Commission Regulation (EC) No 1260/2004 of 8 July 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 838/2004 on transitional measures for imports of bananas into the Community by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia
Date: 2004-07-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: accession to the European Union, import licence, import policy, quantitative restriction, tropical fruit

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Official Journal of the European Union

9.7.2004

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1260/2004

of 8 July 2004

amending Regulation (EC) No 838/2004 on transitional measures for imports of bananas into the
Community by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania,
Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia,

was to allow the competent national authorities to make
checks and verify the supporting documents submitted
by operators, to correct declarations made under Articles
4 and 5 of Regulation (EC) No 414/2004 (4) or national
provisions with the same objective adopted by the new
Member States and to rectify, where necessary, the noti-
fications referred to in Article 7(3) of that Regulation or
provided for in national provisions to that end adopted
by the new Member States in good time before the next
instalment of the additional quantity was opened.

Having regard to the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia and Slovakia, and in particular the first subparagraph
of Article 41 thereof,

(4)

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13
February 1993 on the common organisation of the market in
bananas (1),

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 (2) laid down
detailed rules for applying Regulation (EEC) No 404/93
as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into
the Community.

to accession to the

Commission Regulation (EC) No 838/2004 (3) adopted
the transitional measures needed to facilitate the tran-
in force in the new
sition from the arrangements
Member States prior
import
arrangements in force under the common organisation
of the markets in the banana sector. In order to ensure
market supply, in particular in the new Member States,
that Regulation fixed an additional quantity on a transi-
tional basis over and above the quotas opened for
imports of products originating in all
third countries
by Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 on the
same terms as regards tariffs, for the period from 1 May
to 31 December 2004.

On a transitional basis, to allow the issue of
import
licences for a first instalment at the beginning of May
2004, Regulation (EC) No 838/2004 adopted the rules
for the fixing of a provisional reference quantity for
traditional operators and a provisional allocation for
this fixing
non-traditional operators. The purpose of

Once these controls have been carried out by the
Member States in cooperation with the Commission,
and on the basis of consolidated data notifications,
provision should be made for the competent national
authorities to fix,
for the period from 1 May to 31
December 2004, the specific reference quantity for tradi-
tional operators or the specific allocation for non-tradi-
In view of the
tional operators, as the case may be.
difficulties
in
encountered by
obtaining copies of
the required proof of release for
free circulation in the country of destination, provision
should be made for this specific reference quantity to be
established on the basis of the supporting documents and
documents provided for in Article 6(2) and (4) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 414/2004, as amended by Regulation (EC)
No 689/2004.

traditional operators

(5) With a view to managing the additional quantity fixed in
Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 838/2004, the coeffi-
cients to be applied to the overall quantities notified by
the Member States should be fixed, on the one hand, and
provision should be made, on the other,
the
adjustment coefficient to be applied by the competent
authorities to the individual quantity for each operator
to be fixed for the period from 1 May to 31 December
2004.

for

(6)

The quantity available for the issue of licences with a
view to importing bananas into the new Member States
in a second instalment from July 2004 should be fixed,
and the rules for the submission of applications and for
the issue of licences should be adopted.

(1) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1. Regulation last amended by the 2003 Act

of Accession.

(2) OJ L 126, 8.5.2001, p. 6. Regulation last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 838/2004 (OJ L 127, 29.4.2004, p. 52).

(3) OJ L 127, 29.4.2004, p. 52.

(7)

The procedures for the management of the additional
quantity for the last quarter of 2004 must be laid down.

(4) OJ L 68, 6.3.2004, p. 6. Regulation amended by Regulation (EC) No

689/2004 (OJ L 106, 15.4.2004, p. 17).

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Regulation (EC) No 838/2004 should therefore be
amended accordingly. This Regulation must enter into
force on the day of its publication in order to allow
import licences to be issued in July 2004.

The competent authorities shall inform each operator
3.
of its specific reference quantity, as adjusted where necessary
by the adjustment coefficient referred to in paragraph 2, no
later than the second working day following publication of
the regulation fixing that coefficient.

(8)

(9)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 838/2004 is hereby amended as follows:

1. Articles 5, 6, 7 and 8 shall be replaced by the following:

‘Article 5

Quantity available for the second period for the issue of
licences in July 2004

A quantity of 105 000 tonnes shall be available for the
second period for the issue of licences in July 2004 with a
view to the importation of bananas into the new Member
States. 87 150 tonnes of that quantity shall be available to
traditional operators and 17 850 tonnes to non-traditional
operators.

Article 6

Specific reference quantity for traditional operators for
the period from 1 May to 31 December 2004

The competent authority of the Member State of regis-
1.
tration shall give each traditional operator who carried out
the minimum quantity of primary imports of bananas with a
view to their sale in one or more of the new Member States
during one of the years in the reference period 2000, 2001
or 2002 a specific reference quantity for the period from 1
May to 31 December 2004 based on the average of primary
imports which that operator carried out during the above
three-year period. This reference quantity shall be established
on the basis of the supporting documents referred to in
Article 6(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 6(4) of
Regulation (EC) No 414/2004.

Article 7

Specific allocation to non-traditional operators for the
period from 1 May to 31 December 2004

The competent authorities shall establish a specific allo-
1.
cation for each non-traditional operator
registered with
them, for the period from 1 May to 31 December 2004.

the Member States’ notifications and the
In the light of
if
quantity fixed in Article 3,
necessary, set an adjustment coefficient
to be applied to
the application for a specific allocation made by each non-
traditional operator.

the Commission shall,

2.
The competent authorities shall inform each non-tradi-
tional operator of its allocation no later than the second
working day following publication of the regulation fixing
that coefficient.

Article 8

Submission of licence applications and issue of licences

Operators

1.
licence appli-
cations to the competent authorities of the Member State
in which they are registered.

shall submit

import

their

Import licences, hereinafter referred to as “accession
2.
licences”, shall be issued only for the release for free circu-
lation in a new Member State.

Licence applications shall bear the words: “accession
3.
licence”, “traditional operator” or “non-traditional operator”,
as the case may be, and “Regulation (EC) No 838/2004.
Licence only valid in a new Member State”.

These entries shall be entered in Box 20 of the licence.’

This specific reference quantity shall be obtained by multi-
plying the annual average of primary imports referred to in
the previous subparagraph by a coefficient of 0.667.

‘Article 8a

2. The following Articles are inserted:

In the light of the Member States’ notifications and the
2.
if
quantity fixed in Article 3,
necessary, set an adjustment coefficient
to be applied to
the specific reference quantity of each traditional operator.

the Commission shall,

Submission of licence applications and issue of licences
in July 2004 for the second period

For the second period,

1.
licence applications shall be
submitted no later than the sixth working day following
publication of this Regulation.

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To be accepted,
single operator may not total a quantity greater than:

the licence applications submitted by a

To be accepted,

2.
additional quantity,

import licence applications for the

(a) 35 % of

the specific reference quantity notified in
in the case of traditional

accordance with Article 6(3),
operators;

(b) 35 % of the specific allocation notified in accordance
with Article 7(2), in the case of non-traditional operators.

competent national authorities

The
licences immediately.

shall

issue

import

2.
Import licences issued under this Article shall be valid
from the day of issue and shall expire on 7 October 2004.

Article 8b

Submission of licence applications and issue of licences
in September 2004 for the third period

For

the third period for
applications

licences in
1.
September 2004,
be
submitted in accordance with Article 15 of Regulation (EC)
No 896/2001.

the issue of
licences

shall

for

(a) submitted by a traditional operator may not relate to a
quantity exceeding the difference between the reference
quantity established pursuant to Article 6(3) and the sum
of the quantities covered by import licences issued for
the first two periods respectively in May and July;

(b) submitted by a non-traditional operator may not relate
to a quantity exceeding the difference between the allo-
cation notified pursuant to Article 7(2) and the sum of
the quantities covered by import licences issued for the
first two periods respectively in May and July.

The licences referred to in this Article shall be issued in
3.
accordance with Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 896/
2001.’

Article 2

Entry into force

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation 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, 8 July 2004.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission