Commission Regulation (EC) No 958/2006 of  28 June 2006  on a standing invitation to tender to determine refunds on exports of white sugar for the 2006/07 marketing year
Date: 2006-06-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: award of contract, export refund, marketing, white sugar

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Official Journal of the European Union

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COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 958/2006

of 28 June 2006

on a standing invitation to tender to determine refunds on exports of white sugar for the 2006/07
marketing year

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 of 20
February 2006 on the common organisation of the markets in
the sugar sector (1), and in particular Articles 23(4) and 40(1)(g)
thereof,

Whereas:

(6)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

In view of the situation on the Community and world
sugar markets, a standing invitation to tender should be
opened as soon as possible for the export of white sugar
in respect of the 2006/07 marketing year which, having
regard to possible fluctuations in world prices for sugar,
must provide for the determination of export refunds.

The general rules governing invitations to tender for the
purpose of determining export refunds for sugar estab-
lished by Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006
should be applied.

In trade between the Community, on the one hand, and
Bulgaria and Romania, on the other hand, import duties
and export refunds still apply for certain sugar products
and the level of export refunds is considerably higher
than import duties. With the above countries due to
join the European Union, this difference may result in
speculative trade movements.

to prevent any abuse associated with the
In order
reimport or
reintroduction into the Community of
sugar sector products that have qualified for export
refunds, no export
the
countries of the western Balkans.

refund should be fixed for

In view of the specific nature of the operation, appro-
priate provisions should be laid down with regard to
export licences issued in connection with the standing
invitation to tender,
the
deadline for the issue of the licences, their period of

in particular

regards

as

(1) OJ L 58, 28.2.2006, p. 1.

for

validity, the amount of the security and the quantity for
which the obligation to export resulting from the licence
is met. However, Commission Regulation (EC) No
1291/2000 of 9 June 2000 laying down common
detailed rules
the system of
import and export licences and advance fixing certificates
for agricultural products (2) and Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 120/89 of 19 January 1989 laying down
common detailed rules
the
for
levies and charges on agricultural products (3)
export
must continue to apply.

the application of

the application of

in July 2006,

invitations to tender

The provisions of this Regulation replace, as regards the
those of
partial
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1138/2005 of 15 July
2005 on a standing invitation to tender to determine
levies and/or refunds on exports of white sugar for the
2005/06 marketing year (4). For the sake of transparency
that Regulation should be
and legal clarity,
repealed with effect from 1 July 2006.

therefore,

(7)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

A standing invitation to tender shall be opened in order to
1.
determine export refunds on white sugar covered by CN code
1701 99 10 for all destinations excluding Albania, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro (5),
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and for Romania.
During the period of validity of this standing invitation, partial
invitations to tender shall be issued.

The standing invitation to tender shall be open until 27

2.
September 2007.

(2) OJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 410/2006 (OJ L 71, 10.3.2006, p. 7).

(3) OJ L 16, 20.1.1989, p. 19. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 910/2004 (OJ L 163, 30.4.2004, p. 63).

(4) OJ L 185, 16.7.2005, p. 3.
(5) Including Kosovo, under

in
the aegis of
accordance with Security Council Resolution 1244 of 10 June 1999.

the United Nations,

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Article 2

Article 4

1.
The notice of invitation to tender shall be published in the
Official Journal of the European Union. On this basis, the Member
States shall draw up a notice of invitation to tender which they
may publish or have published elsewhere.

The notice shall indicate,

2.
invitation to tender.

in particular, the terms of the

3.
The notice may be amended during the period of validity
of the standing invitation to tender. It shall be so amended if
the terms of the invitation to tender are modified during that
period.

1.

Tenders in connection with this tendering procedure:

(a) must be in writing and must be delivered by hand to the
competent authority in a Member State, against a receipt; or

(b) must be addressed to that authority either by registered

letter or telegram;

Article 3

(c) must be addressed to that authority by telex, fax or elec-
tronic mail, where the authority accepts such forms of
communication.

The period during which tenders may be submitted in

1.
response to the first partial invitation to tender shall:

(a) begin on 5 July 2006;

Tenders shall be valid only if the following conditions are

2.
met:

(b) end on Thursday 13 July 2006 at 10.00, Brussels local time.

2.
The periods during which tenders may be submitted in
response to the second and subsequent partial invitations shall:

(a) begin on the first working day following the end of the

preceding period;

(b) end at 10.00, Brussels local time, on:

— 27 July 2006,

— 10 and 31 August 2006,

— 14 and 28 September 2006,

— 5 and 19 October 2006,

— 9 and 23 November 2006,

— 7 and 21 December 2006,

— 11 and 25 January 2007,

— 8 and 22 February 2007,

— 8 and 29 March 2007,

— 19 and 26 April 2007,

— 10 and 24 May 2007,

— 14 and 28 June 2007,

— 12 and 19 July 2007,

— 9 and 30 August 2007,

— 13 and 27 September 2007.

(a)

tenders shall contain:

(i)

the reference number of the invitation to tender and of
the partial invitation to tender;

(ii)

the name, address and VAT registration number of the
tenderer;

(iii) the quantity of white sugar to be exported;

(iv) the amount of the export refund, per 100 kilograms of
white sugar, expressed in euro to three decimal places;

(v)

the amount of the security to be lodged in accordance
sugar
with Article 5(1) covering the quantity of
the
indicated in (iii), expressed in the currency of
Member State in which the tender is submitted;

(b) the quantity to be exported is not less than 250 tonnes of

white sugar;

(c) proof is furnished before expiry of the time-limit for the
the tenderer has lodged the

tenders that

submission of
security indicated in the tender;

(d) tenders include a declaration by the tenderer that if their
tender is successful they will, within the period laid down in
the second subparagraph of Article 11(2), apply for an
export licence or licences in respect of the quantities of
white sugar to be exported;

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(e)

tenders include a declaration by the tenderer that if the
tender is successful they will:

(b) in the case of successful tenderers who have not applied for
the relevant export licence within the period referred to in
the second subparagraph of Article 11(2), at a rate of EUR
10 per 100 kilograms of white sugar;

(i) where the obligation to export resulting from the export
fulfilled,
the amount

licence referred to in Article 11(2)
supplement
referred to in Article 12(3);

the security by payment of

is not

(ii) within 30 days following the expiry of

the export
licence in question, notify the authority which issued
the licence of the quantity or quantities in respect of
which the licence was not used.

3.
A tender may stipulate that it is to be regarded as having
been submitted only if one or both of the following conditions
is/are met:

(a)

the maximum export refund is fixed on the day of the
expiry of the period for the submission of the tenders in
question;

(b) the tender, if successful, relates to all or a specified part of

the tendered quantity.

(c)

in the case of successful tenderers for the quantity for which
they have fulfilled, within the meaning of Articles 31(b) and
32(1)(b)(i) of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000, the export
obligation resulting from the licence referred to in Article
11(2) of this Regulation in accordance with the terms of
Article 35 of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000.

In the case referred to under (b) of the first subparagraph, the
releasable part of the security shall be reduced, as applicable, by
the difference between the maximum amount of the export
invitation concerned and the
refund fixed for
maximum amount of
the
export
following partial
invitation, when the latter amount is higher
than the former.

the partial
the

refund fixed for

Except in cases of force majeure, the part of the security or the
security which is not released shall be forfeit in respect of the
quantity of sugar for which the corresponding obligations have
not been fulfilled.

4.
A tender which is not submitted in accordance with para-
graphs 1 and 2, or which contains conditions other than those
indicated in the present
invitation to tender, shall not be
considered.

In cases of force majeure, the competent authority of the
4.
Member State concerned shall take such action for the release of
the security as it considers necessary having regard to the
circumstances invoked by the party concerned.

5.

Once submitted, a tender may not be withdrawn.

Article 6

Article 5

1.
A security of EUR 11 per 100 kilograms of white sugar to
be exported under this invitation to tender must be lodged by
each tenderer.

Without prejudice to Article 12(3), where a tender is successful
this security shall become the security for the export licence at
the time of the application referred to in Article 11(2).

2.
The security referred to in paragraph 1 may be lodged at
the tenderer’s choice, either in cash or in the form of a
guarantee given by an establishment complying with criteria
laid down by the Member State in which the tender
is
submitted.

1.
Tenders shall be examined in private by the competent
authority concerned. The persons present at the examination
shall be under an obligation not to disclose any particulars
relating thereto.

2.
Tenders submitted in accordance with this Regulation
shall be communicated, if eligible, to the Commission by the
Member States without the tenderers being mentioned by name
and must be received by the Commission within one hour and
thirty minutes of the expiry of the deadline for the weekly
submission of tenders stipulated in the notice of invitation to
tender.

Where no tenders are submitted, the Member States shall notify
the Commission of this within the same time-limit.

3.

The security referred to in paragraph 1 shall be released:

Article 7

(a)

in the case of unsuccessful
quantity for which no award has been made;

tenderers in respect of

the

the

After

1.
maximum quantity may be fixed for the partial
concerned.

received have been examined,

a
invitation

tenders

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A decision may be taken to make no award under a

2.
specific partial invitation to tender.

2.

Statements of award shall indicate at least:

Article 8

1.
If the Commission decides to make an award under the
partial tendering procedure, it shall fix, in accordance with the
procedure referred to in Article 39(2) of Regulation (EC) No
318/2006, the maximum amount of the export refund. This
amount shall be fixed in the light of the current state and
foreseeable development of the Community and world sugar
markets.

2. Without prejudice to Article 9, a contract
shall be
awarded to every tenderer whose tender quotes a rate of
refund equal to or less than such maximum refund.

Article 9

1. Where a maximum quantity has been fixed for a partial
invitation to tender, contracts shall be awarded to the tenderer
whose tender quotes
the maximum
quantity is not fully covered by that award, awards shall be
made to other tenderers in ascending order of export refunds
quoted until the entire maximum quantity has been accounted
for.

the lowest

refund.

If

(a)

the procedure to which the tender relates;

(b) the quantity of white sugar to be exported;

(c)

the amount, expressed in euro, of the export refund to be
granted per 100 kilograms of white sugar of the quantity
referred to in (b).

Article 11

1.
Every successful tenderer shall have the right to receive, in
the circumstances referred to in paragraph 2, an export licence
covering the quantity awarded,
indicating the export refund
quoted in the tender.

2.
in
Every successful tenderer shall be obliged to lodge,
accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No
1291/2000, an application for an export licence in respect of
the quantity that has been awarded to it, the application not
being revocable in derogation from Article 12 of Regulation
(EEC) No 120/89.

The application shall be lodged not later than:

2. Where an award to a particular tenderer in accordance
with paragraph 1 would result
in the maximum quantity
being exceeded, that award shall be limited to such quantity
as is still available. Where two or more tenders quote the
same refund, and awards to all of them would result in the
maximum quantity being exceeded, the quantity available shall
be allocated to the tenderers concerned in one of the following
ways:

(a)

the last working day preceding the date of the partial invi-
tation to tender to be held the following week;

(b) if no partial invitation to tender is due to be held that week,

the last working day of the following week.

(a) by division among the tenderers concerned in proportion to

the total quantities in each of their tenders, or

3.
Every successful tenderer shall be obliged to export the
tendered quantity and, if this obligation is not fulfilled, to pay,
where necessary, the amount referred to in Article 12(3).

(b) by apportionment among the tenderers concerned by
reference to a maximum tonnage to be fixed for each of
them, or

The rights and obligations referred to in paragraphs 1, 2

4.
and 3 shall not be transferable.

(c) by drawing of lots.

Article 10

Article 12

1.
For the purposes of determining the period of validity of
the licences, Article 23(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000
shall apply.

1.
The competent authority of the Member State concerned
shall immediately notify applicants of the result of their parti-
cipation in the invitation to tender. It shall also send statements
of award to the successful tenderers.

2.
Export licences issued in connection with a partial invi-
tation to tender shall be valid from the day of issue until the
end of the fifth calendar month following that in which the
partial invitation was issued.

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However, export licences issued in respect of the partial invi-
tations held from 1 May 2007 will be valid only until 30
September 2007.

Except in cases of force majeure, the holder of the licence
3.
shall pay the competent authority a specific amount in respect
of the quantity for which the obligation to export resulting
from the export licence referred to in Article 11(2) has not
been fulfilled, if the security referred to in Article 5(1) is less
than the difference between the export refund referred to in
Article 33(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 in force on
the last day of validity of the licence, and the refund indicated
on that licence.

The amount to be paid referred to in the first subparagraph
shall be equal to the difference between the difference referred
to in the first subparagraph and the security referred to in
Article 5(1).

Article 13

Regulation (EC) No 1138/2005 is hereby repealed.

Article 14

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, 28 June 2006.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission