Commission Regulation (EC) No 594/2001 of 27 March 2001 amending Regulation (EC) No 1374/98 laying down detailed rules for the application of the import arrangements and opening tariff quotas for milk and milk products
Date: 2001-03-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: import, import policy, milk, milk product, tariff quota

28.3.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 88/7

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 594/2001

of 27 March 2001

amending Regulation (EC) No 1374/98 laying down detailed rules for the application of the import
arrangements and opening tariff quotas for 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 amended by Regulation (EC) No
1670/2000 (2), and in particular Article 26(3) and Article 29(1)
thereof,

(4)

Whereas:

Article 3(a) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1374/98
of 29 June 1998 laying down detailed rules for the
application of the import arrangements and opening
tariff quotas for milk and milk products (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1998/2000 (4),
lays
down that the classification of certain cheeses is subject
to the presentation of a licence issued in accordance
with Article 23. Article 23(3) and (4) clearly state that
the headings concerned are reserved exclusively for pref-
erential
imports from Switzerland under the special
arrangements that the Community has concluded with
that country. Given that IMA 1 certificates are no longer
used when those products are imported, Article 3(b) no
longer makes any sense. In the interests of clarity, Article
3 should therefore be updated.

Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1374/98 permits oper-
ators to submit a licence application for each CN code
under the ‘minimum access’ quotas referred to in Annex
II. This has resulted in excessive numbers of applica-
tions, leading to a heavy workload for the competent
departments of the Member States and the Commission
and financial
to operators. The provisions
concerned should be amended to restrict operators to
just one application per serial number.

costs

(1)

(2)

(3)

concerning certain cheeses listed in position ex 4.04 of
the Common Customs Tariff (5) and listed in Article 23
of Regulation (EC) No 1374/98, are not listed in Article
21. An addition should therefore be made to Article 21
and it should be stipulated that ‘Bergkäse’ cheese falling
within CN codes 0406 90 02 to 0406 90 06 is not
covered by the said tariff agreement.

Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2000 of
18 September 2000 introducing exceptional trade meas-
ures for countries and territories participating in or
linked to the European Union's Stabilisation and Asso-
ciation process, amending Regulation (EC) No 2820/98,
and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1763/1999 and (EC)
No 6/2000 (6), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2563/
2000 (7), provides for the import of milk and milk prod-
ucts into the Community without quantitative restric-
tions or measures having equivalent effect and with
exemption from customs duties and charges having
equivalent effect. Those exceptional measures go beyond
the concessions granted to those countries in the form
of reduced duties laid down in Annex IV to Regulation
(EC) No 1374/98. Those countries should be deleted
from that Annex and consequently from Annex VII.

(5)

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 1374/98 is amended as follows:

1. Article 3 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 3

Article 21 of Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1374/98,
which lays down the detailed rules for the application of
the non-quota preferential import arrangements, lists the
products covered by those arrangements. CN codes
0406 90 02 to 0406 90 06, which are covered,
inter
alia, by Council Decision 69/352/EEC of 6 October
1969 concluding a tariff agreement with Switzerland

CN code 0406 90 01, covering cheeses for processing, shall
apply only to imports.

CN codes 0406 90 02 to 0406 90 06, 0406 20 10 and
0406 90 19 shall apply only to imported products origin-
ating in and coming from Switzerland in accordance with
Article 23.’;

(1) OJ L 160, 26.6.1999, p. 48.
(2) OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 10.
(3) OJ L 185, 30.6.1998, p. 21.
(4) OJ L 238, 22.9.2000, p. 28.

(5) OJ L 257, 13.10.1969, p. 3.
(6) OJ L 240, 23.9.2000, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 295, 23.11.2000, p. 1.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

28.3.2001

2. Article 13(2) is replaced by the following:

4. Article 21 is replaced by the following:

‘2.
Licence applications may show one or more of the
CN codes set out in Annex II for the same serial number
and must indicate the quantity requested for each code.
However, a licence shall be issued for each separate product
code.

The licence application must be for a minimum of 10
tonnes and a maximum of 25 % of the quantity available for
each serial number and for each period as referred to in
Article 12(2) for which the licence application is submitted.’;

3. Article 14(2) is replaced by the following:

‘2.
Licence applications shall be admissible only where
applicants declare in writing that they have not submitted,
and undertake not to submit, any other applications under
the import arrangements referred to in this section for the
same period and for the same serial number in the Member
State in which the application is being submitted or in any
other Member State; in the event that an applicant submits
more than one application for the same serial number, all
applications from that applicant shall be invalid.’;

‘Article 21

The milk products referred to in Article 20 and the duties
applicable shall be as set out in:

(a) Annex IV.

(b) Under headings CN 0406 90 02 to 0406 90 06 of the
Combined Nomenclature, with the exception of “Berg-
käse”.

Where appropriate, Article 7 shall apply mutatis mutandis to
the products referred to in point (a).’;

5. Annex IV is amended as follows:

(a) the information on serial numbers 8 and 9 is replaced

by that in the Annex hereto;

(b) the fourth indent of footnote (2)(a) is deleted;

6.

in Annex VII, the information under the heading ‘Yugosla-
via’

is deleted.

Article 2

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

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

Done at Brussels, 27 March 2001.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 88/9

ANNEX

Order No

CN code

Description

Country of origin

‘8

ex 0406 90 29

Kashkaval, made exclusively from sheep's milk,
matured for at least two months, of a minimum fat
content of 45 % in the dry matter and a minimum
dry matter content of 58 %, in whole cheeses not
exceeding 10 kg, whether wrapped in plastic or not

9

ex 0406 90 31
ex 0406 90 50

Cheeses made exclusively from sheep's milk or
buffalo milk, in containers containing brine, or in
sheep or goatskin bottles

Cyprus
Hungary
Israel
Romania
Slovenia
Turkey

Cyprus
Hungary
Israel
Romania
Slovenia
Turkey

Import duty
(EUR/100 kg net
weight)

Rules for completing
IMA 1 certificates

67,19

See Annex VI (F)

—

67,19

See Annex VI (G)

—’