Commission Regulation (EC) No 1458/2003 of 18 August 2003 opening and providing for the administration of a tariff quota in the pigmeat sector
Date: 2003-08-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: import licence, pigmeat, tariff quota

19.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 208/3

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1458/2003

of 18 August 2003

opening and providing for the administration of a tariff quota in the pigmeat sector

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2759/75 of 29
October 1975 on the common organisation of the market in
pigmeat (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1365/
2000 (2), and in particular Article 8(2), Article 11(1) and the
second subparagraph of Article 22 thereof,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1095/96 of 18
June 1996 on the implementation of the concessions set out in
Schedule CXL drawn up in the wake of the conclusion of the
GATT XXIV.6 negotiations (3), and in particular Article 1
thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1486/95 of 28 June
1995 opening and providing for the administration of a
tariff quota in the pigmeat sector (4) has been substan-
tially amended several times (5). In the interests of clarity
and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.

trade negotiations,

In the framework of the Uruguay Round of the multilat-
eral
the Community negotiated
various agreements, in particular that on agriculture. The
agreement allows, among others, certain products in the
pigmeat sector coming from third countries access to
the Community market. It is now possible to establish
specific rules of application for the pigmeat sector.

The agreement calls for the suppression of variable
import levies by converting into customs duties all the
measures which restrict
the import of agricultural
products.

The administration of the arrangements should be based
on import licences. To that end, detailed rules for the
submission of applications and the information which
must appear in applications and licences, by way of
derogation from Article 8 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 advance fixing certifi-
cates for agricultural products (6), as last amended by
Regulation (EC) No 325/2003 (7), should be laid down.
Provision should also be made for the licences to be

(1) OJ L 282, 1.11.1975, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 156, 29.6.2000, p. 5.
(3) OJ L 146, 20.6.1996, p. 1.
(4) OJ L 145, 29.6.1995, p. 58.
(5) See Annex V.
(6) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1.
(7) OJ L 47, 21.2.2003, p. 21.

issued after a period for consideration and, where neces-
sary, a single percentage should be applied to determine
the quantity awarded in respect of each application. In
the interests of traders, provision should be made for the
withdrawal of applications after the fixing of the coeffi-
cient to be applied.

For reasons of clarity,
it should be laid down that all
imports under a tariff quota must be subject to the
presentation of an import licence. The threshold quantity
beyond which traders may withdraw their licence appli-
cation after the application of the single percentage of
acceptance should be laid down.

In order
to facilitate trade between the European
Community and third countries, it must be possible to
import pigmeat products without an obligation to
import from the country of origin, which must neverthe-
less be mentioned for statistical reasons in section 8 of
the import licence.

In order to ensure that imports are regular, it is neces-
sary to define products covered by the import regime
and to ensure that those quantities referred to in Annex
I are spread over the period from 1 July to 30 June.

In order to ensure proper administration of the arrange-
ments, the security for import licences under the system
should be set at EUR 20 per 100 kg. In view of the
arrangements'
inherent risk of speculation as regards
pigmeat, clear conditions should be laid down as regards
access by operators.

It is appropriate to draw the attention of operators to
the fact that licences may only be used for products
which comply with all veterinary rules currently in force
in the Community.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

To ensure proper management of the import regimes,
the Commission needs precise information from the
Member States on the quantities actually imported. For
the sake of clarity it is necessary to use a single model
for communicating the quantities between Member
States and the Commission.

(11)

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

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Official Journal of the European Union

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The import tariff quotas provided for in Annex I shall be
opened annually for the groups of products referred to therein
and for the conditions laying them down.

— Regulation (EC) No 1458/2003

— Règlement (CE) no 1458/2003

— Regolamento (CE) n. 1458/2003

— Verordening (EG) nr. 1458/2003

— Regulamento (CE) n.o 1458/2003

— Asetus (EY) N:o 1458/2003

— Förordning (EG) nr 1458/2003

Article 2

(e) section 24 of licences shall show one of the following:

In accordance with the present Regulation, products of CN
codes ex 0203 19 55 and ex 0203 29 55 referred to in groups
G2 and G3 of Annex I have the following meanings assigned
to them:

— ‘boneless loins’, loins and cuts thereof, without tenderloin,

with or without subcutaneous fat or rind,

— ‘tenderloin’, cuts including the meats of muscles muscumus
major psoas and musculus minor psoas, with or without head,
trimmed or not trimmed.

Article 3

The tariff quotas provided for in Annex I shall be divided into
quarterly figures of 25 % applicable from 1 July, 1 October, 1
January and 1 April.

Article 4

The import licences for the tariff quotas provided for in Annex
I shall be subject to the following provisions:

(a) applicants for import licences must be natural or legal
persons who, at the time of application, must prove to the
satisfaction of the competent authorities in the Member
States that they have been engaged in trade with third
countries in pigmeat products for at least the preceding 12
months; however, retail and catering establishments selling
their products to final consumers shall be excluded from
the regime;

(b) licence applications may refer to only one of the group
numbers set out in Annex I to this Regulation and may
relate to more than one product covered by different CN
codes and originating from only one country; in such cases,
all the CN codes shall be indicated in section 16 and their
descriptions in section 15; for group G2, licence applica-
tions must relate to at least 20 tonnes and to a maximum
of 10 % of the quantity available for the period as specified
in Article 3; for the other groups, licence applications must
relate to at least one tonne and to a maximum of 10 % of
the quantity available for the period as specified in Article
3;

(c) section 8 of licence applications and licences shall show the

country of origin;

(d) section 20 of licence applications and licences shall show

one of the following:
— Reglamento (CE) no 1458/2003
— Forordning (EF) nr. 1458/2003
— Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1458/2003
— Κανονισµός (ΕΚ) αριθ. 1458/2003

Duty of … pursuant to:

— Reglamento (CE) no 1458/2003

— Forordning (EF) nr. 1458/2003

— Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1458/2003
— Κανονισµός (ΕΚ) αριθ. 1458/2003
— Regulation (EC) No 1458/2003

— Règlement (CE) no 1458/2003

— Regolamento (CE) n. 1458/2003

— Verordening (EG) nr. 1458/2003

— Regulamento (CE) n.o 1458/2003

— Asetus (EY) N:o 1458/2003

— Förordning (EG) nr 1458/2003.

Article 5

1.
Licence applications shall be lodged during the first seven
days of the month preceding each period as specified in Article
3.

2.
Licence applications shall only be admissible where the
applicant declares in writing that he has not submitted and
undertakes not to submit any other applications during the
current period for products in the same group fixed in Annex I
in the Member State in which his application is submitted or in
any other Member State.

Where an applicant submits more than one application relating
to products in the same group fixed in Annex I, all applications
from that person shall be inadmissible; however, each applicant
may lodge several applications for import licences for products
in the same group fixed in Annex I, if these products originate
in different countries.

3.
The applications, one each for a single country of origin,
shall be submitted together to the competent authority of a
Member State. They shall be considered, as
the
maximum referred to in Article 4(b) as well as application of
the rule set out in subparagraph 2 of paragraph 2, as a single
application.

regards

A security of EUR 20 per 100 kilograms shall be lodged
in

licence applications for all products set out

4.
for import
Annex I.

5.
On the third working day following the end of the appli-
cation submission period, the Member States shall notify the
Commission of applications lodged for each of the products in
the groups concerned. Such notifications shall include a list of
applicants and a statement of the quantities applied for in each
group.

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All notifications, including ‘nil’ notifications, shall be made by
telex or fax on the working day stipulated, using the model
shown in Annex II in cases where no applications have been
made, and the models shown in Annexes II and III in cases
where applications have been made.

6.
The Commission shall decide as quickly as possible what
quantities may be awarded in respect of applications referred to
in Article 4.

If the quantities in respect of which licences have been applied
for exceed the quantities available, the Commission shall fix a
single percentage of acceptance of the quantities applied for. In
the case where the percentage is less than 5 %, the Commission
may refuse all applications and the corresponding security shall
be released immediately.

7.
The trader may withdraw his licence application within
10 working days of publication of the single percentage of
acceptance in the Official Journal of the European Union where
application of that rate results in the fixing of a quantity of less
than 20 tonnes for group G2 and less than one tonne for the
other groups. Member States shall notify the Commission
during the five days following withdrawal of the application
and shall immediately release corresponding security.

8.
The Commission shall calculate the quantity remaining,
which shall be added to the quantity available in respect of the
following quarter for the same period referred to in Article 1.

Licences shall be issued as quickly as possible after the

9.
Commission has taken its decision.

Licences may only be used for products which comply

10.
with all veterinary rules currently in force in the Community.

11. Member States shall notify the Commission before the
end of the fourth month following each annual period, from 1
July to 30 June, of the quantities of actual imports of products
under this Regulation for that period.

All notifications, including notifications that there have been
no imports, shall be made using the model shown in Annex IV.

Article 6

For the purposes of Article 23(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1.
1291/2000, import licences shall be valid for a period of 150
days from the date of actual issue.

However, licences shall not be valid beyond 30 June of the year
of issue.

Import licences issued pursuant to this Regulation shall

2.
not be transferable.

Article 7

The dispositions of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 shall apply,
without prejudice to the provisions of this Regulation.

However, by way of derogation from Article 8(4) of that Regu-
lation, the quantity imported under this Regulation may not
exceed that shown in sections 17 and 18 of the import licence.
The figure ‘0’ shall accordingly be entered in section 19 of the
licence.

Regulation (EC) No 1486/95 is repealed.

Article 8

References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as
references to this Regulation and shall be read in accordance
with the correlation table set out in Annex VI.

Article 9

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the 20th day
following that of 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, 18 August 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Union

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ANNEX I

Group No

CN code

Product description

Customs duty
EUR/tonne

Quantities in
tonnes from 1
July 2000

G2

G3

G4

G5

G6

G7

ex 0203 19 55
ex 0203 29 55

ex 0203 19 55
ex 0203 29 55

Loins and hams, boneless, fresh, chilled or frozen

Tenderloin, fresh, chilled or frozen

1601 00 91

Sausages, dry or for spreading, uncooked

1601 00 99 Other sausages

1602 41 10 Other prepared or preserved meat, meat offal or

blood

Carcases and half-carcases, fresh, chilled or frozen

Cuts of domestic swine, fresh, chilled or frozen, with
or without bone. Excluding tenderloin presented
alone

1602 42 10

1602 49 11

1602 49 13

1602 49 15

1602 49 19

1602 49 30

1602 49 50

0203 11 10
0203 21 10

0203 12 11

0203 12 19

0203 19 11

0203 19 13

0203 19 15

ex 0203 19 55

0203 19 59

0203 22 11

0203 22 19

0203 29 11

0203 29 13

0203 29 15

ex 0203 29 55

0203 29 59

250

300

747

502

784

646

784

646

646

428

375

271

268

389

300

300

434

233

434

434

389

300

300

434

233

434

434

34 000

5 000

3 000

6 100

15 000

5 500

)

9

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>=
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;

9

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>=
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;

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ANNEX II

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Official Journal of the European Union

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ANNEX III

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Official Journal of the European Union

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ANNEX IV

ANNEX V

Repealed Regulation with its successive amendments

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1486/95

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1176/96

(OJ L 145, 29.6.1995, p. 58)

(OJ L 155, 28.6.1996, p. 26)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2068/96, Article 2 only

(OJ L 277, 30.10.1996, p. 12)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1244/97

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1390/98

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1409/1999

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1378/2000

(OJ L 173, 1.7.1997, p. 80)

(OJ L 187, 1.7.1998, p. 28)

(OJ L 164, 30.6.1999, p. 51)

(OJ L 156, 29.6.2000, p. 31)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1006/2001, Article 2 only

(OJ L 140, 24.5.2001, p. 13)

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ANNEX VI

Correlation Table

Regulation (EC) No 1486/95

This Regulation

Articles 1 to 4

Article 5(1)

Articles 1 to 4

Article 5(1)

Article 5(2), subparagraphs 1 and 2

Article 5(2), subparagraphs 1 and 2

Article 5(2), subparagraph 3

Article 5(3)

Article 5(4)

Article 5(3)

Article 5(4)

Article 5(5)

Article 5(5), subparagraphs 1 and 2

Article 5(6), subparagraphs 1 and 2

Article 5(5), subparagraph 3

Article 5(5), subparagraph 4

Article 5(6)

Article 5(7)

Article 5(8)

Article 6, subparagraphs 1 and 2

Article 6, subparagraph 3

Article 7

–

Article 8

Annex I

Annex II

Annex III

Annex IV

–

–

Article 5(7)

Article 5(8)

Article 5(9)

Article 5(10)

Article 5(11)

Article 6(1), subparagraphs 1 and 2

Article 6(2)

Article 7

Article 8

Article 9

Annex I

Annex II

Annex III

Annex IV

Annex V

Annex VI