Commission Regulation (EC) No 2374/2000 of 26 October 2000 on imports of bananas under the tariff quotas and of traditional ACP bananas for 2001
Date: 2000-10-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: ACP countries, import, import licence, import policy, tariff quota, tropical fruit

27.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 275/5

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2374/2000

of 26 October 2000

on imports of bananas under the tariff quotas and of traditional ACP bananas for 2001

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

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
the Commission sent
On 19 November 1999,
for a Regulation amending the
Council a proposal
arrangements
the
bananas
importing
Community. Since that date, the Commission has kept
the Council regularly informed on progress made on the
the introduction of amended
preparatory work for
arrangements. In the meantime, uninterrupted supplies
to the Community 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 implementation
of Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 regarding
imports of bananas into the Community (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1632/2000 (4).

To achieve that objective,
traditional operators must
have the right to apply for import licences on the basis
of the reference quantities for 1999 and 2000 deter-
mined and notified by the competent national authority.
Fixing a new reference period for that purpose would
not be justified in view of the uncertainty surrounding
the length of the interim period before the amended
arrangements enter into force. Amending the period
would also involve an administrative burden and dispro-
portionate checks.

In the case of newcomer operators,
the necessary
detailed rules must be laid down for either their first
registration or the renewal of their previous registration.
The rules governing the registration of newcomer opera-
tors during 2000 are laid down in Commission Regula-
tion (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 (5). The minimum quantity that
such operators must have actually imported to obtain
renewal of their registration should be adjusted.

(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 187, 26.7.2000, p. 27.
(5) OJ L 26, 2.2.2000, p. 6.

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.

(5)

(6)

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

registered in respect of 1999
Each traditional operator
pursuant to Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 may
submit one or more applications for import licences for a given
quarter for a total quantity equal to that produced by applying
the percentage fixed in accordance with Article 14(2) of that
Regulation to the reference quantity determined for 1999 by
the competent national authority and notified 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.
Each newcomer operator who meets the conditions laid
down in paragraph 2 or 3, as applicable, may submit one or
more applications for import licences for a given quarter for a
total quantity equal
to that produced by applying the
percentage fixed in accordance with Article 14(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 2362/98 to the quota allocation referred to in para-
graph 6 of this Article notified by the competent national
authority under Article 9(4) of that Regulation.

Newcomer operators

2.
registered in respect of 2000
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 and applications
for quota allocations under Article 9 of that Regulation by 6
November 2000. However, notwithstanding the first subpara-
graph of Article 8(4) of that Regulation, newcomer operators

L 275/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

27.10.2000

registered in respect of 2000 pursuant to Article 2(3) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 250/2000 must provide proof that they have
actually imported for their own account at least 34 % of the
quantity allocated to them for the current year.

Newcomer operators not registered in respect of 2000
3.
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 6
November 2000.

together with their request

4.
In accordance with Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No
2362/98, Member States shall send the Commission by 10
November 2000:

(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.

5.
In accordance with Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC) No
2362/98, the Commission shall determine without delay the
quantities for which quota allocations are granted.

6.
The competent national authorities shall determine and
notify to each newcomer operator the quantity allocated to
him or her by 30 November 2000.

Article 3

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

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

whose registration has been renewed;

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, 26 October 2000.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission