Commission Regulation (EC) No 53/2004 of 12 January 2004 amending Council Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 as regards the Community tariff quotas and reference quantities for certain agricultural products originating in Egypt
Date: 2004-01-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Egypt, agricultural product, common customs tariff, import (EU), originating product, tariff quota

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 53/2004

of 12 January 2004

amending Council Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 as regards the Community tariff quotas and refer-
ence quantities for certain agricultural products originating in Egypt

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 of 9
April 2001 providing for the management of Community tariff
quotas and of reference quantities for products eligible for
preferences by virtue of agreements with certain Mediterranean
countries and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1981/94 and (EC)
No 934/95 (1), and in particular Article 5(1)(b) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Pending the completion of the procedure necessary for
the ratification and entry into force of the Euro-Mediter-
ranean Agreement establishing an Association between
the European Communities and their Member States on
the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt on the
other part, signed on 25 June 2001, an Agreement in
the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provi-
sional application of the trade and trade-related provi-
sions of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement,
hereinafter referred to as ‘the provisional Agreement’,
has been concluded on 19 December 2003. The provi-
sional Agreement applies from 1 January 2004.

The provisional Agreement will replace the relevant
provisions in the Cooperation Agreement between the
European Economic Community and the Arab Republic
of Egypt signed on 18 January 1977 (2) and in the
Agreement between the Member States of the European
Coal and Steel Community and the Arab Republic of
Egypt signed in Brussels on 18 January 1977 (3).

In the provisional Agreement, for Community imports
of certain agricultural products originating in Egypt tariff
concessions are granted at a zero-rate of customs duty
within the framework of tariff quotas.

For certain agricultural products for which the tariff
the Cooperation Agreement have
concessions under
applied within reference quantities,
the provisional
Agreement provides for the exemption of customs duties
within tariff quotas or for the exemption of customs
duties for unlimited volumes.

To implement the tariff concessions provided for in the
provisional Agreement,
it is necessary to replace the
Annex to Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 relating to tariff
quotas and reference quantities for products originating
in Egypt.

(6)

(7)

(8)

In accordance with the provisional Agreement,
the
volumes of the tariff quotas for certain products should,
from the second year of application, be increased
annually by 3 % of the volume of the previous year, and
the volumes for the tariff quotas for other products
should be fixed specifically for the first to the third and
following years of application.

Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

For the purpose of the calculation of the tariff quotas for
the first year of application, it is appropriate to provide,
in accordance with the provisional Agreement, that the
volumes of the tariff quotas for which the quota period
starts before the date of entry into force of the provi-
sional Agreement, should be reduced by a proportion
relative to that part of the period which has elapsed
before that date.

(9)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 is replaced by the
Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

For the first year of application, the volumes of the Community
tariff quotas with order numbers 09.1704, 09.1706, 09.1707,
09.1711, 09.1713, 09.1714, 09.1717, 09.1721 and 09.1725,
for which the quota period starts before the date of entry into
force of the provisional Agreement, shall be reduced by a
proportion relative to that part of the period which has elapsed
before that date.

Article 3

(1) OJ L 109, 19.4.2001, p. 2. Regulation as last amended by Commis-

sion Regulation (EC) No 37/2004 (OJ L 6, 10.1.2004, p. 3).

(2) OJ L 266, 27.9.1978, p. 2.
(3) OJ L 316, 12.12.1979, p. 2.

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

It shall apply from 1 January 2004.

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

Done at Brussels, 12 January 2004.

For the Commission

Frederik BOLKESTEIN

Member of the Commission

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Official Journal of the European Union

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX IV

EGYPT

Notwithstanding the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the wording for the description of the
products is to be considered as having no more than an indicative value, the preferential scheme being determined,
within the context of this Annex, by the coverage of the CN codes as they exist at the time of adoption of the current
regulation. Where ex CN codes are indicated, the preferential scheme is to be determined by application of the CN code
and corresponding description taken together.

Tariff quotas

Order No

CN code

Description of goods

Quota period

Quota volume

Quota duty

09.1700

0601

tubers,

Bulbs,
corms,
tuberous
crowns and rhizomes, dormant, in growth
or in flower; chicory plants and roots
other than roots of heading 1212

roots,

from 1.1 to 31.12

500 (1)

Exemption

09.1702

0602

Other live plants (including their roots),
cuttings and slips; mushroom spawn

from 1.1 to 31.12

2 000 (1)

Exemption

09.1704

0603 10

Fresh cut flowers and flower buds of a
kind suitable for bouquets or for orna-
mental purposes

from 1.1 to
15.4.2004

1 615,385

Exemption

for each period
thereafter from
1.10 to 15.4

3 000

of which:

of which:

09.1706

0603 10 80

Other fresh cut flowers and flower buds
of a kind suitable for bouquets or for
ornamental purposes

from 1.1 to
15.4.2004

538,462

Exemption

for each period
thereafter from
1.10 to 15.4

1 000

09.1708

0604 99 90

Foliage, branches and other parts of
plants, without
flowers or flower buds,
and grasses, dyed, bleached, impregnated
or otherwise prepared

from 1.1 to 31.12

500 (1)

Exemption

09.1705

ex 0701 90 50

New potatoes, fresh or chilled

from 1.1 to
31.3.2004

from 1.1 to
31.3.2005

from 1.1 to
31.3.2006 and
from 1.1 to 31.3 of
following years

130 000

Exemption

190 000

250 000

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Order No

CN code

Description of goods

Quota period

Quota volume

Quota duty

09.1710

0703 10

Onions and shallots, fresh or chilled

from 1.2 to 15.6

15 000 (1)

Exemption

09.1712

0703 20 00

Garlic, fresh or chilled

from 1.2 to 15.6

3 000 (1)

Exemption

09.1713

0704

Cabbages, cauliflowers, kohlrabi, kale and
similar edible brassicas, fresh or chilled

from 1.1 to
15.4.2004

954,545

Exemption (2)

for each period
thereafter from
1.11 to 15.4

1 500 (3)

09.1714

0705 11 00

Cabbage lettuce (head lettuce),
chilled

fresh or

from 1.1 to
31.3.2004

300

Exemption (2)

for each period
thereafter from
1.11 to 31.3

500 (4)

09.1715

0706 10 00

Carrots and turnips, fresh or chilled

from 1.1 to 30.4

500 (1)

Exemption

09.1716

0707 00

Cucumbers and gherkins, fresh or chilled

from 1.1 to 28/
29.2

500 (1)

Exemption (2)

09.1717

0708

vegetables,
Leguminous
unshelled, fresh or chilled

shelled

or

from 1.1 to
30.4.2004

10 000

Exemption (2)

09.1718

ex 0710
ex 0711

Frozen and provisionally preserved vegeta-
bles, excluding sweet corn of subheadings
0710 40 00
and
excluding mushrooms of the genus Agar-
icus of
subheadings 0710 80 61 and
0711 51 00

0711 90 30

and

from 1.11.2004 to
30.4.2005

from 1.11.2005 to
30.4.2006 and for
each period there-
after from 1.11 to
30.4

from 1.1. to
31.12.2004

from 1.1 to
31.12.2005

from 1.1 to
31.12.2006 and for
following years

17 500

20 000

1 000

Exemption

2 000

3 000

09.1719

0712

Dried
cut,
vegetables, whole,
broken or in powder, but not
prepared

sliced,
further

from 1.1 to 31.12

16 000 (1)

Exemption

09.1720

0714 20

Sweet potatoes, fresh, chilled, frozen or
dried, whether or not sliced or in the form
of pellets

from 1.1 to 31.12

3 000 (1)

Exemption

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Order No

CN code

Description of goods

Quota period

Quota volume

Quota duty

09.1707

0805 10

Oranges, fresh or dried

from 1.1 to
30.6.2004

25 000

Exemption (2)

from 1.7.2004 to
30.6.2005

55 000

60 000

from 1.7.2005 to
30.6.2006 and for
each period there-
after from 1.7 to
30.6

of which:

of which:

09.1711

0805 10 10
0805 10 30
0805 10 50

Sweet oranges, fresh

09.1721

0807 19 00

Other melons, fresh

from 1.1 to
31.5.2004

for each period
thereafter from
1.12 to 31.5

from 1.1 to
31.5.2004

for each period
thereafter from
15.10 to 31.5

25 000 (5)

Exemption (6)

34 000 (5)

666,667

Exemption

1 000 (7)

09.1722

0808 20

Pears and quinces, fresh

from 1.1 to 31.12

500 (1)

Exemption (2)

09.1723

0809 30

Peaches, including nectarines, fresh

from 15.3 to 31.5

500 (1)

Exemption (2)

09.1724

0809 40

Plums and sloes, fresh

from 15.4 to 31.5

500 (1)

Exemption (2)

09.1725

0810 10 00

Strawberries, fresh

from 1.1 to
31.3.2004

250

Exemption

1 000

1 500

from 1.10.2004 to
31.3.2005

from 1.10.2005 to
31.3.2006 and for
each period there-
after from 1.10 to
31.3

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Order No

CN code

Description of goods

Quota period

Quota volume

Quota duty

09.1726

0811
0812

09.1727

1515 50 11

09.1728

1515 90

09.1729

1703

09.1730

2007

09.1771

2008 11

09.1772

2009

Fruit and nuts, uncooked or cooked by
steaming or boiling in water,
frozen,
whether or not containing added sugar or
other sweetening matter, or provisionally
preserved, but unsuitable in that state for
immediate consumption

from 1.1 to
31.12.2004

from 1.1. to
31.12.2005

from 1.1 to
31.12.2006 and for
following years

1 000

Exemption (2)

2 000

3 000

Sesame oil, crude, for technical or indus-
trial uses other than the manufacture of
foodstuffs for human consumption (8)

Other fixed vegetable fats and oils and
their fractions, whether or not refined, but
not
than
chemically modified, other
linseed, maize (corn), castor,
tung and
sesame oils and their fractions

Molasses resulting from the extraction or
refining of sugar

Jams, fruit jellies, marmalades, fruit or nut
purée and fruit or nut pastes, obtained by
cooking, whether or not containing added
sugar or other sweetening matter

Groundnuts,
or
otherwise
preserved,, whether or not containing
added sugar or other sweetening matter or
spirit, not elsewhere specified or included

prepared

Fruit
juices (including grape must) and
vegetable juices, unfermented and not
containing added spirit, whether or not
containing added sugar or other sweet-
ening matter

from 1.1 to 31.12

1 000 (1)

Exemption

from 1.1 to 31.12

500 (1)

Exemption

from 1.1 to 31.12

350 000 (1)

Exemption

from 1.1 to 31.12

1 000 (1)

Exemption (2)

from 1.1 to 31.12

3 000 (1)

Exemption

from 1.1 to 31.12

1 000 (1)

Exemption (2)

(1) From 1 January 2005, this quota volume shall be annually increased by 3 % of the volume of the previous year.
(2) The exemption applies only to the ad valorem duty.
(3) From 1 November 2004, this quota volume shall be increased annually by 3 % of the volume of the previous quota period. The first increase shall take place on the

basis volume of 1 500 tonnes net weight.

(4) From 1 November 2004, this quota volume shall be increased annually by 3 % of the volume of the previous quota period. The first increase shall take place on the

basis volume of 500 tonnes net weight.

(5) Within this tariff quota, the specific duty provided in the Community's list of concessions to the WTO is reduced to zero, if the entry price is not less than 264/tonne,
being the entry price agreed between the European Community and Egypt. If the entry price for a consignment is 2, 4, 6 or 8 % lower than the agreed entry price, the
specific customs quota duty shall be equal respectively to 2, 4, 6 or 8 % of this agreed entry price. If the entry price of a consignment is less than 92 % of the agreed
entry price, the specific customs duty bound within the WTO shall apply.
(6) Also exemption of the ad valorem duty, in the framework of this tariff quota.
(7) From 15 October 2004, this quota volume shall be increased annually by 3 % of the volume of the previous quota period. The first increase shall take place on the basis

volume of 1 000 tonnes net weight.

(8) Entry under this subheading is subject to the conditions laid down in the relevant Community provisions (see Articles 291 to 300 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No

2454/93 (OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1) and subsequent amendments).’