Commission Regulation (EC) No 156/2002 of 28 January 2002 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: 2002-01-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: export licence, export refund, milk, milk product

L 25/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

29.1.2002

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 156/2002
of 28 January 2002
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 Article 31(14) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Article 15 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 licenses and export refunds in the
case of milk and milk products (3), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 2298/2001 (4), differentiates the
award fo refunds for cheese exports by their destination.
Under the bilateral Agreement on Trade in Agricultural
Products between the European Community and the
Swiss Confederation, signed in Luxembourg on 21 June
1999, refunds for cheese exported to Switzerland will be
abolished with effect from the date of entry into force of
the Agreement, which is currently being ratified. Article
17 of the Agreement provides for its entry into force on
the first day of the second month following the final
notification of the deposit of the instruments of ratifica-
tion or approval of all the agreements referred to in that
Article. In order to ensure compliance with the provi-
sions of
in this regard, Commission
Regulation (EC) No 2594/2001 (5), which derogates
from Regulation (EC) No 174/1999, shortens the period
of validity of the licences concerned so that, when the
Agreement enters
issued with
advance fixing of the refund with Switzerland as their
destination will no longer be valid. However, as Switzer-
land falls within the ‘other destinations’ zone and forms
a customs union with Liechtenstein, under Article 15(1)

the Agreement

into force,

licences

of the above Regulation a licence issued for a destination
other than Switzerland could conceivably be used for
exports to Switzerland or for exports to Liechtenstein
with a view to their placement on the Swiss market. To
prevent this risk of diversion, two specific zones should
be created, one for Switzerland and one for Liechten-
stein.

(2)

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

Article 15(3) of Regulation (EC) No 174/1999 is replaced by
the following:

The zones referred to in paragraph 1 shall be as

‘3.
follows:
— Zone I: destination codes 055, 060, 070 and 091 to

096 (inclusive),

— Zone II: destination codes 072 to 083 (inclusive),
— Zone III: destination code 400,
— Zone IV: destination code 037,
— Zone V: destination code 039,
— Zone VI: all other destination codes.’

Article 2

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

It shall apply to licences applied for on or after its date of entry
into force.

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

Done at Brussels, 28 January 2002.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission

(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 308, 27.11.2001, p. 16.
(5) OJ L 345, 29.12.2001, p. 32.