Commission Regulation (EC) No 2015/2005 of  9 December 2005  on imports during January and February 2006 of bananas originating in ACP countries under the tariff quota opened by Council Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 on the tariff rates for bananas
Date: 2005-12-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: ACP countries, import, import licence, originating product, tariff quota, tropical fruit

10.12.2005

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 324/5

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2015/2005

of 9 December 2005

on imports during January and February 2006 of bananas originating in ACP countries under the
tariff quota opened by Council Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 on the tariff rates for bananas

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 of 29
November 2005 on the tariff rates for bananas (1), and in
particular Article 2 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 lays down
that from 1 January each year, starting with 1 January
2006, an autonomous tariff quota of 775 000 tonnes net
weight subject to a zero duty rate is to be opened for
imports of bananas (CN code 0803 00 19) originating in
ACP countries.

the appropriate instruments for
The establishment of
managing the tariff quota for ACP banana imports
provided for by Regulation (EC) No 1964/2005 cannot
be completed in time before 1 January 2006. The
interim measures
Commission should therefore adopt
January and
for
licences
for
February 2006 to ensure Community supplies, ensure
trade with the ACP countries and
the continuity of
avoid disruptions of
trade flow. These measure are
without prejudice to the detailed rules to be adopted
later in 2006.

issue of

import

the

Under the interim measures, provision should be made
for import licences to be issued to operators established
in the Community who, as the case may be, obtained a
reference quantity as traditional operators, an annual
allocation as non-traditional operators under the tariff
quotas A/B or C referred to in Article 18(1) of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13 February 1993 on the
common organisation of the market in bananas (2), or
who,
non-traditional
operators, qualified for the additional quantity set by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1892/2004 of 29

traditional

operators

or

as

(1) OJ L 316, 2.12.2005, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by the 2003

Act of Accession.

(4)

(5)

(6)

October 2004 on transitional measures for 2005 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 (3) and who actually imported bananas origi-
in 2005. Given the
nating in the ACP countries
temporary nature of
applications
registered in previous
lodged by new operators not
years should not be accepted.

these measures,

The allocation of the available quantities for January and
February 2006 to the various groups of operators
concerned should be based on data relating to the
supply of ACP bananas to the Community in 2005.
The supply figure was 750 000 tonnes under the tariff
quota C reserved for the region in question. The figure
for the ‘all third countries’ tariff quota A/B was 15 000
tonnes. Lastly, 10 000 tonnes of products of ACP origin
were released into free circulation in the new Member
States.

In the case of operators who obtained a reference
quantity or an annual allocation for 2005 under the
tariff quota C of 750 000 tonnes, determined by
reference to imports of ACP bananas,
licences may be
issued on the basis of the reference quantity or annual
allocation notified for 2005.

In the case of operators who obtained a reference
quantity or annual allocation for 2005 under either the
tariff quotas A/B or
the accession-related additional
quantity set by Regulation (EC) No 1892/2004, on the
basis of imports of products from all third countries, not
specifically products originating
in ACP countries,
provision should be made for licence applications to be
accompanied by proof of actual import of products origi-
nating in ACP countries in 2005. The lodging of appli-
cations for quantities unrelated to imports of products
from the origin in question during 2005 should be
prevented.
In the interests of management and moni-
toring, the number of applications per operator should
be restricted.

(7)

However, to help improve the fluidity of trade flows and
give operators greater
flexibility of action, a ceiling
should not be set on the quantity for which a licence
application may be lodged.

(3) OJ L 328, 30.10.2004, p. 50.

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Official Journal of the European Union

10.12.2005

(8)

Licences should be issued in proportion to the quantities
requested,
in accordance with the simultaneous exami-
nation method.

of Commission Regulation (EC) No
and Article 7(1)
896/2001 (1)
respectively, may lodge one or more import
licence applications for up to a maximum, as the case may
be, of

(9)

Appropriate detailed rules should therefore be adopted.

(10)

To enable licence applications to be lodged in time, this
Regulation should enter into force immediately.

(11)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

— in the case of traditional operators C, the reference quantity
established and notified in respect of 2005 under tariff
quota C, pursuant
to Article 5(4) of Regulation (EC)
No 896/2001,

— in the case of non-traditional operators C,

the quantity
established and notified in respect of 2005 under tariff
quota C, pursuant
to Article 9(3) of Regulation (EC)
No 896/2001.

TITLE I

General provisions

Article 1

Subject

Box 20 of licence applications and licences shall contain the
entry ‘licence under Title II of Regulation (EC) No …./2005’.

licences

This Regulation lays down the conditions for the issue of
import
under CN code
0803 00 19 originating in the ACP countries under the tariff
quota referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1964/2005, for January and February 2006.

bananas

falling

for

TITLE III

Other operators

Article 4

Article 2

Quantities available for January and February 2006

For January and February 2006,

— a quantity of 135 000 tonnes shall be available for the issue
of import licences to operators referred to in Title II. This
tariff quota’s serial number shall be 09.4160,

— a quantity of 25 000 tonnes shall be available for the issue
of import licences to operators referred to in Title III. This
tariff quota’s serial number shall be 09.4162.

TITLE II

Operators registered under tariff quota C, referred to in
Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, for 2005

Article 3

Lodging of licence applications

For January and February 2006, each traditional operator C and
each non-traditional operator C, as referred to in Article 3(3)

Lodging of licence applications

1.
Operators established in the Community, registered for the
quotas A/B referred to in Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC) No
404/93 or the additional quantity set by Regulation (EC) No
1892/2004, who, in 2005, have released bananas originating in
ACP countries into free circulation may lodge a single import
licence application in relation to the quantity set in the second
indent of Article 2.

2.
Licence applications shall be accompanied by a copy of
the AGRIM licence or licences used in 2005 to import bananas
originating in the ACP countries, duly endorsed, and proof that
a security of EUR 150 per
tonne has been provided in
accordance with Title III of Commission Regulation (EEC)
No 2220/85 (2).

3.
Box 20 of licence applications and licences shall contain
the entry ‘licence under Title III of Regulation (EC) No
2015/2005’.

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

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

(2) OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5. Regulation as last amended by Regulation

(EC) No 673/2004 (OJ L 105, 14.4.2004, p. 17).

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Official Journal of the European Union

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TITLE IV

Common provisions

Article 5

Applications

1.
Import licence applications shall be lodged on 14 and 15
December 2005 with the competent authorities of the Member
State which established the reference quantity,
in the case of
traditional operators, and of
the Member State where the
operator is registered in the case of non-traditional operators,
accompanied by proof that a security has been provided for an
amount of EUR 150 per tonne under Title III of Regulation
(EEC) No 2220/85.

Applications which are not submitted in accordance with

2.
Articles 3 and 4 shall not be admissible.

Article 6

Issuing of licences

1. Member States shall notify the Commission not later than
19 December 2005 of the total quantity for which admissible
licence applications have been lodged, giving separate figures for
the operators referred to in Title II and those referred to in Title
III.

2.
In the light of the notifications under paragraph 1 and
having regard to the quantity set in Article 2, the Commission
shall, if appropriate, set reduction coefficients to be applied to
each licence application in the case of the operators referred to
in Title II and Title III respectively.

The competent authorities shall

3.
licences,
where appropriate applying the reduction coefficients referred
to in paragraph 2.

issue import

4. Where, in cases in which paragraph 3 applies, the licence
is issued for a quantity less than the quantity requested, the
security referred to in Article 4(3) shall be released without
delay for the quantity not awarded.

TITLE V

Final provisions

Article 7

Period of validity and charging of licences

Import licences shall be valid for release into free circu-

1.
lation from 1 January 2006 to 7 April 2006.

2.
The quantities for which licences have been used under
this Regulation shall be taken into account for the adminis-
tration of the tariff quota provided for in Article 1(2) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1964/2005 and, where appropriate, charged to
the allocations to be granted to operators subsequently for
2006 under that tariff quota.

Article 8

Notifications

Member States shall notify the Commission not later than 31
January 2006 of the quantities for which licences have been
issued, a clear distinction being made between quantities issued
to operators referred to in Title II and operators referred to in
Title III.

Article 9

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, 9 December 2005.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission