CELEX: 31995R1813
Language: en
Date: 1995-07-26 00:00:00
Title: COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1813/95 of 26 July 1995 relating to a standing invitation to tender to determine levies and/or refunds on exports of white sugar

No L 175/ 12       HEN                  Official Journal of the European Communities                                27 . 7. 95
                                     COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1813/95
                                                         of 26 July 1995
                  relating to a standing invitation to tender to determine levies and/or refunds on
                                                     exports of white sugar
 THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       rules for governing export refunds on sugar (8), as last
                                                                   amended by Regulation (EC) No 2529/94 (9), should not
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             apply ; whereas, for the same reasons, appropriate provi­
 Community,                                                        sions should be laid down with regard to export licences
                                                                   issued in connection with the standing invitation to
                                                                   tender and there should be a derogation from Commis­
 Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81              sion Regulation (EC) No 1464/95 ; whereas, however, the
 of 30 June 1981 on the common organization of the                 provisions of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88
 markets in the sugar sector ('), as last amended by Regula­       of 16 November 1988 laying down common detailed
 tion (EC) No 1101 /95 (2), and in particular Articles 13 (2),     rules for the application of the system of import and
 17 (5) and ( 15), 20 (3) and the second subparagraph of           export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricul­
Article 39 thereof,
                                                                   tural products (10), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
                                                                    1 199/95 ("), and those of Commission Regulation (EEC)
Whereas, in conformity with Article 20 of Commission               No 120/89 of 19 January 1989 laying down common
 Regulation (EEC) No 1068/93 of 30 April 1993 on                   detailed rules for the application of the export levies and
 detailed rules for determining and applying the agricul­          charges on agricultural products (12), as amended by Regu­
tural conversion rates (3), as last amended by Regulation          lation (EEC) No 1431 /93 (,3), should remain applicable ;
(EC) No 1053/94 (4), the amounts of tenders submitted
within the framework of an invitation to tender organized
by virtue of a measure relating to the common agricul­
tural policy will be expressed in ecus ; whereas Article 3         whereas Article 13 ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 1068/93
(3) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1464/95 of 27                 provides that where agricultural conversion rates are fixed
June 1995 on special detailed rules for the application of         in advance, on application by the party concerned, on the
the system of import and export licences in the sugar              terms referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 6
sector (*), provides that the amounts of the successful            ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 3813/92, such application
tenders shall be expressed in ecus on the licences and             must be lodged at the same time as the submission of the
other documents certifying those amounts ; whereas the             tender as part of a tendering procedure ; whereas, for
value of the ecu shall be determined in accordance with            reasons specific to the sugar market, when an operator
Articles 2 and 3 of Council Regulation (EEC) No                    intends to take up the option of an advance fixing of an
3813/92 (% as last amended by Regulation (EC) No                   agricultural conversion rate, his decision shall be made
 1 50/95 0 ;                                                       only when the application for the export certificate in
                                                                   question is lodged ; whereas in practice he may only
Whereas, in view of the situation on the Community and             apply for advance fixing of the agricultural conversion
world sugar markets, a standing invitation to tender               rate in question after having been declared successful
should be issued as soon as possible for the export of             tenderer in respect of the levy or refund for the quantity
white sugar in respect of the 1995/96 marketing year               of sugar indicated in his tender ; whereas in the case of
which, having regard to possible fluctuations in world             the present tendering procedure, a derogation must be
prices for sugar, must provide for the determination of            made from the said provisions, leaving the tenderer the
export levies and/or export refunds ;                              option of applying for advance fixing of the agricultural
                                                                   conversion rate at the time when the application for the
                                                                   export certificate in question in lodged ;
Whereas, the general rules governing invitations to tender
for the purpose of determining export refunds for sugar
were established by Article 17 a of Regulation (EEC) No
 1785/81 ;                                                         Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 974/95 of 28
                                                                   April 1995 on certain transitional measures required to
Whereas, in view of the specific nature of the transactions        implement the Uruguay Round Agricultural Agree­
involved, special detailed rules should be laid down in            ment (14) provides that the export licences for the sugar
this Regulation, whilst those provided for in Commission           sector issued during the two months before 1 October
Regulation (EEC) No 394/70 of 2 March 1970 on detailed             1995 shall be issued for quantities which correspond to
(>) OJ No L 177, 1 . 7. 1981 , p. 4.                                8) OJ No L 50, 4. 3. 1970, p. 1 .
I1) OJ No L 110, 17. 5. 1995, p. 1 .                                9) OJ No L 269, 20. 10. 1994, p. 14.
(3) OJ No L 108, 1 . 5. 1993, p. 106.                               10) OJ No L 331 , 2. 12. 1988 , p. 1 .
(4) OJ No L 107, 12. 5. 1995, p. 4.                                 ") OJ No L 119, 30. 5. 1995, p. 4.
Is) OJ No L 144, 28. 6. 1995, p. 14.                                n) OJ No L 16, 20. 1 . 1989, p. 19.
(6) OJ No L 387, 31 . 12. 1992, p. 1 .                              I3) OJ No L 140, 11 . 6. 1993, p. 27.
n OJ No L 22, 31 . 1 . 1995, p. 1 .                                  u) OJ No L 97, 29. 4. 1995, p. 66.
 ---pagebreak---   27. 7. 95          fENl               Official Journal of the European Communities                             No L 175/ 13
  the quantities normally disposed of during those two             (a) shall begin on 27 July 1995 ;
  months and which do not fall within the limits laid down
  by the Agricultural Agreement ; whereas in so far as the         (b) shall end on 3 August 1995 at 1030 a.m.
  sugar sector is concerned, a quantity of 667 500 tonnes of
  sugar is to be considered as corresponding to the quanti­        2. The periods during which tenders may be submitted
  ties normally disposed of by way of licences issued with         in response to the second and subsequent partial invita­
  advance fixing of the refund during the course of the last       tions :
  three years in respect of the two months preceding the
  month of October ; whereas provision should conse­               (a) shall begin on the first working day following the end
  quently be made for the licences for the said quantity,               of the preceding period ;
  which will be committed first of all for export under this       (b) shall end at 10.30 a.m. on the Wednesday of the follo­
  tender, to be considered as transitional licences ;                   wing week.
 Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are          3.     Notwithstanding paragraph 2 (b), the period for the
  in accordance with the opinion of the Management                 submission of tenders which was to end on :
  Committee for Sugar,
                                                                   — Wednesday 16 August 1995 shall end on Thursday 17
                                                                        August 1995 at 10.30 a.m.,
                                                                   — Wednesday 1 November 1995 shall end on Tuesday
 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :                                          31 October 1995 at 10.30 a.m.,
                                                                  — Wednesday 3 January 1996 shall end on Thursday 4
                                                                        January 1996 at 10.30 a.m.
                           Article 1
                                                                  4. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, no partial invitations
  1 . A standing invitation to tender shall be issued in          to tender will be issued on Wednesday 27 December
 order to determine export levies and/or export refunds on         1995 and Wednesday 3 April 1996.
 white sugar. During the period of validity of this standing
 invitation, partial invitations to tender shall be issued.        5. The time limits laid down in this Regulation are
                                                                  expressed in Belgian time.
 2.    The standing invitation to tender shall remain open
 until a date to be determined later.
                                                                                            Article 5
                           Article 2                               1.     Offers in connection with this tender must be in
                                                                  writing, and must be either delivered by hand, against a
The standing invitation to tender and the partial invita­         receipt, to the competent authority in a Member State, or
 tion shall be conducted in accordance with Article 17 a of       addressed to that authority by registered letter, telex,
 Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 and with the following               telegram or fax message.
 provisions. Regulation (EEC) No 394/70 shall not apply.
                                                                  2.     An offer must indicate :
                           Article 3
                                                                  (a) the reference number of the invitation to tender to
                                                                       which the offer relates ;
 1.    The Member States shall establish a notice of the         (b) the name and address of the tenderer ;
invitation to tender. The notice of the invitation to tender
shall be published in the Official Journal of the Euro­          (c) the quantity of white sugar to be exported ;
pean Communities. Member States may also publish the             (d) the amount of the export levy or, where applicable, of
notice, or have it published elsewhere.                                the export refund, per 100 kilgorams of white sugar,
                                                                       expressed in ecus with three decimal places ;
2.     The notice shall indicate in particular the terms of
the invitation to tender.                                        (e) the minimum amount of the security to be lodged
                                                                       covering the quantity of sugar indicated in (c),
3 . The notice may be amended during the period of                     expressed in the currency of the Member State in
validity of the standing invitation to tender. It shall be so          which the tender is submitted.
amended if the terms of the invitation to tender are modi­
fied during that period.                                         3.      An offer shall be valid only if :
                                                                 (a) the quantity to be exported is not less than 250 tonnes
                           Article 4
                                                                       of white sugar ;
                                                                 (b) proof is furnished before expiry of the time limit for
1 . The period during which tenders may be submitted                   the submission of tenders that the tenderer has lodged
in response to the first partial invitation to tender :                the security indicated in the tender ;
 ---pagebreak---  No L 175/ 14          EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                  27. 7. 95
(c) it includes a declaration by the tenderer that if this        (b) to successful tenderers who have not applied for the
     tender is successful he will, within the period laid              relevant export licence within the period referred to in
     down in Article 12 (b), apply for an export licence or           Article 12 (b), to the extent of ECU 10 per 100 kilo­
     licences in respect of the quantities of white sugar to          grams of white sugar.
     be exported ;
                                                                       However, this part of the releasable security shall be
(d) it includes a declaration by the tenderer that if his             reduced by the amount of representing the difference
     tender is successful he will :                                   existing, as applicable :
     — where the obligation to export resulting from the              — between the maximum amount of the export
         export licence referred to in Article 12 (b) is not               refund fixed for the partial invitation concerned
         fulfilled, supplement the security by payment of                  and the maximum amount of the export refund
         the amount referred to in Article 13 (4), and                     fixed for the following partial invitation when the
                                                                           latter amount is higher than the former,
     — within 30 days following the expiry of the export
         licence in question, notify the agency which issued               or
         the licence of the quantity or quantities in respect         — between the minimum amount of the export levy
         of which the licence was not used ;                               fixed for the partial invitation concerned and the
                                                                           minimum amount of the export levy fixed for the
(e) it contains all the information required under para­                   following partial invitation when the latter amount
     graph 2.                                                              is lower than the former ;
4. A tender may stipulate that it is to be regarded as            (c) to successful tenderers for the quantity for which they
having been submitted only if :                                       have fulfilled, within the meaning of Articles 29 (b)
                                                                      and 30 ( 1 ) (b) (i) of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88, the
(a) the minimum export levy or, where applicable, the                 export obligation resulting from the licence referred to
     maximum export refund is fixed on the day of the                 under Article 12 (b) in accordance with the terms of
     expiry of the period for the submission of the tenders           Article 33 of that Regulation.
     in question ;
                                                                  The part of the security or the security which is not
(b) the tender, if successful, relates to all or a specified      released shall be forfeit in respect of the quantity of sugar
     part of the tendered quantity.                               for which the corresponding obligations have not been
                                                                  fulfilled.
5.     A tender which is not submitted in accordance with
the provisions of this Regulation, or which contains terms        4.     In case of force majeure, the competent authority of
other than those indicated in the present invitation to           the Member State concerned shall take such action as it
tender, shall not be considered.                                  considers necessary having regard to the circumstances
                                                                  invoked by the party concerned.
6.     Once submitted, a tender may not be withdrawn.
                                                                                               Article 7
                           Article 6
                                                                  1 . Tenders shall be examined in private by the compe­
                                                                  tent authority concerned. The persons present at the
 1 . A security of ECU 11 per 100 kilograms of white              examination shall be under an obligation not to disclose
sugar to be exported under this invitation to tender must         any particulars relating thereto.
be lodged by each tenderer. Without prejudice to Article
 13 (4), this security shall in the case of successful tende­     2.     Tenders shall be communicated to the Commission
rers and at the time of the application referred to in            forthwith and in such manner that the tenders remain
Article 12 (b) become the security for the export licence.        anonymous.
2. The security may be lodged at the tenderer's choice,
either in cash or in the form of a guarantee given by an
                                                                                               Article 8
establishment complying with criteria laid down by the
Member State in which the tender is submitted.
                                                                  1.     After the tenders received have been examined, a
                                                                  maximum quantity may be fixed for the partial invitation
3. Except in cases of force majeure the security referred         concerned.
to in paragraph 1 will be released :
(a) to unsuccessful tenderers in respect of the quantity for      2. A decision may be taken to make no award under a
     which no award has been made :                               specific partial invitation to tender.
 ---pagebreak---  27. 7. 95           EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                               No L 175/ 15
                         Article 9                               — by the drawing of lots.
 1 . In the light of the current state and foreseeable
                                                                                            Article 11
 development of the Community and world sugar markets,
there shall be fixed either :
                                                                  1 . The competent authority of the Member State
— a minimum export levy,                                         concerned shall immediately notify applicants of the
                                                                 result of their participation in the invitation to tender. In
     or                                                          addition, that authority shall send successful tenderers a
                                                                 statement of award.
— a maximum export refund.
                                                                 2.     The statement of award shall indicate at least :
2. Subject to Article 10, where a minimum export levy
is fixed, a contract shall be awarded to every tenderer          (a) the reference number of the invitation to which the
whose tender quotes a rate of levy equal to or greater than           tender relates ;
such minimum levy.
                                                                 (b) the quantity of white sugar to be exported ;
3 . Subject to Article 10, where a maximum export               (c) the amount expressed in ecus of the export levy to be
refund is fixed, a contract shall be awarded to every                 charged, or where applicable of the export refund to
tenderer whose tender quotes a rate of refund equal to or             be granted per 100 kilograms of white sugar of the
less than such maximum refund and to every tenderer                   quantity referred to in (b).
who has tendered for an export levy.
                                                                                           Article 12
                         Article 10                              Every successful tenderer shall have :
                                                                (a) the right to receive in the circumstances referred to
1 . Where a maximum quantity has been fixed for a                    under (b), in respect of the quantity awarded, an
partial invitation to tender :                                       export licence indicating, as appropriate, the export
                                                                     levy or the export refund quoted in his tender ;
— if a minimum levy is fixed, a contract shall be
    awarded to the tenderer whose tender quotes the             (b) the obligation to lodge, in accordance with the rele­
    highest levy ; if the maximum quantity is not fully              vant provisions of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88, an
    covered by that award, awards shall be made to other             application for an export licence in respect of that
    tenderers in descending order of levies quoted until             quantity, the application not being revocable and
    the entire maximum quantity has been accounted for,              Article 12 of Regulation (EEC) No 120/89 not
                                                                     applying in such a case. The application shall be
— if a maximum refund is fixed, contracts shall be                   lodged in accordance with the relevant provisions of
    awarded in accordance with the first indent ; if after           Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88, not later than :
    such awards a quantity is still outstanding, or if there
    are no tenders quoting an export levy, contracts shall           — the last working day preceding the date of the
    be awarded in ascending order of refunds quoted until                partial invitation to tender to be held the following
    the entire maximum quantity has been accounted for,                  week,
    to tenderers quoting a refund.                                       or
                                                                     — if no partial invitation to tender is due to be held
2. However, where an award to a particular tenderer in                   that week, the last working day of the following
accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 would                      week ;
result in the maximum quantity being exceeded, that
award shall be limited to such quantity as is still available . (c) the obligation to export the tendered quantity and, if
Where two or more tenderers quote the same levy or the               this obligation is not fulfilled, to pay, where necessary,
same refund and awards to all of them would result in the            the amount referred to in Article 13 (4).
maximum quantity being exceeded, then the quantity
available shall be awarded as follows :                         This right and these obligations are not transferable.
— by being divided among the tenderers concerned in
    proportion to the total quantities in each of their                                    Article 13
    tenders, or
— by being apportioned among the tenderers concerned            1 . The first paragraph of Article 9 of Regulation (EC)
    by reference to a maximum tonnage to be fixed for           No 1464/95 shall not apply to the white sugar to be
    each of them, or                                            exported in accordance with this Regulation.
 ---pagebreak--- No L 175/ 16         rENl                Official Journal of the European Communities                                 27 . 7. 95
2.     Export licences issued in connection with a partial         the day of export, the amounts of the export refunds and
invitation to tender shall be valid from the day of issue          the export levies fixed under the terms of this invitation
until the end of the fifth calendar month following that           to tender before 1 July 1996, for the sugar exported from
in which the partial invitation was issued.                        that date, shall be adjusted.
However, export licences issued in respect of the partial
invitations held from 1 May 1996 will be valid only until          2.     For the adjustment referred to in paragraph 1 :
30 September 1996.
                                                                   (a) in the event of the fixing of an intervention price for
3. The export licences issued in respect of the partial                white sugar applicable with effect from 1 July 1996
invitations held between 1 August and 30 September                     which is greater than that in force on 30 June 1996
 1995 will be usable only from 15 October 1995.                        the export refund and the export levy shall be adjusted
                                                                       by an amount equal to the difference expressed in
                                                                       ecus per 100 kilograms existing between the interven­
4. Except in cases of force majeure, if the obligation to              tion price for white sugar applicable with effect from
export resulting from the export licence referred to under              1 July 1996 and the intervention price for that sugar
Article 12 (b) has not been fulfilled and if the security              in force on 30 June 1996 ;
referred to in Article 6 is less than :
                                                                   (b) in the event of the fixing of an intervention price for
(a) the export levy indicated on the licence reduced by                white sugar applicable with effect from 1 July 1996
     the levy referred to in the second subparagraph of                which is lower than that in force on 30 June 1996, the
     Article 20 ( 1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 in                export refund and the export levy shall be adjusted by
     force on the last day of validity of the said licence ;           an amount equal to the difference expressed in ecus
     or
                                                                       per 100 kilograms existing between the intervention
                                                                       price for white sugar in force on 30 June 1996 and
(b) the sum of the export levy indicated on the licence                the intervention price for that sugar applicable with
     and the refund referred to in Article 17 a (2) of Regu­           effect from 1 July 1 996.
     lation (EEC) No 1785/81 in force on the last day of
     validity of the said licence ;
     or                                                            3.     For the calculation of the differences referred to in
                                                                   paragraph 2, the intervention prices in question shall be
(c) the export refund referred to in Article 17 a (2) of           increased by the corresponding storage levy referred to in
     Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 in force on the last day          the second subparagraph of Article 8 (2) of Regulation
     of validity of the licence reduced by the refund indi­        (EEC) No 1785/81 .
     cated on the said licence,
then, for the quantity in respect of which the said obliga­        4. For the purpose of applying this Article, the
tion was not fulfilled, the licence holder shall be charged        Member State issuing the relevant export licence shall at
an amount equal to the difference between the result of            the time of issue complete section 'special particulars' by
the valuation made under (a), (b) or (c), as the case may be,      adding the following :
and the security referred to in Article 6 ( 1 ).
                                                                       'to be adjusted in accordance with adjudication Regu­
                                                                       lation (EC) No 1813/95 for exports which take place
                                                                       after 30 June 1996.'
                           Article 14
If the tenderer intends to apply for advance fixing of agri­       5. Upon presentation by the holder of the export
cultural conversion rate under this standing invitation to         licence concerned, or by the assignee when the licence
tender, the provisions of the second indent of Article 13          has been transferred, to the Member State that issued it
(1 ) of Regulation (EEC) No 1068/93 shall not apply.               and before the customs formalities for the quantities
                                                                   concerned have been carried out, that Member State shall
                                                                   enter the refund rate after adjustment in the section
                                                                   'special particulars' and shall duly certify and stamp that
                                                                   section .
                           Article 15
If the prices fixed in ecus pursuant to Regulation (EEC)           6.     Member States shall inform the Commission as
No 1 785/8 1 are amended during the interval between the           quickly as possible of the quantities of sugar for which an
day of expiry of the period for submission of tenders and          adjustment under this Article has been made.
 ---pagebreak---   27. 7. 95          | EN |            Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 175/ 17
                           Article 16                                                       Article 17
                                                                  For the application of Regulation (EC) No 974/95, the
 When white sugar of CN code 1701 99 10 produced from             applications for licences and the licences issued under
 beet or cane harvested in the Community or from raw              this invitation to tender shall bear the endorsement 'tran­
 sugar imported into the Community under preferential             sitional licences — Regulation (EC) No 974/95' for the
 arrangements, is stocked in bulk under a customs ware­           first 667 500 tonnes committed for export between 1
 housing or free zone procedure for advance payment of            August 1995 and 30 September 1995.
 the refund as defined by Council Regulation (EEC) No
  565/80 ('), that sugar may, in addition to the operations       These provisions shall not be applicable to the licences
 referred to in Article 28 (4) of Commission Regulation           showing a refund fixed in accordance with Article 17 a (2)
                                                                  of Regulation (EEC) No 1785/81 .
 (EEC) No 3665/87 (2), be mixed in the same place of
 storage with other white sugar of the same CN code
  1701 99 10, having the same origin as indicated above, of                                Article 18
 the same commercial quality and possessing equivalent
 technical characteristics.                                       This Regulation shall enter into force on 27 July 1995.
                   This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
                   States.
                   Done at Brussels, 26 July 1995.
                                                                            For the Commission
                                                                              Franz FISCHLER
                                                                        Member of the Commission
(') OJ No L 177, 1 . 7. 1981 , p. 4.
 2 OJ No L 110, 17. 5. 1995, p. 1 .