1997R1599 — EN — 07.12.2002 — 003.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B ►M2 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1599/97
of 28 July 1997
laying down detailed rules for the application of the system of minimum import prices for certain
soft fruits originating in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania ◄
(OJ L 216, 8.8.1997, p. 63)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Commission Regulation (EC) No 2371/1999 of 8 November 1999 L 286 8 9.11.1999
►M2Commission Regulation (EC) No 538/2000 of 13 March2000 L 65 11 14.3.2000
►M3Commission Regulation (EC) No 2153/2002 of 3 December 2002 L 327 4 4.12.2002
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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1599/97
of 28 July 1997
laying down detailed rules for the application of the system of
minimum import prices for certain soft fruits originating inBulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3066/95 of 22 December
1995 establishing certain concessions in the form of Community tariffquotas for certain agricultural products and providing for the adjust-ment, as an autonomous and transitional measure, of certain
agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreements to
take account of the Agreement on Agriculture concluded during theUruguay Round Multilateral Trade Negotiations(
1), as last amended
by Regulation (EC) No 1595/97(2), and in particular Article 8 thereof,
Whereas detailed rules should be laid down for the application of the
new system of minimum import prices for certain soft fruits originatingin Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the CzechRepublic and intended for processing, introduced in the Annexes to
the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1595/97; whereas in the interests
of clarity and presentation the minimum prices set in the Annexes tothe aforementioned Annexes should be included in a single tableattached to this Regulation;
Whereas the word ‘lot’ used in paragraph 2 of the Annexes to the
Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1595/97 needs to be defined;
Whereas, for the sound application of the system, the characteristics
enabling eachfrozen product to be classified in one of th e classes listedin the Annexes to the Annexes to Regulation (EC) No 1595/97 shouldbe specified;
Whereas regular communication by the Member States of information
concerning imports is needed; whereas provisions concerning thesecommunications will replace those laid down in Commission Regula-
tion (EEC) No 1226/92 of 13 May 1992 on communication by the
Member States to the Commission of information on imports of certainproducts processed from fruit and vegetables(
3), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 2480/96(4); whereas, however, the provisions of
that Regulation concerning products originating in third countries other
than those referred to in this Regulation and adopted pursuant to
Council Regulation (EC) No 1926/96(5) should be maintained;
Whereas Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1595/97 repeals Council
Regulation (EEC) No 1988/93 of 19 July 1993 on the system of
minimum import prices for certain soft fruits originating in Hungary,Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria(
6);
whereas, consequently, Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2140/93 of28 July 1993 laying down detailed rules for the application of the
minimum import price system for certain soft fruits originating in
Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgariaand fixing the minimum import prices applicable until 30 April1994(
7), Commission Regulation (EC) No 767/97 of 28 April 1997
fixing the minimum import prices for certain soft fruits originating inHungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria1997R1599 — EN — 07.12.2002 — 003.001 — 2
(1) OJ No L 328, 30. 12. 1995, p. 31.
(2) See page 1 of this Official Journal.
(3) OJ No L 128, 14. 5. 1992, p. 18.
(4) OJ No L 335, 24. 12. 1996, p. 28.
(5) OJ No L 254, 8. 10. 1996, p. 1.
(6) OJ No L 182, 24. 7. 1993, p. 4.
(7) OJ No L 191, 31. 7. 1993, p. 98.▼M2
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for the 1997/98 marketing year(1) and Commission Regulation (EC)
No 517/97 of 21 March1997 on th e application of a minimum pricefor certain soft fruits originating in Poland(
2) should be repealed;
Whereas, during the period 1 July 1997 to the date of entry into force
of this Regulation, importers should be given the choice as regards theimport charge, comprising the ad valorem duty and where applicable
the countervailing charge, between the old and the new systems;
whereas this Regulation should apply therefore from 1 July 1997 at
the request of the operator only;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accor-
dance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Products
Processed from Fruit and Vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Regulation ‘lot’ means the goods intended for
processing presented under a declaration of release for free circulation.►
M3Eachdeclaration may cover only goods of one and th e same
origin falling within a single combined nomenclature code and, in thecase of frozen products, a single Taric code as shown in Annex I. ◄
Article 2
1. The value shown in the customs declaration shall be accompanied
by all the information necessary for its verification.
2. Where:
(a) the invoice presented to the customs authorities has not been drawn
up by the exporter in the country of origin of the product;
or
(b) the authorities are not persuaded that the value shown in the
declaration represents the true import price;
or
(c) the price has not been paid to the seller within a period of three
months from the day following the date of acceptance of thedeclaration of release for free circulation by the customs authori-ties,
the competent authorities shall take the necessary steps to determine
the import price, in particular with reference to the resale price appliedby the importer.
3. The importer shall keep evidence of the payment to the seller.
The evidence together with commercial documents such as invoices,
contracts or correspondence concerning the purchase and sale of theproducts shall be kept at the disposal of the customs authorities forpurposes of verification for three years.
Article 3
1. For eachlot and eachorigin concerned, during th e completion of
the customs import formalities with a view to release for free circula-
tion, the competent authorities shall make a comparison of the valueshown in the customs declaration and the minimum import priceshown, for the product in question, in the Community legislation, asreferred to in Annex II, applicable to the imports in question.
2. Where the value shown in the customs declaration is below the
applicable minimum price referred to in paragraph1, a countervailing1997R1599 — EN — 07.12.2002 — 003.001 — 3
(1) OJ No L 112, 29. 4. 1997, p. 11.
(2) OJ No L 82, 22. 3. 1997, p. 20.▼M3
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charge shall be levied equal to the difference between that value and
the minimum price.
Article 4
1. A lot of frozen strawberries or raspberries shall be classified as
‘whole fruit’ for the purposes of this Regulation if it consists of fruit
frozen individually which meets the following maximum requirements:
— 10 % by weight of damaged fruit that has lost not more than 20 %
of its original size, and
— 3 % by weight of fruit in pieces not exceeding 80 % of their
original size, and
— 5 % by weight of fruit that has undergone enzyme deterioration.
In the case of strawberries, a lot of ‘whole fruit’ may contain only fruit
classified, prior to removal of stalks from the fresh fruit, in the ‘Extra’or ‘I’ classes.
2. A lot of frozen black or red currants shall be classified as
‘without stalk’ for the purposes of this Regulation if it meets the
following maximum requirements:
— one whole stalk per 500 g net of fruit, and
— a total of 2 cm
2of foreign plant material per 500 g net of fruit.
Article 5
1. For the products listed in Annex I hereto, Member States shall
communicate to the Commission the quantities put into free circulationand their values, broken down by origin and CN code and, for frozen
products, by Taric code.
2. This communication shall take place by the 25th of each month
for products put into free circulation between the 1st and the 15th ofthe month, and by the 10th of the following month at the latest forproducts put into free circulation between the 16th and the last day of
the month.
3. If no products have been put into free circulation during the
course of one of the periods referred to in paragraph 2, the MemberState shall inform the Commission thereof on the dates indicated inthat paragraph.
Article 6
Regulations (EEC) No 2140/93, (EC) No 517/97 and (EC) No 767/97
are hereby repealed.
Article 7
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities .
This Regulation shall apply at the request of the operator concerned
from 1 July 1997.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1997R1599 — EN — 07.12.2002 — 003.001 — 4
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ANNEX I
List of products subject to the system of minimum import prices
CN code Taric code Description
ex 08101000 0810100010 Strawberries for processing
ex 08102010 0810201010 Raspberries for processingex 08103010 0810301010 Blackcurrants for processing
ex 08103030 0810303010 Redcurrants for processing
ex 08111011 0811101110 Strawberries, frozen, containing added sugar or
other sweetening matter with a sugar content
exceeding 13 % by weight; whole
0811101190 Strawberries, frozen, containing added sugar or
other sweetening matter with a sugar content
exceeding 13 % by weight; other
ex 08111019 0811101910 Strawberries, frozen, containing added sugar or
other sweetening matter with a sugar content not
exceeding 13 % by weight; whole
0811101990 Strawberries, frozen, containing added sugar or
other sweetening matter with a sugar content not
exceeding 13 % by weight; other
ex 08111090 0811109010 Strawberries, frozen, containing no added sugar
or other sweetening matter; whole
0811109090 Strawberries, frozen, containing no added sugar
or other sweetening matter; other
ex 08112019 0811201911 Raspberries, frozen, containing added sugar or
other sweetening matter with a sugar content not
exceeding 13 % by weight; whole
0811201919 Raspberries, frozen, containing added sugar or
other sweetening matter with a sugar content not
exceeding 13 % by weight; other
ex 08112031 0811203110 Raspberries, frozen, containing no added sugar or
other sweetening matter; whole
0811203190 Raspberries, frozen, containing no added sugar or
other sweetening matter; other
ex 08112039 0811203910 Blackcurrants, frozen, containing no added sugar
or other sweetening matter; without stalk
0811203990 Blackcurrants, frozen, containing no added sugar
or other sweetening matter; other
ex 08112051 0811205110 Redcurrants, frozen, containing no added sugar
or other sweetening matter; without stalk
0811205190 Redcurrants, frozen, containing no added sugar
or other sweetening matter; other1997R1599 — EN — 07.12.2002 — 003.001 — 5
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ANNEX II
Community legislation referred to in Article 3(1)
Third country of origin Relevant Community legislation
Bulgaria Annex to Annex A(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 2290/2000
of 9 October 2000 (OJ L 262, 17.10.2000, p. 1)
Hungary Appendix of Annex A(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 1408/
2002 of 29 July 2002 (OJ L 205, 2.8.2002, p. 9)
Poland Annex to Annex VIII to the Europe Agreement attached to Deci-
sion 93/743/EC, ECSC, Euratom of the Council and of the
Commission of 13 December 1993 (OJ L 348, 31.12.1993, p. 1),
as amended by the Protocol attached to Council Decision 2002/63/
EC of 23 October 2001 (OJ L 27, 30.1.2002, p. 1)
Romania Annex to Annex A(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 2435/2000
of 17 October 2000 (OJ L 280, 4.11.2000, p. 17)
Slovakia Annex to Annex A(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 2434/2000
of 17 October 2000 (OJ L 280, 4.11.2000, p. 9)
CzechRepublic Annex to Annex A(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 2433/2000
of 17 October 2000 (OJ L 280, 4.11.2000, p. 1)
Estonia Annex to Annex C(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 1151/2002
of 27 June 2002 (OJ L 170, 29.6.2002, p. 15)
Latvia Annex to Annex C(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 1362/2002
of 22 July 2002 (OJ L 198, 27.7.2002, p. 13)
Lithuania Annex to Annex C(b) to Council Regulation (EC) No 1361/2002
of 22 July 2002 (OJ L 198, 27.7.2002, p. 1).1997R1599 — EN — 07.12.2002 — 003.001 — 6