Commission Regulation (EC) No 1409/2004 of 2 August 2004 amending Regulation (EC) No 1159/2003 laying down detailed rules of application for the 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06 marketing years for the import of cane sugar under certain tariff quotas and preferential agreements and amending Regulations (EC) No 1464/95 and (EC) No 779/96
Date: 2004-08-02
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: cane sugar, import, import licence, preferential agreement, tariff quota

3.8.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 256/11

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1409/2004

of 2 August 2004

amending Regulation (EC) No 1159/2003 laying down detailed rules of application for the 2003/04,
2004/05 and 2005/06 marketing years for the import of cane sugar under certain tariff quotas and
preferential agreements and amending Regulations (EC) No 1464/95 and (EC) No 779/96

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/2001 of 19
June 2001 on the common organisation of the markets in the
sugar sector (1), and in particular Articles 22(2), 26(1), 38(6),
39(6), and the second paragraph of Article 41 thereof,

(4)

(5)

(6)

Provision must also be made for weekly measures that
enable the Commission to compile data on the licences
issued and to inform the Member States and operators
concerned of
the situation regarding each quota and
delivery obligation.

Regulation (EC) No 1159/2003 should therefore be
amended.

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

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 (2), and in particular Article 1
thereof,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The experience gained in the initial months of applying
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1159/2003 (3) suggests
improvements should be made to the common
that
management rules laid down by that Regulation.

In order to ensure compliance under better conditions
with the requirements of Protocol 3 on ACP (African,
Caribbean and Pacific States) sugar attached to Annex
V to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement
signed in
Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (4) and the Agreement
between the European Economic Community and the
Republic of India on cane sugar (5), the provisions on
the rate of the security linked to the licences and on
the starting date of the delivery period must be amended.

In order to manage effectively imports under the quotas
or agreements
in question, a mechanism must be
introduced to encourage operators to return unused
licences to the issuer quickly, so that unused quantities
can be reutilised.

(1) OJ L 178, 30.6.2001, p. 1. Regulation as

last amended by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 39/2004 (OJ L 6, 10.1.2004,
p. 16).

(2) OJ L 146, 20.6.1996, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 162, 1.7.2003, p. 25. Regulation as amended by Regulation

(EC) No 96/2004 (OJ L 15, 22.1.2004, p. 3).

(4) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3.
(5) OJ L 190, 23.7.1975, p. 36.

Regulation (EC) No 1159/2003 is hereby amended as follows:

1.

in Article 2 the following point (k) is added:

‘(k) “working day”, a working day at the Commission’;

2. Article 4 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.
The security for the licences shall be, per 100 kg of
the quantity of sugar shown in box 17 of the licence,

— 0,30 EUR for special preferential

sugar and CXL

concessions sugar,

— 2 EUR for preferential ACP-India sugar.’;

(b) in paragraph 3, the second subparagraph is replaced by

the following:

‘Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, where the limit
on the quantity of ACP-India preferential sugar that must
be delivered in a given delivery period is reached in
relation to one of the exporting countries, the period
during which import
the
licence
subsequent delivery period may be presented in
relation to that country shall start eight weeks before
the first day of the marketing year concerned.’;

applications

for

L 256/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

3.8.2004

(c)

the following paragraphs 5 and 6 are added:

By way of derogation from Article 35(2) of Regu-

‘5.
lation (EC) No 1291/2000:

(a)

if the licence is returned to the issuing body in the
first 60 days of its validity, the security forfeit shall
be reduced by 50 %;

(b) if the licence is returned to the issuing body between
the 61st day of
its validity and the 15th day
following the end of its validity, the security forfeit
shall be reduced by 25 %.

the

quantity

limitations

Notwithstanding

6.
on
delivery obligations laid down in Article 9 and on
quotas as laid down in Articles 16 and 22, the quantities
in the licences returned in accordance with
set out
paragraph 5 may be reallocated. When notifying the
weekly quantity referred to in Article 5(1), the Member
States shall simultaneously notify the Commission of the
quantities for which licences have been returned since
the date of their previous notification to this effect.’

3. Article 5 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 5

Import

licence applications may be presented each
1.
week from Monday to Friday. The
application must
indicate the marketing year or delivery period to which it
relates. No later than the first working day of the following
week Member States shall notify the Commission of the
quantities of white sugar or raw sugar, where necessary
for which import
expressed as white sugar equivalent,
the
licence
preceding week, giving the marketing year
concerned
together with the quantities for each country of origin.

applications have been presented during

The Commission shall draw up a weekly total of the
2.
quantities for which import licence applications have been
presented.

3. Where licence applications exceed the quantity of the
delivery obligation by country concerned referred to in
Article 9 in the case of ACP-India preferential sugar, or
the quota concerned in the case of special preferential
sugar or CXL concessions sugar,
the Commission shall
for which applications are
limit
presented in proportion to the quantity available and shall
inform the Member States that the limit concerned has been
reached.

the issue of

licences

4. Where the total referred to in paragraph 2 indicates
that quantities of sugar are still available for the delivery
obligations in respect of ACP-India preferential sugar or
for the quotas in the case of special preferential sugar or
in respect of which the limit was
CXL concessions sugar,
already reached, the Commission shall inform the Member
States that the limit in question has not been reached.

5.
Licences shall be issued on the third working day
following the notification referred to in paragraph 1,
unless the Commission has taken the measures referred to
in paragraph 3 beforehand.

6.
Along with the notification referred to in paragraph 1,
the Member States shall inform the Commission, in the case
of each individual quota or delivery obligation and each
country of origin, of
the quantities of sugar for which
import licences have been issued in the preceding week.’

4. Article 7(1)(a) is deleted.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following
the European
that of
Union.

its publication in the Official

Journal of

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

Done at Brussels, 2 August 2004.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER
Member of the Commission