Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000 establishing certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and providing for an adjustment, as an autonomous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreement with Estonia

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

By Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000, the Council has established certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and has provided for an adjustment, as an autonomous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreement with Estonia.

Annex A(b) of that Regulation determines the concessions, in the form of Community tariff quotas, for certain agricultural products imported from Estonia.

It is necessary to provide management rules for tariff quotas to be used following the chronological order of the dates of customs declarations (the "first come, first served" method), according to Articles 308a to 308c of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code. Furthermore the order numbers required for the management of the tariff quotas must be published.

The purpose of this proposal is to insert these management rules in Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000 and to replace its Annex A (b) with a view to insert the necessary order numbers.

The Council is requested to adopt the proposed Regulation.

2000/0245 (ACC)

Proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000 establishing certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and providing for an adjustment, as an autonomous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreement with Estonia

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) By virtue of Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000 [1], the Council established with effect from 1 July 2000 certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and provided for an adjustment, as an autonomous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreement with Estonia.

[1] OJ L 155, 28.6.2000, p. 1, corrigendum in OJ L ...., p.

(2) Annex A (b) of that Regulation sets out the concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain products originating in Estonia.

(3) It is necessary to lay down the management rules for tariff quotas which are allocated following the chronological order of dates of customs declarations, and to insert the order numbers for these quotas. Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000 should therefore be amended accordingly and Annex A (b) should be replaced.

(4) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code [2] has codified the management rules for tariff quotas designed to be used following the chronological order of dates of customs declarations,

[2] OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation at last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1602/2000 (OJ L 188, 26.7.2000, p. 1).

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000 is amended as follows:

1. In Article 1(3) the reference to Article 2(2) is replaced by "Article 3(2)".

2. The following new Article 2 is inserted:

"Article 2

Tariff quotas with an order number above 09.5100 shall be administered by the Commission in accordance with Articles 308a, 308b and 308c of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93."

3. Article 2 is renumbered "Article 3".

4. Article 3 is renumbered "Article 4".

5. Annex A (b) is replaced by the annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

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 July 2000.

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

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President

ANNEX "ANNEX A(b)

>TABLE POSITION>

(1) Notwithstanding the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the wording for the description of the products is to be considered as having no more than indicative value, the preferential scheme being determined, within the context of this annex, by the coverage of the CN code. Where ex CN codes are indicated, the preferential scheme is to be determined by application to the CN code and corresponding description taken together.

(2) In cases where an MFN minimum duty exists, the applicable minimum duty is equal to the MFN minimum duty multiplied by the percentage indicated in this column.

(3) The quota for this product is opened for the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In case imports into the Community of live bovine domestic animals may exceed 500 000 heads for any given year, the Community may take the management measures needed to protect its market, notwithstanding any other rights given under the Agreement.

(4) The quota for this product is opened for the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The applied duty is 6%.

(5) The quota for this product is opened for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Community may take into account, in the framework of its legislation and when appropriate, the supply needs of its market and the need to maintain its market balance.

(6) Except CN codes 0203 11 90, 0203 12 90, 0203 19 90, 0203 21 90, 0203 22 90, 0203 29 90.

(7) Excluding tenderloin presented alone.

(8) Except CN codes 0207 13 91, 0207 14 91, 0207 26 91, 0207 27 91, 0207 34 10, 0207 34 90, 0207 35 91, 0207 36 81, 0207 36 85, 0207 36 89.

(9) Except CN codes 0408 11 20, 0408 19 20, 0408 91 20, 0408 99 20.

(10) Except CN codes 0701 10 00, 0701 90 10.

(11) Subject to minimum import price arrangements contained in the Annex to this Annex.

(12) The reduction applies only to the ad valorem part of the duty."

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

1. TITLE

Proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000 establishing certain concessions in the form of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural products and providing for an adjustment, as an autonomous and transitional measure, of certain agricultural concessions provided for in the Europe Agreement with Estonia.

2. BUDGET HEADING

Chap. 10

3. LEGAL BASIS

- Article 133 of the Treaty

4. OBJECTIVE

To complete Regulation (EC) by adding the necessary management rules and order numbers for tariff quotas used following the chronological order of dates of customs declarations.

5. FINANCIAL IMPACT

As the proposed amendments are purely technical additions, they have no financial impact compared to the concessions established by Regulation (EC) No 1349/2000.

6. FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES

The quota management provisions lay down the requisite prevention and protection measures against fraud and irregularities.