Commission Regulation (EC) No 639/2008 of 24 June 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 as regards the system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty, and the criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds
Date: 2008-06-24
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: agri-monetary policy, agricultural product, export refund

5.7.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 178/9

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 639/2008

of 24 June 2008

amending Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 as
regards the system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural products exported in the
form of goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty, and the criteria for fixing the amount of
such refunds

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 of
6 December 1993 laying down the
arrangements
applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of
agricultural products (1), and in particular the first subparagraph
of Article 8(3) thereof,

trade

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Recent reductions in export refund rates, due to the
combined effects of the reform of the common agri-
cultural policy and of
the movements in agricultural
commodity prices on the world market, have led to
reduced levels of applications for
refund certificates,
consequently easing the pressure on the Community
for export refunds on goods not covered by
budget
Annex I to the Treaty.
In those circumstances where
the Community is not in danger of breaching its inter-
national commitments, it is appropriate to simplify the
system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural
products in the form of goods not covered by Annex I to
the Treaty, therefore reducing the administrative burden
on operators exporting those goods.

Pursuant to Article 27(1) of Commission Regulation (EC)
No 1043/2005 (2) rights deriving from refund certificates
may be transferred under certain conditions. In order to
ensure consistency in the treatment of licences and certi-
ficates the procedure for those transfers should, where
possible be aligned with the provisions
relating to
transfers of rights deriving from licences or certificates
laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008
of 23 April 2008 laying down common detailed rules for
the application of
import and export
the system of
licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural
products (3).

(3)

Article 32(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 lays
down the period within which the authority responsible

(1) OJ L 318, 20.12.1993, p. 18. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 2580/2000 (OJ L 298, 25.11.2000, p. 5).

(2) OJ L 172, 5.7.2005, p. 24. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 246/2008 (OJ L 75, 18.3.2008, p. 64).

(3) OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3.

for payment has to record the amounts of export refunds
requested on the refund certificate. However, in view of
the time required to process documentation in respect of
export refunds differentiated by destination, this period
may not be sufficient and should therefore be extended.

Article 38a(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 lays
down the conditions for the notification of applications
to the Commission by the Member States and the
subsequent
refund certificates. Since more
efficient
reporting and communication systems have
been introduced the time-limits concerned should be
adjusted.

issue of

Article 33 of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 provides
for a system of tranches for issuing refund certificates.
The period of validity applicable to those refund certi-
ficates is laid down in Article 39 of that Regulation. To
facilitate the operation of the system of refund certificates
the period of validity of certificates issued under the first
to
tranche
Article 38a should be extended.

certificates

pursuant

applied

and

for

In order to be able to benefit from a reduction of the
amount of security to be forfeited, Article 45(2) of Regu-
lation (EC) No 1043/2005 provides that unused certi-
ficates or extracts of certificates must be returned to
the issuing authorities not later than 30 June of the
in respect of which the certificates or
budget period,
extracts have been issued. The introduction of more
efficient reporting systems allows this deadline to be
extended.

Article 47 of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 lays down
specific conditions under which small exporters may be
granted export refunds. In the interest of simplification
small exporters should be entitled to use refund certi-
ficates without losing the status of small exporter and,
in addition, the payment threshold should be raised.

In order to have the measures provided for in this Regu-
lation operational in due time the date of its entry into
force should be on the day following publication in the
Official Journal of the European Union.

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 should therefore be
amended accordingly.

L 178/10

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

5.7.2008

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee on horizontal questions concerning trade in
processed agricultural products not listed in Annex I to
the Treaty,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 is amended as follows:

1. Article 27 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 27

Obligations deriving from certificates

1.
shall not be
transferable. Rights deriving from certificates may be trans-
ferred by their titular holder during the period of
their
validity, provided that the rights deriving under each certifi-
cate or extract therefrom are transferred to a single transferee
only. Such transfer shall relate to the amounts not yet
attributed to the certificate or extract.

Transferees may not further transfer their rights but
2.
may transfer them back to the titular holder. Transfers
back to the titular holder shall relate to quantities not yet
attributed to the certificate or extract.

In such cases, one of the entries set out in Annex VIII shall
be made by the issuing authority in box 6 of the certificate.’

2. In Article 32(2), the second subparagraph is replaced by the

following:

‘The authority responsible for payment shall record that
amount on the refund certificate within six months of the
date of receipt of the specific application.’

3. In Article 38a, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.
Applications lodged in the course of each week shall
be notified by Member States to the Commission on the
following Monday. The corresponding certificates may be
issued from the Wednesday following the notification,
unless the Commission issues instructions to the contrary.’

4. In Article 39, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

Subject

‘2.
to the second and the third subparagraph,
refund certificates shall be valid until the last day of the
fifth month following the month in which the application
for the certificate was made, or, until the last day of the
budget period, whichever is the earlier.

Refund certificates applied for in compliance with point (a)
of Article 33 or Article 38a, at the latest on 7 November,
shall be valid until the last day of the tenth month following
the month in which the application for the certificate was
made.

The refund certificates referred to in Article 40 shall be valid
until the last day of the fifth month following the month in
which the application for the certificate was made.

If refund rates are fixed in advance in accordance with
Article 29, those rates shall remain valid until the last day
of the period of validity of the certificate.’

5. In Article 45, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

‘2.
Paragraph 1 shall apply only to certificates and extracts
from certificates returned to the issuing authority during the
budget period in respect of which the certificates have been
issued, provided that they are returned not later than 31
August of that period.’

6. In Article 47(2), the first subparagraph is replaced by the

following:

‘2.
Article 46 shall apply to exports for which the appli-
cations submitted by the operator on the terms set out in
including the
Article 32(1) during the budget
submission of the application for the export in question,
shall not give rise to payment of more than EUR 100 000.’

year,

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that
of its publication 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, 24 June 2008.

For the Commission

Günter VERHEUGEN
Vice-President