1996R1555 — EN — 01.05.2004 — 026.001

This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents

Amended by:









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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, HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:







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Article 1

1. Additional import duty as referred to in Article 33(1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 ( 6 ), 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 ( 7 ).

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.

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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.

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ANNEX

Without prejudice to the rules governing 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 scope of the CN codes as they exist at the time of the adoption of this Regulation. Where ‘ex’ appears before the CN code, the scope of the additional duties is determined both by the scope of the CN code and by the corresponding trigger period.







Serial No CN code Description Trigger period Trigger level (tonnes) 78.0015 ex070200 00 Tomatoes — 1 October to 31 May 206 245 78.0020 — 1 June to 30 September 10 586 78.0065 ex070700 05 Cucumbers — 1 May to 31 October 11 924 78.0075 — 1 November to 30 April 8 560 78.0085 ex070910 00 Artichokes — 1 November to 30 June 1 357 78.0100 0709 90 70 Courgettes — 1 January to 31 December 18 056 78.0110 ex080510 10 ex080510 30 ex080510 50 Oranges — 1 December to 31 May 404 503 78.0120 ex080520 10 Clementines — 1 November to end of February 164 111 78.0130 ex080520 30 ex080520 50 ex080520 70 ex080520 90 Mandarins (including tangerines and satsumas); wilkings and similar citrus hybrids — 1 November to end of February 89 273 78.0155 ex080550 10 Lemons — 1 June to 31 December 196 383 78.0160 — 1 January to 31 May 64 351 78.0170 ex080610 10 Table grapes — 21 July to 20 November 62 108 78.0175 ex080810 20 ex080810 50 ex080810 90 Apples — 1 January to 31 August 638 996 78.0180 — 1 September to 31 December 25 380 78.0220 ex080820 50 Pears — 1 January to 30 April 251 007 78.0235 — 1 July to 31 December 84 984 78.0250 ex080910 00 Apricots — 1 June to 31 July 24 312 78.0265 ex080920 95 Cherries, other than sour cherries — 21 May to 10 August 32 863 78.0270 ex080930 Peaches, including nectarines — 11 June to 30 September 113 101 78.0280 ex080940 05 Plums — 11 June to 30 September 18 236