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"BCOMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1555/96
of 30 July 1996
on rules of application for additional import duties on fruit and vegetables
(OJ L 193, 3.8.1996, p. 1)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2623/98 of 4 December 1998 L 329 17 5.12.1998
"M2 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2370/1999 of 8 November 1999 L 286 6 9.11.1999
"M3 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2532/1999 of 30 November
1999L 306 21 1.12.1999
"M4 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1044/2000 of 18 May 2000 L 118 16 19.5.2000
"M5 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1149/2000 of 29 May 2000 L 129 19 30.5.2000
"M6 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1512/2000 of 12 July 2000 L 174 17 13.7.2000
"M7 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2108/2000 of 4 October 2000 L 250 19 5.10.2000
"M8 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2410/2000 of 30 October 2000 L 278 5 31.10.2000
"M9 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2713/2000 of 12 December
2000L 313 5 13.12.2000
"M10 Commission Regulation (EC) No 2883/2000 of 27 December
2000L 333 74 29.12.20001996R1555 — EN — 01.01.2001 — 010.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1555/96
of 30 July 1996
on rules of application for additional import duties on fruit and
vegetables
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 of 18 May 1972
on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (
1), as
last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1363/95 (2), and in
particular Article 24 (4) thereof,
Whereas under Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 import duty additional to
that provided for in the Common Customs Tariff (‘additional duty’) can
be imposed on certain products covered by that Regulation if the terms of
Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture (3) are met, unless there is no
risk of disturbance of the Community market or the impact would be
disproportionate to the end sought;
Whereas additional duty may be imposed if import volumes of the
products concerned, determined from import licences issued by Member
States or by procedures introduced under a preferential agreement,
exceed trigger levels determined by product and period of application as
specified in Article 5 (4) of the Agreement on Agriculture;
Whereas additional duty may be imposed only on imports the tariff
classification of which made in line with Article 5 of Commission
Regulation (EC) No 3223/94 (4), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
2933/95 (5), entails application of the highest specific duty and on
imports made outside the tariff quotas set in the World Trade
Organization framework; whereas no additional duty may be imposed
on products which enjoy preferences in respect of the entry price, in so
far as their tariff classification does not entail application of the highest
specific duty;
Whereas, in the case of imports enjoying tariff preference as to ad
valorem duty, calculation of the additional duty must take account of
this;
Whereas goods en route to the Community are exempt from additional
duty; whereas specific provisions on these should therefore be enacted;
Whereas the introduction of the import licence arrangements will not
prevent their being replaced by a rapid computerized procedure for
recording imports as soon as it is legally and practically possible to set
one up; whereas there will be an evaluation in this respect by 31
December 1997;
Whereas the Management Committee for fresh Fruit and Vegetables has
not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,!B
(1) OJ No L 118, 20. 5. 1972, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 132, 16. 6. 1995, p. 8.
(3) OJ No L 336, 23. 12. 1994, p. 22.
(4) OJ No L 337, 24. 12. 1994, p. 66.
(5) OJ No L 307, 20. 12. 1995, p. 21.1996R1555 — EN — 01.01.2001 — 010.001 — 2
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Additional import duty as referred to in Article 33(1) of Council
Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 (1), termed ‘additional duty’ below, may be
applied to the products and during the periods listed in the Annex hereto
on the conditions set out below.
2. Trigger levels for the additional duties are listed in the Annex hereto.
Article 2
1. For each of the products listed in the Annex hereto and during the
periods indicated Member States shall notify the Commission of details
of the volumes put into free circulation using the method for the
surveillance of preferential imports set out in Article 308d of
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (2).
Such notification shall take place no later than midday Brussels time
each Wednesday for the volumes put into free circulation during the
preceding week.
2. Declarations for release for free circulation of products covered by
the present Regulation which the customs authorities may accept at the
declarant’s request without their containing certain particulars referred to
in Annex 37 of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 shall contain, in addition
to the particulars referred to in Article 254 of that Regulation, an
indication of the net mass (kg) of the products concerned.
Where the simplified declaration procedure referred to in Article 260 of
Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is used to put into free circulation
products covered by the present Regulation, the simplified declarations
shall contain, in addition to other requirements, an indication of the net
mass (kg) of the products concerned.
Where the local clearance procedure referred to in Article 263 of
Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 is used to put into free circulation
products covered by the present Regulation, the notification to the
customs authorities referred to in Article 266(1) of that Regulation shall
contain all necessary data for the identification of the goods, as well as
an indication of the net mass (kg) of the products concerned.
Article 266(2b) shall not apply to imports of the products covered by the
present Regulation.
Article 3
1. If it is found that, for one of the products and one of the periods
listed in the Annex hereto, the quantity put into free circulation exceeds
the corresponding triggering volume the Commission shall levy an
additional duty.
2. The additional duty shall be levied on quantities put into free
circulation after the date of application of the said duty, provided that:
— their tariff classification determined in accordance with Article 5 of
Regulation (EC) No 3223/94 entails application of the highest
specific duties applicable to imports of the origin in question,
— importation is effected during the period of application of the
additional duty.!B
(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.!M11996R1555 — EN — 01.01.2001 — 010.001 — 3
Article 4
1. The additional duty imposed under Article 3 shall be one third of the
customs duty applicable to the product given in the Common Customs
Tariff.
2. However, for imports enjoying tariff preference as to ad valorem
duty the additional duty shall be one third of the specific duty on the
product in so far as Article 3 (2) applies.
Article 5
1. The following are exempt from additional duty:
(a) goods imported against the tariff quotas listed in Annex 7 to the
combined nomenclature;
(b) goods en route to the Community as defined in paragraph 2.2. Goods shall be considered to be en route to the Community that:— left the country of origin before the decision to impose additional
duty, and
— are being transported under cover of a transport document valid from
the place of loading in the country of origin to the place of unloading
in the Community, drawn up before imposition of additional duty.
3. Interested parties shall provide evidence to the satisfaction of the
customs authorities that the requirements of paragraph 2 are met.
However, these authorities may deem that goods left their country of
origin before the date of imposition of additional duty if one of the
following documents is provided:
— for sea transport, the bill of lading showing that loading took place
before that date,
— for rail transport, the waybill accepted by the rail authorities of the
country of origin before that date,
— for road transport, the road carriage contract (CMR) or another
transit document made out in the country of origin before that date, if
the conditions laid down in bilateral or multilateral arrangements
concluded in the context of Community transit or common transit are
observed,
— for air transport, the air way bill showing that the airline accepted the
goods before that date.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in
all Member States.!B1996R1555 — EN — 01.01.2001 — 010.001 — 4
!M10
ANNEX
Without prejudice to the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the description of the products is
deemed to be indicative only. The scope of the additional duties for the purposes of this Annex is determined by the scopeof the CN codes as they exist at the time of the adoption of this Regulation. Where ‘ex’ appears before the CN code, thescope of the additional duties is determined both by the scope of the CN code and the corresponding trigger period.
Serial No CN code Description Trigger periodTrigger level
(tonnes)
78.0015 ex 0702 00 00 Tomatoes — 1 October to 31 March 501 111
78.0020 — 1 April to 30 September 639 884
78.0065 ex 0707 00 05 Cucumbers — 1 May to 31 October 22 411
78.0075 — 1 November to 30 April 11 658
78.0085 ex 0709 10 00 Artichokes — 1 November to 30 June 661
78.0100 0709 90 70 Courgettes — 1 January to 31 December 9 867
78.0110 ex 0805 10 10
ex 0805 10 30
ex 0805 10 50Oranges — 1 December to 31 May 372 855
78.0120 ex 0805 20 10 Clementines — 1 November to end of February 289 518
78.0130 ex 0805 20 30
ex 0805 20 50ex 0805 20 70
ex 0805 20 90Mandarins (including tanger-
ines and satsumas); wilkingsand similar citrus hybrids— 1 November to end of February 117 200
78.0155 ex 0805 30 10 Lemons — 1 June to 31 December 290 151
78.0160 — 1 January to 31 May 14 586
78.0170 ex 0806 10 10 Table grapes — 21 July to 20 November 256 320
78.0175 ex 0808 10 20
ex 0808 10 50ex 0808 10 90Apples — 1 January to 31 August 1 052 182
78.0180 — 1 September to 31 December 588 285
78.0220 ex 0808 20 50 Pears — 1 January to 30 April 269 823
78.0235 — 1 July to 31 December 96 939
78.0250 ex 0809 10 00 Apricots — 1 June to 31 July 2 236
78.0265 ex 0809 20 95 Cherries, other than sour
cherries— 21 May to 10 August 20 048
78.0270 ex 0809 30 Peaches, including nectarines — 11 June to 30 September 349 940
78.0280 ex 0809 40 05 Plums — 11 June to 30 September 41 5391996R1555 — EN — 01.01.2001 — 010.001 — 5