Commission Regulation (EC) No 1961/2000 of 15 September 2000 amending Regulation (EC) No 174/1999 laying down special detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 as regards export licences and export refunds in the case of milk and milk products
Date: 2000-09-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: export licence, export refund, milk, milk product

L 234/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

16.9.2000

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1961/2000

of 15 September 2000

amending Regulation (EC) No 174/1999 laying down special detailed rules for the application of
Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/68 as regards export licences and export refunds in the case of
milk and milk products

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 of 17
May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk
and milk products (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
1670/2000 (2), and in particular Articles 26(3), 30 and 31(14)
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 174/1999
of 26 January 1999 laying down special detailed rules
for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 804/
68 as regards export licences and export refunds in the
case of milk and milk products (3), as amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 1596/1999 (4), provides for various meas-
ures to control quantities in relation to licences issued,
and in particular the power to suspend the issue of
the possibility of
licences. Experience
suspending the lodging of applications
should be
extended to save traders, the national authorities and the
Commission unnecessary work.

shows

that

Article 15 of Regulation (EC) No 174/1999 provides for
the grant of refunds for various zones of destination in
the case of cheese exports. As a result of changes in the
rate of refund for some of those destinations, the defini-
tion of the zones concerned should be adjusted.

Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 174/1999 lays down
provisions on cheese exports to the United States of
America under certain tariff quotas. Notwithstanding the
fact that, since 1 July 2000, the refund rates for certain
cheeses exported to the United States of America have
been zero, presentation of an export licence and the
lodging of a security are also indispensable for such
exports to enable the regime to function properly. The
provisions concerned should be adjusted accordingly.

(4)

Provision should be made for the allocation of licences
on the basis of the criteria laid down in Article 20(3) to
be decided in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 42 of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999.

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 48.
(2) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 10.
(3) OJ L 20, 27.1.1999, p. 8.
(4) OJ L 188, 21.7.1999, p. 39.

(5)

(6)

Given that applications for the export licences referred
to in Article 20 are to be lodged in mid-September
2000, this Regulation should enter into force imme-
diately.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 174/1999 is amended as follows:

1. Article 10 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 10

1.
Export licences shall be issued on the fifth working
day following the day on which applications are submitted,
provided that the quantities for which licences have been
applied for have been communicated in accordance with
Article 9(1) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1498/
1999 (*) and that the special measures referred to in points
(a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 3 have not
been adopted in the meantime.

A decision may be taken to adopt one or more of the
2.
special measures provided for in paragraph 3 where the
issue of the licences:

available or

(a) appears likely to result in an overrun in the budget
resources
the
maximum quantities which may be exported with
refund during the 12-month period in question or in a
shorter period to be determined pursuant to Article 11;

exhaustion of

in the

or

(b) does not allow the continuity of exports to be guaran-

teed during the rest of the period concerned;

or

(c) would lead to a distortion of competition between

traders.

For the purposes of the first subparagraph, account shall be
taken, as regards the product in question, of the seasonal
nature of trade, the market situation and in particular the
trend in prices on the market and the export conditions
resulting therefrom.

16.9.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 234/11

In the cases referred to in paragraph 2, the Commis-
3.
sion may decide, for the product or products in question:

(a) to reject all or part of pending applications for which

export licences have not yet been issued;

(b) to apply an allocation coefficient

to the quantities
requested. Where a coefficient of less than 0,4 is applied
to the quantities requested, applicants may, within three
working days of publication of the decision fixing the
coefficient,
licence
application and the release of their security;

the cancellation of

request

their

(c) to suspend the lodging of licence applications for a

maximum of five working days.

Furthermore,
in accordance with the procedure provided
for in Article 42 of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999, the
Commission may decide:

(a) to suspend the lodging of licence applications for the
product or products concerned for a period exceeding
five working days;

(b) at the end of the period of suspension of the lodging of
applications or after the applications have been rejected,
to fix refunds by invitation to tender for products falling
within CN codes 0402 10 19, 0405 10 90, 0405 90 10,
0405 90 90 and 0405 10 19. The relevant licences shall
then be issued.

(*) OJ L 174, 9.7.1999, p. 3.’

2. Article 15(3) is replaced by the following:

— Zone II: destination codes 072 to 083 (inclusive)
— Zone III: destination code 400,
— Zone IV: all other destination codes.’

3. Article 20 is amended as follows:

(a) The first subparagraph of paragraph 2 is replaced by

the following:

Exports of

‘2.
to the United States of
America under the quotas referred to in paragraph 1
shall be subject to presentation of an export licence.

cheese

Traders may apply, within a period to be determined,
for a provisional export licence for the export of the
products
referred to in paragraph 1 during the
to the lodging of a
following calendar year subject
security equal to 50 % of the rate fixed in accordance
with Article 9, with a minimum of EUR 9 per
100 kg.’

(b) The first
follows:

sentence of paragraph 3 is amended as

‘3. Where applications for provisional
licences are
submitted in respect of a quantity of products in
excess of one of the quotas referred to in paragraph
in
1 for the year in question, the Commission may,
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
42 of Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999.’

(c) Paragraph 11 is replaced by the following:

Chapter

I, with the exception of

‘11.
the first
sentence of Article 1(1) and Article 10 shall apply to
full licences. However, the term of validity of licences
as provided for in Article 6 may not extend beyond
the end of the year concerned.’

The zones referred to in paragraph 1 shall be as

‘3.
follows:

— Zone I: destination codes 055, 060, 070 and 091 to

096 (inclusive),

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communi-
ties.

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

Done at Brussels, 15 September 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission