COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) N° 3912/91 of 19 December 1991 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products originating in Israel (1992)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas Articles 1 and 2 of the Fourth Additional Protocol to the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and the State of Israel (1) provide for the opening of Community tariff quotas for the import into the Community of:

- 17 000 tonnes of new potatoes, falling within CN code ex 0701 90 51 (1 January to 31 March),

- 11 200 tonnes of onions, fresh or chilled, falling within CN codes 0703 10 11, 0703 10 19 and ex 0709 90 90 (15 February to 15 May),

- 3 100 tonnes of carrots, falling within CN code ex 0706 10 00 (1 January to 31 March),

- 10 800 tonnes of celery sticks, falling within CN code ex 0709 40 00 (1 January to 30 April),

- 7 400 tonnes of sweet peppers and peppers, falling within CN code 0709 60 10,

- 6 400 tonnes of fresh lemons, falling within CN code 0805 30 10,

- 7 800 tonnes of watermelons, falling within CN code 0807 10 10 (1 April to 15 June),

- 2 200 tonnes of fresh strawberries, falling within CN code 0810 10 90 (1 January to 31 March),

- 5 900 tonnes of oranges, finely ground, falling within CN code ex 0812 90 20,

- 2 800 tonnes of peeled tomatoes, falling within CN code 2002 10 10,

- 150 tonnes of apricot pulp, falling within CN code ex 2008 50 91,

- 82 700 tonnes of orange juice, falling within CN codes 2009 11 11, 2009 11 19, 2009 11 91, 2009 11 99, 2009 19 11, 2009 19 19, 2009 19 91 and 2009 19 99, of which not more than 20 000 tonnes may be imported in packing of a capacity of two litres or less,

- 8 500 tonnes of tomato juice, falling within CN codes 2009 50 10 and 2009 50 90,

originating in Israel;

Whereas for the period 1 November to 31 December 1991, the rate of customs duty applied to fresh strawberries from Israel is lower than the rate applied to those from Spain and Portugal; whereas the quota should therefore be opened for the period 1 January to 31 March 1992; whereas to take account of the seasonal nature of imports of this product, the volume of this quota should be set at the average traditional level of imports for the period concerned, namely 1 505 tonnes;

Whereas within the limits of this tariff quotas, customs duties are to be phased out according to the same timetables and at the same rates as laid down in Articles 74, 243 and 268 of the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal;

Whereas, within the limits of these tariff quotas, Spain and Portugal shall apply customs duties calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions of Council Regulation (EEC) N° 4162/87 of 21 December 1987 laying down arrangements for Spain's and Portugal's trade with Israel (2); whereas the Community tariff quotas in question should therefore be opened for 1992;

Whereas pursuant to Commission Regulation (EEC) N° 2573/90 of 5 September 1990 totally suspending certain customs duties applicable by the Community of Ten to imports from Spain and Portugal (3), the said duties are, as concerns the products referred to in Annex II to the Treaty, totally suspended once they reach a level of 2 % or less; whereas the same rate of duty should be applied to imports of the same products originating in Israel;

Whereas all Community importers should be ensured equal and continuous access to the said quotas and the duty rates laid down for the quotas should be applied consistently to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted; whereas the necessary measures should be taken to provide for effective Community management of the quotas, so that the Member States may draw against the quotas such quantities as they may need, corresponding to actual imports; whereas this method of administration requires close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission;

Whereas, since the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg are united within and jointly represented by the Benelux Economic Union, any operation concerning the administration of these quotas may be carried out by any of its members,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The customs duties applicable to imports into the Community of the products listed below originating in Israel shall be suspended during the periods, at the levels and within the limits of the Community tariff quotas shown below:

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Within the limits of these tariff quotas the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic shall apply customs duties calculated in accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation (EEC) N° 4162/87.

Article 2

The tariff quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be managed by the Commission, which may take all appropriate administrative measures in order to ensure efficient management thereof.

Article 3

Where an importer enters a product covered by this Regulation under a declaration for free circulation in a Member State and applies to take advantage of the preferential arrangements and that declaration is accepted by the customs authorities the Member State concerned shall, by notifying the Commission, draw an amount corresponding to its requirements from the quota volume.

Requests for drawing, indicating the date of acceptance of the said declarations, must be sent to the Commission without delay.

The drawings shall be granted by the Commission by reference to the date of acceptance of the declaration of entry for free circulation, to the extent that the available balance so permits.

If a Member States does not use the quantities drawn it shall return them to the corresponding quota volume as soon as possible.

If the quantities requested are greater than the available balance of the quota volume, the balance shall be allocated among applications pro rata. The Commission shall inform the Member States of the drawings made.

Article 4

Each Member State shall ensure that importers of the products in question have equal and continous access to the quotas for as long as the balance of the relevant quota volume so permits.

Article 5

The Member States and the Commission shall cooporate closely to ensure that this Regulation is complied with.

Article 6

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 1992.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 19 December 1991.

For the Council

The President

P. DANKERT

(1) OJ N° L 327, 30. 11. 1988, p. 36.

(2) OJ N° L 396, 31. 12. 1987, p. 1.

(3) OJ N° L 243, 6. 9. 1990, p. 19.