Commission Regulation (EC) No 969/2006 of  29 June 2006  opening and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for imports of maize from third countries
Date: 2006-06-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: import (EU), import licence, maize, originating product, tariff quota, third country

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.6.2006

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 969/2006

of 29 June 2006

opening and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for imports of maize
from third countries

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 of 29
September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in
cereals (1), and in particular Article 12(1) thereof,

(5)

(6)

Whereas:

To take account of supply conditions, a derogation
should be made concerning the period of validity of
the licences.

In order to ensure the sound management of the quota, a
derogation should be made from Commission Regulation
(EC) No 1291/2000 of 9 June 2000 laying down
common detailed rules
the
for
system of
licences and advance
fixing certificates for agricultural products (4) as regards
the transferable nature of the licences and the tolerance
relating to the quantities released into free circulation.

import and export

the application of

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

The Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters
between the European Community and the United States
of America pursuant to Article XXIV:6 and Article XXVIII
of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
1994 (2), approved by Council Decision 2006/333/EC (3),
provides for the opening of a Community tariff quota for
the import of a maximum annual quantity of 242 074
tonnes of maize.

to the issue of

To ensure that imports of the maize covered by this tariff
quota are orderly and not speculative, they should be
made subject
licences. These
licences should be issued, within the quantities set, at
subject, where
the interested parties,
the request of
appropriate, to the fixing of an allocation coefficient in
respect of the quantities applied for.

import

the proper management of

this quota,
To ensure
deadlines
the lodging of
licence applications and the information to be included
in applications and licences should be specified.

should be laid down for

to ensure that

the actual quantities being
In order
is
requested by individual
necessary to specify that traders must submit only one
import
licence application per weekly period and to
provide for a penalty in the event of failure to meet
this requirement.

traders may be verified,

it

(1) OJ L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 78. Regulation as

(EC) No 1154/2005 (OJ

amended by
L 187,

Commission Regulation
19.7.2005, p. 11).

(2) OJ L 124, 11.5.2006, p. 15.
(3) OJ L 124, 11.5.2006, p. 13.

(7) With a view to the sound management of the quota, the
security for import licences should be set at a relatively
high level, by way of derogation from Article 12 of
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1342/2003 of 28 July
2003 laying down special detailed rules for the appli-
cation of the system of import and export licences for
cereals and rice (5).

(8)

(9)

including electronic
Rapid two-way communication,
communication,
established between the
Commission and the Member States regarding the quan-
tities applied for and imported.

should be

The origin of the products covered by this Regulation
should be determined in accordance with the rules in
force in the Community. In order to verify the origin
of the products concerned, a certificate of origin issued
by the authorities of the country from which the maize
originates should be required on import, in accordance
with Community rules.

(10)

Since the Agreement approved by Decision 2006/333/EC
provides for implementation on 1 July 2006, this Regu-
lation must apply from the date of its publication in the
Official Journal of the European Union.

(11)

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

(4) 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).

(5) OJ L 189, 29.7.2003, p. 12. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 830/2006 (OJ L 150, 3.6.2006, p. 3).

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HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

1.
A tariff quota is hereby opened for the import of 242 074
tonnes of maize falling within CN codes 1005 10 90 and
1005 90 00 (serial number 09.4131).

The tariff quota shall be opened on 1 January each year.

2.
The duty on imports within the tariff quota shall be zero.

Applicants shall
15(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000,
specified in Article 9 of this Regulation.

lodge a security,

in accordance with Article
the amount

for

Each licence application shall indicate a quantity which may not
Import
exceed the quantity available per tranche concerned.
licence
shall
and import
mention a single country of origin.

applications

themselves

licences

Article 2

The quota shall be divided into two six-monthly tranches

1.
of 121 037 tonnes each for the following periods:

(a)

tranche 1: 1 January to 30 June;

(b) tranche 2: 1 July to 31 December.

2.
No later than 18.00 Brussels time on the final day for the
lodging of licence applications, the competent authorities shall
forward to the Commission electronically a notification in
accordance with the model given in Annex I and the total
quantity for which import
licence applications have been
submitted. Such notifications shall be made even when no
applications have been submitted in a Member State. That infor-
mation must be notified separately from the information on
other import licence applications for cereals.

Unused quantities from tranche 1 shall automatically be
2.
allocated to tranche 2. Should tranche 1 be exhausted,
the
Commission may bring forward the opening of tranche 2 in
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 25(2) of
Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003.

If a Member State does not send the Commission notification of
applications within the given deadlines, the Commission shall
that no applications have been submitted in the
consider
Member State concerned.

Article 3

to the presentation of an import

All imports under the quota referred to in Article 1(1) shall be
subject
licence issued in
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 and subject
to the provisions of this Regulation.

Traders may submit only one import licence application per
weekly period as referred to in Article 4(1). Where traders
submit more than one application, all their applications shall
be rejected and the securities lodged when the applications were
submitted shall be forfeited to the Member State concerned.

Article 4

1.
Applications for import licences shall be lodged with the
competent authorities of the Member States each week no later
than Monday at 13.00 (Brussels time).

shall

Applicants
to the
competent authorities of the Member State in which they are
registered for VAT purposes.

licence applications

submit

their

3.
If the combined total of the quantities granted since the
start of the period and the quantities referred to in paragraph 2
exceeds the relevant quota or tranche, the Commission shall fix,
no later than the third working day following the final day for
the lodging of applications, allocation coefficients to be applied
to the quantities requested.

4.
On the fourth working day following the final day for the
the
lodging of applications,
Member States shall, after applying, where necessary, the allo-
cation coefficients fixed in accordance with paragraph 3, issue
import
applications notified to the
against
Commission in accordance with paragraph 2.

the competent authorities of

licences

the

No later than 18.00 Brussels time on the day the import
licences are issued, the competent authorities of the Member
States shall notify the Commission electronically, on the basis of
the model given in Annex I hereto, of the total quantity for
which import licences have been issued on that day.

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Article 5

Import licences shall be valid for 45 days from the date of issue.
In accordance with Article 23(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1291/2000,
the licence shall be
the period of validity of
calculated from the actual date of issue.

Article 6

By way of derogation from Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No
1291/2000, rights deriving from the import licence shall not
be transferable.

Article 7

By way of derogation from Article 8(4) of Regulation (EC) No
1291/2000, the quantity released into free circulation may not
exceed that indicated in boxes 17 and 18 of the import licence.
To that end, the figure ‘0’ shall be entered in box 19 of the
licence.

Licences shall be valid only for products originating in the
country indicated in box 8.

Article 9

By way of derogation from Article 12(a) and (b) of Regulation
(EC) No 1342/2003,
licences
the security for
provided for in this Regulation shall be EUR 30 per tonne.

the import

Article 10

Importation under the tariff quota provided for in Article 1
shall be subject to the presentation of a certificate of origin
issued by the competent authorities of the third country in
which the maize originates,
in accordance with Article 47 of
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 (1). The origin of
products covered by this Regulation shall be determined in
accordance with the rules in force in the Community.

Article 8

Article 11

The import licence application and the import licence shall
contain the following information:

For 2006, the total quota of 242 074 tonnes shall comprise a
single tranche open from 1 July to 31 December.

(a)

in box 8, the country of origin of the product, with a cross
in the ‘yes’ box;

Article 12

(b) in box 20, one of the entries given in Annex II;

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Union.

(c)

in box 24, the words ‘zero import duty’.

It shall apply from 1 July 2006.

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

Done at Brussels, 29 June 2006.

For the Commission

Mariann FISCHER BOEL
Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.

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ANNEX I

Model of the notification referred to in Article 4(2) and (4)

Import quota for maize opened by Regulation (EC) No 969/2006

Week from … to …
Serial No 09.4131 — Tranche No …

Trader’s No

Quantity applied for
(tonnes)

Country of origin

Quantity supplied
(tonnes) (*)

Total quantities applied for (tonnes):

Total quantities supplied (tonnes) (*):

(*) To be completed only for the purposes of the notification referred to in Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 969/2006.

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ANNEX II

Entries referred to in Article 8(b)

— In Spanish:

Reglamento (CE) no 969/2006

— In Czech:

Nařízení (ES) č. 969/2006

— In Danish:

— In German:

Forordning (EF) nr. 969/2006

Verordnung (EG) Nr. 969/2006

— In Estonian:

Määrus (EÜ) nr 969/2006

— In Greek:

Κανονισμός (EK) αριθ. 969/2006

— In English:

— In French:

Regulation (EC) No 969/2006

Règlement (CE) no 969/2006

— In Hungarian:

969/2006/EK rendelet

— In Italian:

Regolamento (CE) n. 969/2006

— In Lithuanian:

Reglamentas (EB) Nr. 969/2006

— In Latvian:

— In Maltese:

— In Dutch:

Regula (EK) Nr. 969/2006

Regolament (KE) Nru 969/2006

Verordening (EG) nr. 969/2006

— In Polish:

Rozporządzenie (WE) nr 969/2006

— In Portuguese:

Regulamento (CE) n.o 969/2006

— In Slovak:

Nariadenie (ES) č. 969/2006

— In Slovene:

Uredba (ES) št. 969/2006

— In Finnish:

— In Swedish:

Asetus (EY) N:o 969/2006

Förordning (EG) nr 969/2006