Commission Regulation (EC) No 250/2000 of 1 February 2000 on imports of bananas under the tariff quotas and of traditional ACP bananas, and fixing the indicative quantities for the second quarter of 2000
Date: 2000-02-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: ACP countries, import, originating product, quantitative restriction, tariff quota, tropical fruit

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EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 2. 2000

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 250/2000

of 1 February 2000

on imports of bananas under the tariff quotas and of traditional ACP bananas, and fixing the
indicative quantities for the second quarter of 2000

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13
February 1993 on the common organisation of the market in
bananas (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1257/
1999 (2), and in particular Article 20 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

for

into

the
On 19 November 1999 the Commission sent
for a Regulation amending the
Council a proposal
arrangements
the
bananas
importing
Community. Pending the Council's decision on this
proposal, and without prejudice to that decision, unin-
terrupted supplies to the market and continued trade
must be ensured pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 404/
93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 of 28
October 1998 laying down detailed rules for the imple-
mentation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93
regarding imports of bananas into the Community (3), as
last amended by Regulation (EC) No 756/1999 (4).

To achieve that objective,
traditional operators must
have the right to apply for import licences on the basis
of the reference quantity for 1999 determined and noti-
fied by the competent national authority. In the case of
newcomer operators, deadlines must be laid down for
the submission of applications for the renewal of regis-
registering as
trations
newcomers where applicable, and of applications for
quota allocations.

in respect of 1999, or

for

Under Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 an
indicative quantity, expressed as the same percentage of
available quantities from each of the countries of origin
listed in Annex I thereto, may be fixed for the purposes
of issuing import licences for the first three quarters of
the year. An analysis of the data relating, on the one
hand,
to the quantities of bananas marketed in the
Community in 1999 and to actual imports during the
second quarter in particular and, on the other hand, to
the outlook for supplies to and consumption on the
Community market during that second quarter of 2000
shows
to the
Community as a whole, an indicative quantity should be
fixed for each country of origin listed in Annex I to
Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 at 29 % of the quantity
allocated to it.

to ensure satisfactory supplies

that,

(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 80.
(3) OJ L 293, 31.10.1998, p. 32.
(4) OJ L 98, 13.4.1999, p. 10.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

The ceiling provided for in Article 14(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 2362/98 on quantities covered by individual
licence applications must be set to avoid prejudging any
amendment
to the import arrangements in question
during 2000.

This Regulation is adopted with a view to ensuring
uninterrupted supplies to the market and continued
trade with the supplier countries but does not prejudge
any measures that may subsequently be adopted by the
Council or the Commission, in particular with a view to
complying with the international commitments entered
into by the Community within the World Trade Organ-
isation (WTO), and cannot be invoked by operators as
grounds for legitimate expectations regarding the exten-
sion of the import arrangements.

This Regulation must enter into force immediately.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Bananas,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Traditional operators registered in respect of 1999 pursuant to
Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 may submit applica-
tions for import licences for a given quarter for the quantity
produced by applying the percentage fixed in accordance with
Article 14 of that Regulation to the reference quantity deter-
mined for 1999 by the competent national authority and noti-
fied to them in accordance with Article 6(4) of that Regulation.

Where the reference quantity notified in respect of 1999 has
been amended as a result of additional verifications,
this
amended reference quantity shall be used for the purpose of
applying the previous subparagraph.

Article 2

1.
Newcomer operators who meet the conditions laid down
in paragraph 2 or 3, as applicable, may submit applications for
import licences for a given quarter for the quantity produced
by applying the percentage fixed in accordance with Article 14
of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 to the quota allocation referred
to in paragraph 6 of this Article notified to them by the
competent national authority under Article 9(4) of that Regula-
tion.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Newcomer operators

registered in respect of 1999
2.
pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 must
submit applications for the renewal of their registrations in
accordance with paragraph 4 of
that Article — without,
however, enclosing a copy of the licences issued for the curent
quarter — and applications for quota allocations under Article
9 of that Regulation by 8 February 2000 at the latest.

3.
Newcomer operators not registered in respect of 1999
must send the competent national authority the supporting
documents listed in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98
in order to register,
for quota
allocations under Article 9(1) of that Regulation, by 8 February
2000 at the latest.

together with their request

The amount of the security to be lodged under Article
4.
9(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 shall be reduced, where
applicable, by the amount of the security for licence(s) issued in
respect of the first quarter of 2000 to the newcomer operator
in question.

5.
In accordance with Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No
2362/98, Member States shall send the Commission by 21
February 2000 at the latest:

(a) the list of newcomer operators referred to in paragraph 2

whose registration has been renewed;

(b) the list of newcomer operators referred to in paragraph 3;

(c) the requests for quota allocations submitted pursuant to

Article 9(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98.

6.
In accordance with Article 9(3) of the above Regulation
the Commission shall determine without delay the quantities
for which quota allocations are granted.

The competent national authorities shall determine and
7.
notify to each newcomer operator the quantity allocated to
him by 29 February 2000 at the latest.

Article 3

Notwithstanding the second paragraph of Article 6, Article 20
of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 shall apply to licences issued
for 2000.

Article 4

For the second quarter of 2000, the indicative quantity referred
to in Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 shall be
29 % of the quantities fixed for each of the origins listed in
Annex I to that Regulation.

Article 5

For the second quarter of 2000, the quantity authorised for
each traditional and newcomer operator under Article 14(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 shall be 30 % of the quantity
determined and notified pursuant to Article 6(4) of Regulation
(EC) No 2362/98 for traditional operators and Article 2(7) of
this Regulation for newcomer operators.

Article 6

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply without prejudice to any decisions adopted subse-
quently by the Council or the Commission.

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

Done at Brussels, 1 February 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission