Commission Regulation (EC) No 2767/1999 of 23 December 1999 introducing a system of licences for imports of tomatoes from Morocco
Date: 1999-12-23
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Morocco, fruit vegetable, import licence

24. 12. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 333/3

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2767/1999

of 23 December 1999

introducing a system of licences for imports of tomatoes from Morocco

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

(4)

Having regard to Council Decision 95/35/EC of 19 December
1994 on the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an
Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the
Kingdom of Morocco on the regime for imports into the
European Community of tomatoes and courgettes originating
in and imported from Morocco (1), and in particular Article 3
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

under the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of
Letters between the European Community and the
Kingdom of Morocco on the regime for imports into the
tomatoes and courgettes
European Community of
originating in and imported from Morocco the Kingdom
of Morocco gives an undertaking that total exports of
tomatoes to the Community during the periods referred
to will not exceed the agreed quantities. To that end,
Morocco is to notify the Commission each Tuesday of
the quantities of tomatoes exported the previous week.
The Agreement stipulates, lastly, that the Commission
reserves the right to introduce a system of licences for
imports in order to ensure that the Agreement is applied
properly;

the

the agreed quantities are those set out in Annex IV to
Council Regulation (EC) No 1981/94 of 25 July 1994
opening and providing for
administration of
Community tariff quotas for certain products originating
in Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Malta, Morocco,
West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Tunisia and Turkey, and
providing detailed rules for extending and adapting these
tariff quotas (2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
2530/1999 (3). The monthly breakdown of the quant-
ities is set out in the Association Agreement between the
Community and Morocco;

the quantity of

according to information provided late by the Moroccan
authorities,
tomatoes exported from
Morocco to the Community amounted to 14 478
tonnes in October 1999, representing a 190 % overrun
of the quantity of 5 000 tonnes agreed for that month.
Information available to the Commission indicates that
this figure reached 25 529 tonnes for November 1999,
amounting to a 37 % overrun of the quantity of 18 601
the
tonnes agreed for that month. This overrun of

agreed quantities triggered a decline in the standard
value of
imported from Morocco, which
remained below the agreed entry price from 16 to 25
November 1999;

tomatoes

to prevent this situation continuing and to ensure that
the Agreement concluded with Morocco is applied in
full, a system of import licences needs to be introduced
for the products concerned. The detailed arrangements
for the system must supplement or derogate from the
arrangements
contained in Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 3719/88 of 16 November 1988 laying down
common detailed rules for the application of the system
of import and export licences and advance fixing certi-
ficates for agricultural products (4), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 1127/1999 (5). They must ensure in
addition that the provisions of the above Agreement are
complied with in full;

(5)

the measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Fruit and Vegetables,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
The release for free circulation in the Community of fresh
tomatoes falling within CN code 0702 00 00 originating in
and imported from Morocco shall be subject to the presenta-
tion of an import licence issued in accordance with this Regula-
tion.

2.
Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 shall apply to the system
introduced by this Regulation, subject to the special arrange-
ment laid down therein.

Article 2

1.
Import licences shall be issued on the fifth working day
following the date of submission of an application on condi-
tion that action is not taken by the Commission during that
period.

2.
The amount of the security referred to in Article 14(2) of
Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 shall be EUR 1,5 per 100 kilo-
grams net.

Import licences shall be valid for 30 days from their date

3.
of issue.

(1) OJ L 48, 3.3.1995, p. 21.
(2) OJ L 199, 2.8.1994, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 306, 1.12.1999, p. 17.

(4) OJ L 331, 2.12.1988, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 135, 29.5.1999, p. 48.

L 333/4

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Official Journal of the European Communities

24. 12. 1999

Article 3

Article 5

Member States shall notify the Commission of:

1. the quantities for which import licence applications have

been submitted. Notification shall take place:
— each Wednesday in the case of applications submitted

on Monday and Tuesday,

— each Friday in the case of applications submitted on

Wednesday and Thursday,

— each Monday in the case of applications submitted on

Friday of the preceding week;

2. the quantities covered by unused licences or licences that
have been partially used, corresponding to the difference
between the quantities endorsed on the licences and those
for which licences have been issued. Notification shall take
place weekly on Wednesday,
in the case of information
received the preceding week.

Where no application has been submitted on the days referred
to at point 1 or where there are no unused quantities as
referred to at point 2, the Member State concerned shall notify
the Commission thereof on the days indicated in this Article.

Article 4

Where the Commission establishes, on the basis of information
notified to it by the Member States in accordance with Article
3, that the quantities agreed between the Community and
Morocco are likely to be overrun,
it shall decide on what
conditions licences may be issued for imports of tomatoes
from Morocco.

This Regulation shall not apply to products which are en

1.
route to the Community.

Products shall be regarded as being en route to the

2.
Community that:
— have left Morocco before this Regulation enters into force,

and

— are transported under cover of a transport document valid
loading in Morocco to the place of
from the place of
unloading in the Community, and drawn up before this
Regulation enters into force.

3.
Paragraph 1 shall apply subject to the interested parties
providing evidence, to the satisfaction of the custom authori-
ties, that the conditions laid down in paragraph 2 are met.

The authorities may, however, consider the products to have
left Morocco before the entry into force of this Regulation
where one of the following documents is provided:
— in the case of transport by sea, the bill of lading, showing

— in the case of

that the products were loaded before that date,
the contract

for the
carriage of the goods by road or any other transport docu-
ment drawn up in Morocco before that date,

transport by road,

— in the case of

the consignment note
showing that the air company accepted the products before
that date.

transport by air,

Article 6

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2000.

It shall apply up to 31 March 2000.

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

Done at Brussels, 23 December 1999.

For the Commission

Margot WALLSTRÖM

Member of the Commission