2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No896/2001
of7May2001
laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the
arrangementsforimportingbananasintotheCommunity
(OJ L 126, 8.5.2001, p. 6)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Commission Regulation (EC) No 1613/2001 of 7 August 2001 L 214 19 8.8.2001
►M2Commission Regulation (EC) No 2351/2001 of 30 November 2001 L 315 46 1.12.2001
Corrected by:
►C1Corrigendum, OJ L 133, 16.5.2001, p. 19 (896/2001)
▼B
COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No896/2001
of7May2001
laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC)
No404/93asregardsthearrangementsforimportingbananasinto
theCommunity
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)No 404/93. 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 TradeOrganisation (WTO) and the additional quota of 353 000 tonnes.All the provisions necessary to implement those rules should beadopted, 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 at the Common Customs Tariffrate.
(2)Under the last subparagraph of Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC)No 404/93, where there is no agreement with World TradeOrganisation contracting parties with a substantial interest in thesupply of bananas, the tariff quotas ‘A’ and ‘B’ need not beallocated among supplier countries.
(3)Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 provides that the tariffquotas 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
quotas to traditional operators who have undertaken on their ownaccount the purchase of fresh products from producers in thirdcountries, or their production, as well as their dispatch to andunloading in the customs territory of the Community, during a
reference period. For the purposes of 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 dependingon whether these operators have supplied the Community marketwith bananas originating in non-ACP third countries and non-traditional imports from ACP States or with traditional ACPbananas during the reference period, within the meaning of the
definitions in Article 16 of Regulation (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 ofoperators and determining the reference quantities of traditionaloperators should be the three-year period 1994 to 1996. The three-year period 1994 to 1996 is the most recent for which theCommission has sufficiently reliable data on primary imports.
Using that period can also resolve a dispute which has been going
on for a number of years with certain of the Community's tradingpartners. In the light of the available data established for the2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 2
(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 31, 2.2.2001, p. 2.
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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 continuetrading and to adapt to the new rules and to allow new operatorsto enter this import trade, thereby encouraging healthy competi-tion.
(7)Experience from several years of applying the Community bananaimport arrangements indicates the need to tighten the criteria fornon-traditional operators and the eligibility criteria for newoperators so as to avoid the registration of purely fictious agentsand the grant of allocations in response to artificial or speculativeapplications. In particular, it is justifiable to demand a minimum
of experience in importing fresh bananas. Also, to avoid
applications for annual allocations which bear little relation tooperators' actual capacities and which will not lead to applicationsfor import licences for the corresponding quantities, submissionof an application 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 theimport licence security be lodged. That security should bereleased without delay in stages as operators actually use up theirannual allocations and furnish proof that they have dispatched thegoods and unloaded them in the Community and had them
released for free circulation on their own account. For the same
purpose, the grant of an annual allocation in subsequent yearsshould be made subject to a minimum rate of use of the previousannual 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 arisingunder this Regulation.
(9)Rules should be adopted for registering non-traditional operatorsand determining their annual allocations and the verifications andchecks to be carried out by the competent national authorities
should be specified, as should the action to be taken in the event
that certain obligations are not fulfilled, in particular as regardsregistration and declarations made for the purpose of obtainingallocations 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 based on periods as created by Commission Regulation (EC)No 2362/98 of 28 October 1998 laying down detailed rules for theimplementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93regarding imports of bananas into 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 forindividual applications, the frequency for the submission oflicence applications and for the issue of licences, and the issue oflicences for the re-use of unused quantities. However, the fact thattariff quotas A and B on the one hand and C on the other are
managed separately as regards the share allocated to traditional
operators means that those operators may submit licenceapplications only under the tariff quota for which they havebeen 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 hasto be established before an increase in the autonomous quota can2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 3
(1) OJ L 293, 31.10.1998, p. 32.
(2) OJ L 187, 26.7.2000, p. 6.
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be made in the event of an increase in demand or of exceptional
circumstances affecting supplies to the Community market.
(12)Except where derogations are explicitly provided for, Commis-sion Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 of 9 June 2000 laying down
common detailed rules for the application of the system of import
and export licences and advance-fixing certificates for agricul-tural products(
1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 369/
2001(2), 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 extract from a licence during the term
of validity thereof.
(13)The rules for transferring licences should be specified in the lightof the definition of operator categories established by thisRegulation. Transfer restricted to a single transferee per licenceor extract therefrom will allow trade relations to develop betweenthe various registered operators. However, artificial trade,
speculation or disturbance of normal trade should not be
encouraged by permitting transfer from non-traditional operatorsto traditional operators.
(14)All the necessary communications between operators, MemberStates and the Commission in pursuance of this Regulation shouldbe specified, in particular for the purpose of establishingoperators' 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 beprovided for from administrative rules on the timetable forregistering non-traditional operators and on the transmission tothe competent national authorities of the documentary evidencerelating 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 astrict timetable for the submission of those applications should befixed.
(17)The changes made by this Regulation to the arrangements forimporting 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, interalia , that those allocations may not be
regarded as vested rights, nor be pleaded by operators aslegitimate expectations.
(18)Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 should be repealed.
(19)Pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 395/2001(
3), 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 enactedto allow the Member States and the Commission to assemble allthe requisite information for ensuring that licences are used from1 July 2001 onwards.
(20)The Management Committee for Bananas has not delivered anopinion within the time limit set by its Chairman,2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 55, 24.2.2001, p. 41.
(3) OJ L 58, 27.2.2001, p. 11.
▼B
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
TITLE I
INTRODUCTORYPROVISIONS
Article 1
This Regulation lays down detailed rules for applying the arrangements
for importing bananas under the tariff quotas provided for in Article18(1) of Regulation (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.
TITLE II
MANAGEMENTOFTARIFFQUOTAS
Chapter 1
Definitionofoperators
SectionI: ‘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 orgroups, established in the Community during the period fordetermining their reference quantities, who have, for their ownaccount, purchased a minimum quantity of bananas originating in
third countries from the producers or, where applicable, produced,
consigned and sold such products 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
minimum quantity shall be 20 tonnes where marketing or importconcerns 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, asamended 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’ in accordance 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 basis of the average of primary imports of third-country bananas and/or non-traditional ACP bananas during 1994, 1995and 1996 taken into account for 1998 for the purposes of administeringthe tariff quota for imports of third-country bananas and non-traditionalACP bananas, in accordance with the provisions of Article 19(2) of2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 5
(1) OJ L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 28.
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Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 applicable in 1998 to the category of
operators referred to in paragraph 1(a) of that Article.
For the purposes of applying the preceding subparagraph, the competent
authorities shall take account only of primary imports carried out in thereference period, on the basis of the reference quantities generated bythe marketing of third-country bananas and/or non-traditional ACPbananas.
2. The reference quantity for each traditional importer C who submits
a written application no later than 11 May 2001 shall be established onthe basis of the average of primary imports of traditional ACP bananasduring 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 samerights as those 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 15May 2001.
2. Using the information received under paragraph 1, and in light of
the total quantities available under tariff quotas A/B and C, theCommission shall, where appropriate, set a single adjustment coefficientto be applied to each operator's reference quantity.
3. Where paragraph 2 applies, the competent authorities shall notify
each operator of their reference quantity as adjusted by the adjustmentcoefficient not 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 therequest of the Member States concerned.
SectionII: ‘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 theirregistration 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 in one of the two yearsimmediately preceding the year in respect of which registration issought;
(b) by virtue of this activity, have imported produce to a declared
customs value of EUR 1 200 000 or more during the period referredto 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 and who are not a natural person or entity having legal personality
related, within the meaning of Article 143 of CommissionRegulation (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 tariffquotaC.2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 6
(1) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.▼M2
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Traditional operators under a tariff quota may be registered as non-
traditional operators under the tariff quota for which they do not have areference quantity.
However, traditional operators C may be registered as non-traditional
operators under tariff quota A/B only if they can supply proof that theyhave imported third-country bananas and/or non-traditional ACP
bananas to the declared customs value specified in point (b) of Article
6 during the period 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; together with;
(c) a copy of an attestation from an independent, professionally
registered chartered accountant certifying imports to the valuerequired in point (b) of Article 6, or acopy of the corresponding
customs declarations stamped by 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 ontheir own account at least 50 % of the quantity allocated to them for thecurrent 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 ofthe customs 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.
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 renewalsthe serial numbers of licences 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 false claims 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 quotaallocation.
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 ofCommission 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 operatorsfurnish proof of dispatch and unloading in the customs territory of the2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 7
(1) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.▼M2
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Community on their own account. In cases of forcemajeure , 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 airtransport document, covering dispatch from the country of origin, 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-traditionaloperators, the Commission shall immediately determine the percentagereduction 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 amountrequested, the security provided for in Article 8(1)(b) shall be released inproportion 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-traditionaloperator the quantity 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 theCommunity in the sector referred to in Article 6 and as independenteconomic 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 for annual allocation shall beaccepted only subject to the operator's providing evidence of compliancewhich is considered satisfactory by the competent national authorities.
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,
whether physical persons or legal entities, and whether individual agents
or groups thereof, provided that they are legally constituted under thenational legislation governing the exercice of the commercial activitiesin question and 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
shall stand for each of its members in exercising their rights andfulfilling their obligations.
2. Operators resulting from a merger of other non-traditional
operators, each with their own rights under this Regulation, shall enjoy
the same rights as those 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 allapplications for registration that have been submitted and the2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 8
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cancellation of any annual allocation already granted. In addition, such
failure shall result in a prohibition on the submission of any furtherapplications in the year following detection of the irregularity.
2. Where fraudulent manipulations are undertaken or fraudulent
documentation is supplied with a view to obtaining an unwarrantedregistration or annual allocation, such registration or allocation shall becancelled, without prejudice to the application of any relevant nationallaws. In such cases, the security referred to in Article 8(1)(b) shall beforfeit 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 year in which the irregularity is detected.
Chapter 2
Rulesforissuingimportlicences
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) No404/93 shall be added together. Applications under quotas A and B shallbe 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 areregistered as non-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 and C.
Article 14
1. For the first three quarters of the year, an indicative quantity
expressed as the same percentage of available quantities from each ofthe tariff quotas may be fixed for the purposes of issuing importlicences.
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 5 of
the annual allocation 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 inthe Annex to this Regulation during the first seven days of the monthpreceding the quarter for the 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-traditionaloperators.
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’;2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 9
▼B
(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) No896/2001’, or ‘Licence application non-traditional operator C —
Regulation (EC) No 896/2001’, 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 publishedperiodically 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 theremaining balance of that operator's reference quantity or annualallocation, 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
the application 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 quantitiesavailable, a percentage reduction to be applied to the amounts requestedshall 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 not a working day, the licences shall be issued on the firstfollowing working day at 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 whichthey are actually issued and shall expire on the seventh day of the fourthmonth following the month in which they are issued. The date of actualissue shall be included in the term of validity of a licence.
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 animportation of bananas under the quota for which the original, fully orpartially 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 acertified copy of the unused or partly used licence(s), as well as proof asthe security referred to in Article 24 has been lodged.2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 10
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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 the case 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 termsand conditions laid down in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000,without prejudice to paragraph 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 of bananas which have been released for free circulation and
then re-exported out of the Community. They shall return to the sameauthorities 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 case the category of operators (traditional or non-
traditional) to whom the import licences 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 theoriginal licence, during a subsequent quarter but still within the year inwhich the original 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 operatorsand 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 31 December 1994.
TITLE III
RULES FOR IMPORTING BANANAS OUTSIDE THE TARIFF
QUOTAS
Article 22
1. Import licence applications may be submitted in any Member
States.2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 11
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2. Licence applications and the licences themselves shall bear the
following wording in Box 20: ‘Non-quotaimports — Article 22 ofRegulation (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 licencesshall 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 issuedunder this Article.
TITLE IV
GENERALPROVISIONS
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, thisrequirement shall not apply to licence applications submitted by non-traditional operators under the 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, accountbeing 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 shallbe furnished within 30 days of expiry of the validity of an importlicence, 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 the tariff 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 shall at the end of each fortnight forward a copy ofthe licences and extracts received to the competent authorities of theMember States listed in 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,2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 12
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or as to the status of the operators completing the formalities for relase
into free circulation or for the account of whom those formalities arecompleted, and where irregularities are suspected, the customs offices at
which those documents were presented shall immediately inform the
competent authorities of their Member State, as referred to in paragraph1, thereof by telecommunication. The latter shall immediately forwardthat information by telecommunication to the competent authoritieswhich 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 import licence 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 carryout the additional checks needed to ensure the correct application of thetariff quota arrangements, in particular verification of the quantitiesimported under those arrangements, by means of a precise comparisonof the licences and extracts issued with the licences and extracts used.
To that end, they shall verify in particular the authenticity and
conformity of the documents used and that the documents have beenused 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 inaccordance with Article 308d of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 forthe 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 importlicences issued, the quantities covered by licences used and returnedto the issuing body, and the quantities covered by unused licences;
(d) on request: forecasts of production and sales.
TITLE V
TRANSITIONALARRANGEMENTS
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 afterthe application of Article 5(2) shall be multiplied by the coefficient0,4454 in the case of traditional operators A/B and by the coefficient0,5992 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 adjustmentcoefficient not later than 7 June 2001.2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 13
(1) OJ L 337, 24.12.1994, p. 66.
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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) by29 May 2001 at the latest.
3. Using the information received under paragraph 2, the Commis-
sion shall determine the quantities for which the allocations for non-traditional operators 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 June2001.
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 aview to relea se for freecirculation as from 1 July 2001’.
TITLE VI
FINALPROVISIONS
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 the Official 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.2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 14
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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 Restitutie-
bureau
Rue de Trèves, 82/Trierstraat 82
B-1040 Bruxelles/Brussel
Denmark
Ministeriet for Fødevarer, Landbrug og Fiskeri
Direktoratet for Fødevareerhverv; EksportstøttekontoretKampmannsgade 3DK-1780 København V
Germany
Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung
Referat 322
Adickesallee, 40
D-60322 Frankfurt am Main
Greece
Ministry of Agriculture
GEDIDAGEPDirectorate Fruits and Vegetables, Wine and Industrial Products241, Acharnon StreetGR-10446
Spain
Ministerio de Economía
Secretaría General de Comercio Exterior
Paseo 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'horticulture16, Route d'Esch
Boîte postale 1904
L-1014 Luxembourg2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 15
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Netherlands
Produktschap Tuinbouw
Louis Pasteurlaan 6
Postbus 2802700 AG Zoetermeer
Nederland
Austria
Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft
Abteilung III 5 — Handelspolitik und Außenhandel
Stubenring 1
A-1012 Wien
Portugal
Ministério daEconomia
Direcção-Geral das Relações Económicas Internacionais
Direcção de Serviços de Licenciamento do Comércio Externo
AvenidadaRepública , 79
P-1069-059 Lisboa
Finland
Registration of operatorsMaa- ja Metsätalousministeriö
Hallituskatu 3a,
Valtioneuvosto
PL 30
FIN-00023 Helsinki
Licences issued by:Tullihallitus
Erottajankatu 2
PL 512
FIN-00101 Helsinki
Sweden
Jordbruksverket
Vallgatan 8–10
S-551 82 Jönköping
UnitedKingdom
Intervention Board
External Trade Division
Lancaster House
Hampshire Court
Newcastle Upon TyneNE99 1AW
United Kingdom2001R0896 — EN — 04.12.2001 — 002.001 — 16