fixing the reduction percentage, whereupon the securitylodged against the licence shall be released immediately; or
(b) submit one or more fresh licence applications for the origins for which
available quantities have been published by the Commission, up to anamount equal to or smaller than the quantity applied for but not coveredby the original licence issued. Such requests shall be submitted within the
time limit laid down in point (a) and shall be subject to all the conditions
governing licence applications.
2. The Commission shall immediately determine the quantities for which
licences can be issued for each of the origins concerned.
Article 19
1. The competent authorities shall issue import licences for the following
quarter not later than the 23rd day of the last month of each quarter. Where
that day is not a working day, licences shall be issued no later than the firstworking day following.
Where Article 18 is applied, licences shall be issued immediately after
publication of the Decision referred to in Article 18(2).
2. By way of derogation from Article 21(1) of Regulation (EEC)
No 3719/88, 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 following the month in which they are issued. The date of actualissue shall be included in the term of validity of a licence.
Licences issued under Article 18 shall have a term of validity expiring on the
seventh day of the month following the end of the quarter in which they have
been issued.!B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 10
Article 20
1. Unused quantities covered by licences shall be re-allocated on application
to the same operators, be they holders or transferees, for use in a subsequentquarter of the same year as that in which the original licences were issued.Re-allocation licences shall be used to import bananas of the same origin as
that for which the original unused or partly used licences were issued.
The securities for the original licences shall be forfeit in proportion to the
quantities not used up.
2. Applications for re-allocation shall be submitted within the time limit
laid down in Article 15(1) and accompanied by the original or a certified copyof the unused or partly used licence(s), as well as proof that the securityreferred to in Article 25 has been lodged.
Applications for re-allocation and the re-allocation licences themselves shall
bear the following wording in Box 20: ‘Re-allocation licence — Article 20 of
Regulation (EC) No 2362/98.’
3. Applications for re-allocation 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 re-allocation received, within the time limitlaid down in Article 16.
Article 21
1. Rights arising under import licences issued in accordance with this
chapter shall be transferable to a single transferee operator on the terms and
conditions laid down in Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88, withoutprejudice to paragraph 2 of this Article.
2. Rights may be transferred:(a) between traditional operators registered under Article 5;(b) from traditional operators to newcomer operators registered under Article
8;
(c) between newcomer operators.The transfer of rights from newcomers to traditional operators shall not be
permitted.
3. In the event of a transfer of rights:(a) between traditional operators, the quantity transferred shall be taken into
account in calculating the reference quantities of the two operators for thepurposes of Articles 4(1) and 6(1), in order to reduce the referencequantity of the transferor and increase that of the transferee;
(b) between a traditional operator and a newcomer, the quantity transferred
shall be taken into account by reducing the reference quantity of the
transferor for the purposes of the same provisions as referred to in (a);
(c) to newcomer operators in accordance with paragraph 2(b) or (c), the
quantity transferred shall be taken into account when a newcomer appliesto register as a traditional operator under Article 10.
Article 22
1. Operators shall immediately declare to the competent authorities all
quantities of bananas which have been released for free circulation and then
re-exported out of the Community before the term of validity of the import
licence concerned expires. They shall return to the same authorities theoriginals 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 case
the category of operators (traditional or newcomer) to whom the import
licences had been issued and quoting the serial numbers of the relevant importlicences or licence extracts.!B
!M1
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3. One or more import licences shall be issued, up to the amount of
quantities re-exported, either to the holder or to the transferee of the originallicences, 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 actual imports of traditional operators or of newcomers.
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 countries, including the Community as constituted on 31
December 1994.
TITLE III
Rules for imports of bananas outside the tariff quotas and of traditional
ACP bananas
Article 23
1. Import licence applications may be submitted in any Member State.
2. Licence applications and the licences themselves shall bear the following
wording in Section 20: ‘Non-quota imports and traditional ACP bananas —Regulation (EC) No 2362/98, Article 23’.
3. Licences shall be issued immediately, in accordance with Article 21(1) of
Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88. The term of validity of licences shall be threemonths.
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 24
For the purposes of Article 18(7) and (8) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, the
balance showing Community production and consumption and its 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 25
1. Import licence applications shall be accompanied by proof that a security
has been lodged in accordance with Title III of Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85.This security shall amount to EUR 18 per tonne. This provision shall not
apply, however, to licence applications submitted by newcomer operators
under the import arrangements laid down in Title II.
2. Where licences are issued for a quantity lower than that applied for, the
security covering the quantity not allocated shall be released immediately.
Article 26
Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 shall apply, with the exception of the fourth
indent of Article 5(1) and Article 8(4) and (5) thereof, regard being had to thederogations contained in this Regulation.!B
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!B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 12
By way of derogation from Article 33(5) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88,
proof of acceptance of an import declaration for the quantity concerned shallbe furnished within 30 days of expiry of the validity of an import licence,except in cases of force majeure .
Article 27
The Member States shall send the Commission the following statistical and
commercial 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) on the 20th day of each month, in respect of the preceding month: figures
for the volume and value of bananas which have been released for freecirculation in their territory, broken down by country of origin;
(c) on the 10th day of the month following expiry of the validity of import
licences for each quarter: the quantities covered by import licencesissued, 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. By way of derogation from Articles 5(1) and 8(2), operators shall submit
their applications for registration for 1999 as either ‘traditional operators’ oras ‘newcomers’ in the Member State of their choice by 13 November 1998 atthe latest.
To be accepted, applications shall include:
(a) in the case of ‘traditional operators’:
(i) a figure for the total quantity of bananas actually imported in each of
the years of the reference period 1994 to 1996 and the serial numbersof all the import licences and licence extracts used for these imports,
or, should Article 5(4) apply, the customs documents and import
permits; and
(ii) a list, complete with references, summarising all the documentary
evidence showing that duties have been paid, in accordance with
point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 5(3);
(b) in the case of ‘newcomers’:
(i) a request for an annual allocation under Article 9(1);
(ii) a list, complete with references, summarising all the documentary
evidence required under Article 8(1).
Operators shall hold all the documentary evidence referred to in the second
subparagraph at the disposal of the competent authorities so as to enable the
checks and verifications required by them to be carried out.
2. By 30 November 1998 at the latest, the Member States shall send the
Commission separate lists of the ‘traditional operators’ and ‘newcomers’ who
have submitted applications for registration under the second subparagraph,
together with their total provisional reference quantities and total requests forannual allocations, as appropriate. The following additional items shall beincluded:
(a) for each ‘traditional operator’: the quantity of bananas imported by them
during each year in the period 1994 to 1996, their provisional referencequantity and the serial numbers of the licences and licence extracts used,
or, should Article 5(4) apply, the customs documents and import licences;!B
(1) OJ L 337, 24. 12. 1994, p. 66.1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 13
(b) for each ‘newcomer’ operator: a figure for the annual allocation
requested.
3. In the light of the notifications received in accordance with point (a) of
paragraph 2, the Commission shall if necessary fix a single adjustmentcoefficient as provided for in Article 6(3).
4. By way of derogation from Article 6(4), the competent authorities shall
determine the reference quantity of each operator and shall notify it to themby 10 December 1998.
Article 29
If the quantities covered by applications for licences in respect of the first
quarter of 1999 covering imports from one or more of the origins listed in
Annex I exceed 26 % of the quantities set out in that Annex, the Commissionshall fix a percentage reduction to be applied to all applications in respect ofthe origin(s) concerned.
Article 30
1. By way of derogation from Article 15(1), operators shall submit
applications for import licences between 14 and 16 December 1998 in the
Member State where they have applied for registration.
To be accepted, applications for licences submitted by a single operator must
not exceed a total quantity greater than:
(a) 26 % of the reference quantity of a ‘traditional operator’;
(b) 26 % of the annual allocation of a ‘newcomer’ operator.2. Member States shall notify the Commission of the total quantities
covered by applications for import licences, broken down by the origins listed
in Annex I and separately for the two categories of operator, by 18 December
1998 at the latest.
3. The Commission shall determine immediately the quantities for which
licences may be issued in respect of the origins concerned.
4. The competent national authorities shall issue import licences by 31
December 1998 at the latest.
Import licences shall be issued with a view to release for free circulation as
from 1 January 1999.
Licence applications and the licences themselves shall bear the wording, in
Box 24: ‘Issued with a view to free circulation as from 1 January 1999’.
TITLE VI
Final provisions
Article 31
Regulations (EEC) No 1442/93 and (EC) No 478/95 are hereby repealed as
from 1 January 1999.
Article 32
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of 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.!B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 14
ANNEX I
Distribution of the tariff quotas and the traditional ACP quantity
Tariff quotas (Article 18(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No 404/93) — 2 200 000 t/
353 000 t
Ecuador: 26,17 %
Costa Rica: 25,61 %
Colombia: 23,03 %Panama: 15,76 %Subtotal: (90,57 %)
Other: 9,43 %
Traditional ACP quantity: 857 700 tonnes.!
B1998R2362 — EN — 16.04.1999 — 001.001 — 15
ANNEX II
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 Restitutie-
bureauRue de Trèves, 82/Trierstraat 82B-1040 Bruxelles/Brussel
— Denmark
EU-Direktoratet
Kampmannsgade 3DK-1780 København V
— Germany
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung
Referat 322
Adickesallee, 40D-60322 Frankfurt am Main
— Greece
Ministry of Agriculture
GEDIDAGEP
Directorate Fruits and Vegetables, Wine and Industrial Products241, AcharnonGR-10446
— Spain
Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda
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)28, Boulevard de GrenelleF-75737 Paris Cedex 15
— Ireland
Department of Agriculture and Food Horticulture Division
Agriculture House (7W)
Kildare StreetIRL-Dublin 2
— Italy
Ministero del Commercio con l’Estero
DG Politica Commerciale e Gestione Regime Scambi — Div. II
Viale Boston 25I-00144 Roma
— Luxembourg
Ministère de l’Agriculture
Administration des Services Techniques de l’Agriculture
Service de l’Horticulture16, Route d’EschBoîte Postale 1904L-1014 Luxembourg
— Netherlands
Produktschap Tuinbouw
Bezuidenhoutseweg 153Postbus 93099NL-2594 AG Den Haag
— Austria
Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft
Abteilung III A 5 — Handelspolitik und AußenhandelStubenring 12A-1012 Wien
— Portugal!
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Ministério da Economia
Direcção-Geral das Relações Economicas InternacionaisDirecção de Serviços de Licenciamento do Comércio ExternoAvenida da República, 79P-1094 Lisboa Codex
— Finland
Maa-ja Metsätalousministeriö
Mariankatu 23P .O. Box 232SF-00171 Helsinki
— Sweden
Jordbruksverket
Vallgatan 8
S-551 82 Jönköping
— United Kingdom
Intervention Board
External Trade DivisionLancaster HouseHampshire Court
UK-Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE4 7YE!
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