1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No1503/96
of29July1996
on the detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 with regard to
importdutiesonrice
(OJ L 189, 30.7.1996, p. 71)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Commission Regulation (EC) No 2131/96 of 6 November 1996 L 285 6 7.11.1996
►M2Commission Regulation (EC) No 703/97 of 18 April 1997 L 104 12 22.4.1997
►M3Commission Regulation (EC) No 2831/98 of 22 December 1998 L 351 25 29.12.1998
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) andCouncil Regulation (EC) No 1103/97 (OJ L 162, 19.6.1997, p. 1).
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COMMISSIONREGULATION(EC)No1503/96
of29July1996
onthedetailedrulesfortheapplicationofCouncilRegulation(EC)
No3072/95withregard toimportdutiesonrice
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 of 22 December
1995 on the common organization of the market in rice(1), and in
particular Article 11 (2) and (4) thereof,
Whereas the third subparagraph of Article 11 (2) of Regulation (EC) No
3072/95 lays down the method for calculating the percentage by whichthe intervention price valid on the day of import is to be increased inorder to calculate the import duties on milled rice; whereas that method
takes account of the conversion rate, processing costs and the value of
by-products and an amount for the protection of industry; whereas theday of importation should be fixed as the date of acceptance of thedeclaration by the customs authorities as laid down in Article 67 ofCouncil Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing
the Community Customs Code(
2), as last amended by the Act of
Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden;
Whereas Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 provides that the
rates of duty in the Common Customs Tariff shall be levied on the
products referred to in Article 1 of that Regulation when they are
imported; whereas, however, in the case of products referred to inArticle 11 (2) the import duty will be equal to the intervention pricevalid for those products on importation, increased by a certainpercentage according to whether it is husked or milled rice, indicarice or japonica rice, and minus the import price, provided that duty does
not exceed the rate of the Common Customs Tariff duties;
Whereas there are particular difficulties in the rice sector concerning the
verification of the value of imported products; whereas a system of flat-
rate values is therefore most suitable for the implementation of the
results of the Uruguay Round of negotiations; whereas, however,technical discussions between the partners concerned are still inprogress; whereas, pending the outcome of those discussions, thesystem applied in 1995/96 should be maintained as a precaution;
Whereas in order to classify the consignments imported, the products
referred to in Article 11 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 must besubdivided into a number of qualities; whereas the combinednomenclature codes to which these qualities correspond must thereforebe specified;
Whereas, for the purposes of calculating the import duty using the flat-
rate import value, the representative cif import prices should becalculated for each of the qualities defined; whereas, for the purposes ofestablishing those prices, price quotations for the different qualities of
rice must be specified; whereas these quotations should therefore be
defined;
Whereas, in the interests of clarity and transparency, the quotations for
the different types of rice in publications by the Department of
Agriculture of the United States of America constitute an objective basis
for establishing representative cif import prices for rice in bulk; whereasrepresentative prices on the United States market, the Thai market or ofother origins may be converted into representative cif import prices byadding the maritime freight costs on the charter market between the
ports of origin and the Community port; whereas, taking account of the
volume of freight and of trade in the ports of northern Europe, thoseports constitute the Community destination for which the quotations of1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 329, 30. 12. 1995, p. 18.
(2) OJ No L 302, 19. 10. 1992, p. 1.
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maritime freight prices are best known publicly, are most transparent
and most easily available; whereas, therefore, the ports of northernEurope (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Gent) should be adopted as
the Community destination ports;
Whereas, in order to monitor the trends in representative cif import
prices thus established, it is appropriate to provide for weeklymonitoring of the elements contributing to their calculation;
Whereas, for the purposes of fixing import duties for the rice referred to
in Article 11 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95, a period of two weeksfor determining representative cif import prices for rice in bulk takesaccount of market trends without introducing elements of uncertainty;
whereas, on this basis, import duties for that product should be
established taking account of the average of representative cif importprices noted over the abovementioned period, every two weeks on aWednesday, and on the last working day of each month;
Whereas the import duty thus calculated can be applied over a two-week
period without substantially affecting import prices, duties paid;
whereas, however, where no quotation is available for a given productover the period of calculation of representative cif import prices orwhere, following sudden changes in the elements making up thecalculation, those representative cif import prices undergo major
fluctuations during the period in question, measures must be taken in
order to maintain the representative nature of the cif import prices of theproduct concerned;
Whereas the price of basmati rice originating in India and Pakistan is
normally higher on the market than the established representative price;
whereas in 1993/94 the difference was of the order of ECU 250 per
tonne in the case of basmati rice originating in India and ECU 50 pertonne in the case of basmati rice originating in Pakistan; whereas, as aresult, the import duty on those rice varieties should be reduced by theaforementioned amounts in order to comply with the principle laid down
in Article 11 of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95 and the Community's
international commitments;
Whereas, where there is no quotation, it is appropriate to continue to
apply the amount of duty fixed for the preceding period and, in the case
of major fluctuations in the quotation, the cost of maritime freight or the
exchange rate used for the calculation of the representative cif importprice of the product concerned, the representative nature of that pricemust be restored, taking account of those changes, by adjusting the dutyfixed in line with the difference noted; whereas, even where suchadjustments are made, the regular dates for fixing duties will not be
affected;
Whereas the Management Committee for Cereals has not delivered an
opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The import duties referred to in Article 11 (1) and (2) of Regulation
(EC) No 3072/95 shall be those applicable at the time laid down in
Article 67 of Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92.
Article 2
The import duty for milled rice falling within CN code 1006 30 shall be
equal to the intervention price valid at the moment of import increased
by:
— 163 % in the case of indica rice,
— 167 % in the case of japonica rice,
minus the import price.
However, that duty must not exceed the rates of duty in the Common
Customs Tariff.1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 3
▼B
Article 3
1. For the purposes of this Regulation indica rice shall be deemed to
be rice falling within CN codes 1006 20 17, 1006 20 98, 1006 30 27,
1006 30 48, 1006 30 67 and 1006 30 98.
2. Any other products falling within CN codes 1006 20 and 1006 30
shall be deemed to be japonica rice.
Article 4
1. The import duties for the products referred to in Article 3 shall be
calculated every week but shall be fixed by the Commission every two
weeks on a Wednesday and on the last working day of the months ofMarch, April, May, June and August, in accordance with the methodprovided for in Article 5 and shall apply from the first working dayfollowing their fixing and the first day of the following month,respectively.
However, if the calculation of the week following this fixing shows that
the import duty is higher or lower by ECU 10 per tonne than the duty in
force, a corresponding adjustment shall be made by the Commission.
The fixing carried out on the last working day of the months of March,
April, May and June shall be based on the intervention price for the
following month which shall be subject to monthly increases inaccordance with Article 3 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95.
Where the Wednesday on which import duties would be fixed is not a
working day for the Commission, the duties shall be fixed on the firstworking day following that Wednesday.
2. The price valid on the world market to be used for the calculation
of the import duty shall be the average of the weekly representative cif
import prices for rice in bulk determined using the method provided forin Article 5 and established over the period of the two preceding weeks.
3. The import duties fixed in accordance with this Regulation shall
apply until new duties are fixed and enter into force.
However, where no quotation is available for a given product from the
reference source provided for in Article 5 over the two weeks precedingthe next periodic fixing, the import duty previously fixed shall remain inforce.
Every time the duty is fixed or adjusted, the Commission shall publish
the import duties and the factors used for their calculation in the Official
Journal of the European Communities .
Article 4 a
1. Basmati rice originating in India and Basmati rice of the varieties
‘Kernel Basmati’ and ‘Super Basmati’ originating in Pakistan fallingwithin CN codes ex 1006 20 17 and ex 1006 20 98 may benefit from areduction in the import duty of ECU 250 per tonne.1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 4
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This amount may be revised in response to market trends, in particular
as regards the quantities imported.
However, the first and second subparagraphs shall not apply to rice
imported by CRS importers during the trial period in the framework, ofthe cumulative recovery system provided for in Commission Regulation(EC) No 703/97(
1).
2. Import licence applications and import licences for Basmati rice
shall include:
(a) in box 8, indication of the country of origin and the word ‘yes’
marked with a cross;
(b) in box 20, one of the following:
— Arroz aromático de la variedad Basmati del código NC
1006 20 17/1006 20 98
— Aromatisk ris af sorten Basmati henhørende under KN-kode
1006 20 17/1006 20 98
— Aromatischer Reis der Sorte Basmati des KN-Codes 1006 20 17/
1006 20 98
—Αρωµατικό ρύζι της ποικιλίας Basmati του κωδικού ΣΟ
1006 20 17/1006 20 98
— Aromatic rice of the Basmati variety falling within CN code
1006 20 17/1006 20 98
— Riz aromatique de la variété Basmati du code NC 1006 20 17/
1006 20 98
— Riso aromatico della varietà Basmati del codice NC 1006 20 17/
1006 20 98
— Aromatische Basmati-rijst van GN-code 1006 20 17/1006 20 98— Arroz aromático da variedade Basmati do código NC
1006 20 17/1006 20 98
— CN-koodiin 1006 20 17/1006 20 98 kuuluvan Basmati-lajikkeen
aromaattinen riisi
— Aromatiskt ris av sorten Basmati med KN-nummer 1006 20 17/
1006 20 98;
(c) in box 24, one of the following:
— Derecho de aduana reducido de 250 Ecu/t [Reglamento (CE) n
o
2131/96]
— Told nedsat med 250 ECU/ton (Forordning (EF) nr. 2131/96)— Um 250 Ecu/t ermäßigter Zollsatz (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 2131/
96)
—Μειωµένος δασµός κατά 250 Ecuανά τόνο [κανονισµός
(ΕΚ) αριθ. 2131 /96]
— Reduced duty by 250 Ecu/t (Regulation (EC) No 2131/96)— Droit réduit de 250 Ecu/t [Règlement (CE) n
o2131/96]
— Dazio ridotto di 250 Ecu/t [Regolamento (CE) n. 2131/96]— Douanerecht verminderd met 250 ecu/t (Verordening (EG) nr.
2131/96)
— Direito reduzido de 250 Ecu/t [Regulamento (CE) n.
o2131/96]
— Tulli alennettu 250 eculla tonnilta (Asetus (EY) N:o 2131/96)— Nedsättning av tull med 250 ecu/ton (Förordning (EG) nr 2131/
96).
3. The import licence application for Basmati rice shall be
accompanied by:
— proof that the applicant is a natural or legal person who has been
engaged for at least 12 months in a commercial activity in the ricesector and who is registered in the Member State where theapplication is submitted,1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 5
(1) OJ No L 104, 22. 4. 1997, p. 12▼M2
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— a certificate of authenticity for the product issued by the competent
bodies recognized by the Commission in the exporting country andlisted in Annex III.
4. The certificate of authenticity shall be drawn up on the form a
specimen of which is shown in Annex II.
The form shall have a format of approximately 210 × 297 millimetres.
The original shall be drawn up on paper allowing any mechanical orchemical forgery to be detected.
The forms shall be printed and completed in English.The original and the copies thereof shall be completed either using a
typewriter or by hand. In the latter case, they must be completed in inkusing block capitals.
Each certificate of authenticity shall bear a serial number in the right-
hand uppermost box. The copies shall bear the same number as theoriginal.
5. The body issuing the import licence shall keep the original of the
certificate of authenticity and return a copy to the applicant.
The certificate of authenticity shall be valid for ninety days from the
date of its issue.
It shall be valid only if the boxes have been properly completed and if it
has been stamped in accordance with the instructions printed on it.
6. Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88(
1) notwithstanding, the
rights arising from the import licence shall not be transferable.
7. The Member States shall forward to the Commission, by telex or
fax, the following information:
(a) not later than the second working day following their issue, the
quantities of Basmati rice for which import licences have beenissued, stating the date, CN code, country of origin and the namesand addresses of the holders;
(b) where licences are cancelled, not later than the second working day
following the cancellation, the quantities for which the licences have
been cancelled and the names and addresses of the holders of the
licences cancelled;
(c) on the last working day of the month following the month of release
for free circulation, the quantities actually released for freecirculation, broken down by CN code and country of origin.
The above information must be forwarded separately from information
on other applications for import licences in the rice sector and followingthe same procedures.
8. Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 1162/95 notwithstanding, the
security for import licences for Basmati rice originating in India andPakistan shall be ECU 275 per tonne.
Article 5
1. To determine the import prices of the rice referred to in Article 11
(4) of Regulation (EC) No 3072/95, the following factors shall be usedfor the different types of rice in bulk referred to in Article 3:
(a) the cif price at Rotterdam;
(b) the representative price on the Thai market;
(c) the representative price on the United States market;
(d) the representative price on other markets;
(e) the average cost of sea freight between the port of origin and one of
the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Gent.1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 6
(1) OJ No L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1.▼B
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The import price shall normally be the price indicated under (a), but, in
the absence of such a price, shall be determined on the basis of thefactors listed under (b), (c) and (e); the prices referred to in (d) shall only
be used in the absence of the prices referred to under (a), (b) and (c).
In the absence of quotations for the cost of sea transport of rice, those for
cereals shall be used.
2. The factors used for the calculation shall be established and
checked each week on the basis of the sources and the referencequalities listed in Annex I to this Regulation. The cost of sea freightshall be established on the basis of information publicly available.
If the price established is expressed as C& F, it shall be increased by
0,75 %.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Communities .
It shall apply from 1 September 1996.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 7
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ANNEX I
Indicarice Ja ponicarice
Husked Milled Husked Milled
CN code 1006 20 17
1006 20 981006 30 27
1006 30 48
1006 30 67
1006 30 981006 20 other
than
1006 20 17
1006 20 981006 30 other than
1006 30 27
1006 30 48
1006 30 67
1006 30 98
Reference quality US long grain 2/
4/73 (2)
US long grain
parboiled 1/4/
88 (2)Thai 100 % B US Gulf medium grain (3)
Origin USA Thailand USA USA
Stage (1) cif loose
ARAGcif loose
ARAGcif loose
ARAGcif loose
ARAG
(1) Cif ARAG: quotation for North Sea ports (Antwerp, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Ghent).
(2) The prices relating to these two reference qualities are increased by 8 %.
(3) In the absence of this quality, other qualities of rice of the japonica type may be used.1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 8
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ANNEX II
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ANNEX III
Competentbodiesfortheissueofthecertificateofauthenticityreferredtoin
Article 4a
INDIA: — Export Inspection Council (Ministry of Commerce,
Government of India)
— Directorate of marketing and Inspection (Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development)
PAKISTAN: — Rice Export Corporation of Pakistan Ltd, Karachi.1996R1503 — EN — 01.01.1999 — 003.001 — 10