Commission Regulation (EC) No 1054/98 of 20 May 1998 amending Regulation (EC) No 1223/94 laying down special detailed rules for the application of the system of advance-fixing certificates for certain agricultural products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty, and Regulation (EC) No 1222/94 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty, and the criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds
Date: 1998-05-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agricultural product, export licence, export refund

21. 5. 98

‹

EN

‹

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 151/19

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1054/98

of 20 May 1998

amending Regulation (EC) No 1223/94 laying down special detailed rules for the
application of the system of advance-fixing certificates for certain agricultural
products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty,
and Regulation (EC) No 1222/94 laying down common detailed rules for the
application of the system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural
products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty,
and the criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 of
6 December 1993 laying down the trade arrangements
applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing
of agricultural products (1), and in particular the first
subparagraph of Article 8(3) and Article 20 thereof,

for exports of eggs in the natural state,

Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1222/94 (2), as
last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1909/97 (3), stipu-
lates that for eggs exported in any form other than oval-
bumin, the rate of the refund cannot be fixed in advance;
whereas,
the
granting of a refund is now subject to obtaining an export
licence comprising advance fixing of the refund; whereas,
therefore, advance fixing of refunds for eggs incorporated
into goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty should
also be allowed for a period identical to that applicable to
these products when exported in the natural state;

Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 1223/94 of 30
May 1994 laying down special detailed rules for the ap-
plication of the system of advance-fixing certificates for
certain agricultural products exported in the form of
goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty (4), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2340/96 (5), stipulates
that, during the period of reflection referred to in Article
3(3), a number of special measures, listed in the second
subparagraph, may be adopted; whereas it is necessary to
provide a single measure, namely the rejection of applica-
tions; whereas, in the absence of such a measure, which
may be applied at the latest on the first day on which the
certificates can be issued, the latter should be issued for
the quantity and rate of refund requested;

Whereas, in order to improve the management of accept-
ance or rejection of advance-fixing certificates, the days

(1) OJ L 318, 20. 12. 1993, p. 18.
(2) OJ L 136, 31. 5. 1994, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 268, 1. 10. 1997, p. 20.
(4) OJ L 136, 31. 5. 1994, p. 33.
(5) OJ L 318, 7. 12. 1996, p. 9.

on which Member States inform the Commission of
applications for certificates should be changed; whereas
the time taken to issue certificates should be shortened
whenever possible, while still carrying out
the checks
needed to ensure proper management;

Whereas the current situation regarding exports of milk
products in the form of goods not covered by Annex II to
the Treaty calls for very close monitoring of the advance
fixing of refunds; whereas the present validity period of
certificates for milk products exported in the form of
goods not covered by Annex II to the Treaty is three
months following the month of application for butter,
and six months following the month of application for
milk powder; whereas the validity period of certificates for
milk products exported in the natural state is four months
following the month of application; whereas a longer va-
lidity period creates increased uncertainty regarding the
amounts committed in respect of refunds which have not
been paid,
and complicates budgetary monitoring;
whereas the validity period of certificates for all milk
products
should
accordingly be reduced to a period identical to that ap-
plicable to milk products exported in the natural state;

exported in the

form of

goods

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are
the Management
in accordance with the opinion of
Committee on horizontal questions concerning trade in
processed agricultural products not listed in Annex II,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

In Article 5(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1222/94, the first
subparagraph is hereby replaced by the following:

‘However, a system of fixing the rate of the refund in
advance shall be applicable for basic products.’

L 151/20

‹

EN

‹

Official Journal of the European Communities

21. 5. 98

Article 2

Regulation (EC) No 1223/94 is hereby amended as
follows:

1. Article 3(3) is replaced by the following:

for

Applications

‘3.
each basic
product can be lodged every working day. The issue of
certificates by the relevant authority is subject to the
following conditions:

certificates

for

(i) certificates applied for from Monday to Wednesday

shall be issued on the following Monday;

(ii) certificates applied for on a Thursday or Friday
shall be issued on the following Wednesday.

Certificates shall not be issued if during the period
from the Monday to the Friday (for certificates applied
for from Monday to Wednesday) or during the period
from the Thursday to the following Tuesday (for certi-
ficates applied for on a Thursday or Friday)
the
Commission decides not to accept the applications.’;

2. Article 4(1) is replaced by the following:

‘1.

A certificate shall be valid from its day of issue:

— for products covered by the common organisations
of the markets in sugar, cereals and rice, until the
end of the fifth month following that of applica-
tion,

— for products covered by the common organisation
of the market in milk and milk products, until the
end of the fourth month following that of applica-
tion,

— for products covered by the common organisation
of the market in eggs, until the end of the third
month following that of application.

invitation to tender, as referred to in Article 44 of
Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88, issued in an importing
non-member country,
the certificate shall be valid
from the date of its issue until the date on which the
obligations arising from the award must be met,
although the period of validity of the certificate may
not exceed eight months following the month of
issue.’;

3. Article 4(2)(b) is deleted;

4. in Article 8(1) ‘every Tuesday and Friday’ is replaced by
‘every Monday and Thursday before midday (Brussels
time)’;

5. the following Article 9a is added:

‘Article 9a

issuing certificates

The time frame for
shall be
extended by one day if the day on which Member
States are required to inform the Commission of certi-
ficate applications referred to in Article 8 falls on an
official public holiday of the Commission in Brussels,
irrespective of whether or not that day is a public
holiday in the Member State where the application for
a certificate was lodged.’

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day
following its publication in the Offical Journal of the
European Communities.

By way of derogation from the preceding subpara-
graph, where goods are exported on the basis of an

It shall apply to applications for certificates lodged from 1
June 1998.

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

Done at Brussels, 20 May 1998.

For the Commission

Martin BANGEMANN

Member of the Commission