Commission Regulation (EC) No 2357/2002 of 27 December 2002 on the management of textile quotas for the year 2003 of Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 on common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules
Date: 2002-12-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: import policy, quantitative restriction, textile product, third country

28.12.2002

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 351/45

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2357/2002

of 27 December 2002

on the management of textile quotas for the year 2003 of Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 on
common rules for imports of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral
agreements, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7
March 1994 on common rules for imports of textile products
from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agree-
ments, protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific
Community import rules, (1) as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 1309/2002 (2), and in particular Article 17(3) and (6)
and Article 21(2) and (3) thereof,

(7)

(8)

Whereas:

Regulation (EC) No 517/94 established quantitative
restrictions on imports of certain textile products origi-
nating in certain third countries to be allocated on a first
come, first served basis.

Under that Regulation, it is possible, in certain circum-
stances, to use other allocation methods, to divide quotas
into tranches or to set aside part of a specific quantita-
tive limit exclusively for applications which are backed
up by proof of the results of previous imports.

To achieve optimum use of the quantities, an operator
the amount already
least 50 % of
who has used at
authorised should be permitted to apply for a further
amount provided quantities are available in the quotas.

For the sake of sound administration, import authorisa-
tions should be valid for nine months from the date of
issue but until the end of the year at the latest. Member
States should issue licences only after being notified by
the Commission that quantities are available and only if
an operator can prove the existence of a contract and
certify (except where specifically provided otherwise)
that he/she has not already been allocated a Community
import authorisation under this Regulation for the cate-
gories and countries concerned. The competent national
authorities should, however, be authorised, in response
to importers' applications, to extend by three months
and up to 31 March 2004 licences of which at least
50 % has been used by the application date.

(9)

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

Rules for management of
the quotas established for
2003 should be adopted before the quota year begins so
that the continuity of trade flows is not affected unduly.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

The measures adopted in previous years, such as those
in Commission Regulation (EC) No 2538/2001 estab-
lishing rules for the management and distribution of
textiles quotas established for the year 2002 under
Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 (3), proved to be
satisfactory and it
is therefore appropriate to adopt
similar rules for 2003.

In order to satisfy the greatest possible number of opera-
tors it is therefore appropriate to make the ‘first come,
first served’ allocation method more flexible by placing a
ceiling on the quantities which can be allocated to each
operator by that method.

To guarantee a degree of continuity in trade and efficient
quota administration, operators should be allowed to
import authorisation application for
make their initial
2003 equivalent to the quantity which they imported in
2002.

(1) OJ L 67, 10.3.1994, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 192, 20.7.2002, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 341, 22.12.2001, p. 73.

Article 1

The purpose of this Regulation is to lay down rules concerning
the management of quantitative quotas for imports of certain
textiles products set out in Annexes IIIB and IV to Regulation
(EC) No 517/94 for the year 2003.

Article 2

The quotas referred to in Article 1 shall be allocated on a ‘first
come, first served’ basis according to the chronological order of
receipt by the Commission of Member States' notifications of
applications
for amounts not
exceeding the maximum quantities per operator set out in the
Annex.

from individual operators,

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

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These maximum quantities shall not, however, apply to opera-
tors able to prove to the competent national authorities when
making their first application for 2003 that they imported, for
given categories, given third countries and under
import
licences granted to them for 2002, more than the maximum
quantities specified for each category.

In the case of such operators, the competent authorities may
authorise imports of no more than the quantities imported in
2002 for given third countries and given categories, provided
that enough quota is available.

Article 3

Any importer who has used 50 % or more of the amount allo-
cated to him under this Regulation may make a further applica-
tion, in respect of the same category and country of origin, for
amounts not exceeding the maximum quantities laid down in
the Annex.

Article 4

The competent national authorities shall issue authorisa-
2.
tions only after being notified by the Commission that quanti-
ties are available in accordance with Article 17(2) of Regulation
(EC) No 517/94.

They shall issue authorisations only if an operator:

(a) proves the existence of a contract relating to the provision

of the goods; and

(b) certifies in writing that,
countries concerned:
(i) he/she has not already been allocated an authorisation

in respect of the categories and

under this Regulation; or

(ii) he/she has been allocated an authorisation under this

Regulation but has used up at least 50 % of it.

Import authorisations shall be valid for nine months from

3.
the date of issue, but until 31 December 2003 at the latest.

The competent national authorities may, however, at
the
importer's request, grant a three-month extension for authorisa-
tions which are at least 50 % used up at the time of the
request.

1.
The competent national authorities may notify the
Commission of the amounts of requests for import authorisa-
tions from 10.00 on 3 January 2003, Brussels time.

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 2003.

Article 5

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

Done at Brussels, 27 December 2002.

For the Commission

Pascal LAMY

Member of the Commission

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ANNEX

Maximum amounts referred to in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2356/2002

Country concerned

Category

Unit

Maximum amount

North Korea

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
24
26
27
28
29
31
36
37
39
59
61
68
69
70
73
74
75
76
77
78
83
87
109
117
118
142
151A
151B
161

Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Kilogram
Pair
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Kilogram
Piece
Kilogram
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram

10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
5 000
5 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000

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Country concerned

Category

Unit

Maximum amount

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1)

1
2
2a
3
5
6
7
8
9
15
16
67

Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Kilogram
Piece
Piece
Piece
Piece
Kilogram
Piece
Piece
Kilogram

20 000
20 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000
10 000

(1) Including Kosovo as defined by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999.