Commission Regulation (EC) No 1439/2003 of 12 August 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community
Date: 2003-08-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: import licence, import policy, quantitative restriction, tariff quota, tropical fruit

L 204/30

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

13.8.2003

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1439/2003

of 12 August 2003

amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation
(EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(5)

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 2587/
2001 (2), and in particular Article 20 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 (3), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 1303/2003 (4),
lays
down detailed rules for applying Regulation (EEC) No
404/93, applicable from 1 July 2001, as regards the
management of the import tariff quotas provided for in
Article 18(1) of that Regulation.

Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 lays down, in
particular,
the method for establishing the reference
quantity for each traditional operator A/B and C on the
basis of the average of primary imports carried out by
them during 1994, 1995 and 1996 taken into account
for the purposes of administering the tariff quota opened
for 1998.

To update the data and simplify administration of the
regime, for the tariff quotas A/B and C opened for 2004
and, subsequently, for 2005, the reference quantity for
traditional operators should be calculated on the basis of
the extent to which they used the import licences issued
to them under Article 4(1) and (2) of Regulation (EC) No
896/2001 and/or transferred to them under Article 20
of that Regulation in the course of 2002 and 2003,
respectively.

The competent national authorities are responsible for
making the documentary checks required to verify that
import licences are used by their holder, or by the trans-
feree where licences are transferred under Article 20 of
Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 and the relevant provi-
sions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 of
9 June 2000 laying down common detailed rules for the
application of the system of import and export licences
and
agricultural
products (5), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 325/
2003 (6).

certificates

advance

fixing

for

(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 345, 29.12.2001, p. 13.
(3) OJ L 126, 8.5.2001, p. 6.
(4) OJ L 185, 24.7.2003, p. 5.
(5) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 47, 21.2.2003, p. 21.

Account should be taken of the special situation of tradi-
tional operators to whom an exceptionally low reference
quantity would be allocated in 2004 and/or 2005 as a
result of hardship affecting their activities in the course
of the reference year, and provision made for a proce-
dure for taking appropriate measures if
they prove
necessary, within the limits of the quantities under tariff
quotas A/B and C.

Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 should be amended
accordingly.

The provisions of the import regime do not give rise to
acquired rights nor may they be invoked as legitimate
expectations by operators.

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

(6)

(7)

(8)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Article 3(1) is replaced by the following:

‘1. “traditional operators” means economic agents, whether
natural persons or entities having legal personality, indi-
vidual agents or groups, established in the Community,
who,
for their own account, purchased a minimum
quantity of bananas originating in third countries from
the producers or, where applicable, produced, consigned
and sold such products in the Community during one of
the reference period used up to 31
the years of
December 2003.

Operations as defined in the previous subparagraph shall
hereinafter be called “primary imports”.

The minimum quantity referred to in the first subpara-
graph shall be 250 tonnes, or 20 tonnes where
marketing or import concerns only bananas with a
length of 10 centimetres or less.’

13.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 204/31

2. Articles 4 and 5 are replaced by the following:

‘Article 4

1.
The reference quantity for each traditional operator A/
B and C who submits a written application shall be estab-
lished on the basis of the extent to which they used the
import licences issued to them or transferred to them under
Article 20 for 2002 (in the case of imports to be carried out
in 2004) and 2003 (in the case of imports to be carried out
in 2005), respectively.

2.
Each traditional operator shall submit an application
for a reference quantity to the competent national authority
no later than 15 September of the year preceding the year
for which the tariff quota is opened.

shall

the quantities of
include details of
Applications
bananas for which the import licences issued for the year
determining the reference quantity in accordance with para-
graph 1 have been used by the applicant. They shall be
accompanied by copies of the import licences used by the
applicant traditional operators.

3.
Operators resulting from a merger of other traditional
operators, each with their own rights under this Regulation,
shall enjoy the same rights as those former operators.

Article 5

1.
The competent national authorities shall make the
checks required to determine the reference quantity of tradi-
tional operators for each of the years 2004 and 2005. The
extent to which licences have been used shall be verified on
the basis of copies of the licences issued and used by appli-
cant operators.

The competent national authorities shall notify the
2.
Commission of the sum of the reference quantities sepa-
rately for tariff quotas A/B and C no later than 15 October
of the year preceding the year for which the tariff quota is
opened.

3.
Using the information received under paragraph 2,
and in the light of the total quantities available under tariff
quotas A/B and C, the Commission shall, where appropriate,
set a single adjustment coefficient to be applied to each
traditional operator's reference quantity.

The competent national authorities shall notify each
4.
traditional operator of
their reference quantity, adjusted
where applicable by the coefficient laid down in accordance
with paragraph 3, no later than 15 November.

5. Where the reference quantity allocated to an operator
is exceptionally low as a result of hardship affecting their
activity during the reference year, a request for recognition
of hardship may be submitted to the Commission by the
competent national authority, accompanied by the necessary
supporting documents. Where required,
the Commission
shall take appropriate measures in accordance with Article
20 of Regulation (EC) No 404/93, within the limits of the
quantities under tariff quotas A/B and C.

6.
The competent authorities in each Member State shall
be as listed in the Annex. That list shall be amended by the
Commission on the basis of changes notified by the Member
States.’

Article 2

Where licences are transferred under Article 20, the compe-
tent national authorities of the Member States concerned
shall exchange the necessary information.

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

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

Done at Brussels, 12 August 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission