CELEX: 31998R2004
Language: en
Date: 1998-09-21
Title: Commission Regulation (EC) No 2004/98 of 21 September 1998 opening an invitation to tender for the refund or the tax for the export of common wheat to certain ACP States

L 258/4               EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                                   22. 9. 98
                                    COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2004/98
                                                   of 21 September 1998
                  opening an invitation to tender for the refund or the tax for the export of
                                        common wheat to certain ACP States
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                       Whereas, in addition to the conditions laid down in
                                                                  Article 30 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3719/
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             88 (5), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1044/98 (6),
Community,                                                        provision should be made for the release for consumption
                                                                  in the ACP State(s) laid down in this Regulation;
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92              Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are
of 30 June 1992 on the common organisation of the                 in accordance with the opinion of the Management
market in cereals (1), as last amended by Commission              Committee for Cereals,
Regulation (EC) No 923/96 (2),
Having regard to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1501/              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
95 of 29 June 1995 laying down certain detailed rules for
the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92
on the granting of export refunds on cereals and the                                         Article 1
measures to be taken in the event of disturbance on the
market for cereals (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC)        1. Tenders shall be invited for the export refund and/or
No 2052/97 (4), and in particular Article 4 thereof,              export tax concerning common wheat, as provided for in
                                                                  Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1501/95.
Whereas, with a view to supplying the markets of the
ACP countries, favoured partners of the Community,                2. The common wheat must be exported to an ACP
significant quantities of common wheat are required for           State or to several States within one of the groups of ACP
the 1998/99 marketing year; whereas these markets are             States listed in Annex I.
usually supplied on the basis of regular contracts to
ensure stable prices for the ACP countries over a certain         3. The invitation shall remain open until 25 February
period; whereas it is therefore necessary to issue a specific     1999. During this period weekly awards shall be made, for
invitation to tender to ensure that users in certain ACP          which the quantities and the time limits for the submis-
States have access to common wheat under conditions               sion of tenders shall be as prescribed in the notice of
appropriate to the highly competitive situation on the            invitation to tender.
world market;
                                                                                             Article 2
Whereas the detailed procedural rules governing invita-
tions to tender are as regards the fixing of the export           A tender shall be valid only if it relates to an amount of
refund, or export tax in Regulation (EC) No 1501/95;              not less than 1 000 tonnes for the ACP States listed in
whereas the commitments on the part of the tenderer               Annex I.
include an obligation to lodge an application for an
export licence; whereas compliance with this obligation
may be ensured by requiring tenderers to lodge a                                             Article 3
tendering security of ECU 12 per tonne when they
submit their tenders;                                             The security referred to in Article 5(3a) of Regulation (EC)
                                                                  No 1501/95 shall be ECU 12 per tonne.
Whereas, in order to ensure the smooth operation of the
export tendering procedure it is appropriate to prescribe a                                  Article 4
minimum quantity to be tendered for and a time limit
and form for the communication of tenders submitted to            1.    Tenders shall only be admissible if:
the competent authorities;
                                                                   the tenderer provides written proof from an official
Whereas provision should be made for a security lodg-                  body in the ACP country of destination or a company
ment scheme which ensures that the aims are met while                  having its overseas subsidiary in the said country, that
avoiding excessive costs for the operators;                            he has concluded for the quantity in question a
                                                                       commercial supply contract for common wheat for
                                                                       export to an ACP State or to several States within one
(1)  OJ L 181, 1. 7. 1992, p. 21.
(2)  OJ L 126, 24. 5. 1996, p. 37.
(3)  OJ L 147, 30. 6. 1995, p. 7.                                 (5) OJ L 331, 2. 12. 1988, p. 1.
( 4) OJ L 287, 21. 10. 1997, p. 14.                               (6) OJ L 149, 20. 5. 1998, p. 11.
 ---pagebreak--- 22. 9. 98            EN                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                      L 258/5
     of the groups of ACP states listed in Annex I. That           been issued on the day on which the tender was
     contract may cover only those deliveries to be made           submitted.
     during 1998/99 marketing year for quantities tradi-
     tionally supplied; such proof shall be lodged with the        2. Subject to the provisions of Article 1 of Commission
     competent authorities at least two working days before        Regulation (EC) No 1521/94 (2) export licences issued in
     the date of the partial invitation to tender against          connection with the invitations to tender pursuant to this
     which the tender is to be submitted,                          Regulation shall be valid from their date of issue, as
 they are accompanied by an application for an export             defined in paragraph 1, until the end of the sixth month
     licence for the destination in question.                      following that of issue.
The proof provided for in the first indent shall also in-
dicate the quality provided for in the contract, the time                                      Article 8
limit for delivery and the price terms.
                                                                   1. The Commission shall decide, pursuant to the pro-
The Member State shall send the Commission a copy of               cedures laid down in Article 23 of Regulation (EEC) No
the said proof forthwith, for information.                         1766/92:
2. Tenders may not exceed the quantity laid down in                 to fix a maximum export refund, taking account in
the commercial contract submitted. The tenderers may                    particular of the criteria laid down in Article 1 of
not submit simultaneously several bids on the basis of the              Regulation (EC) No 1501/95, or
same contract.
                                                                    to fix a minimum export tax, taking into account in
When transmitting the tenders submitted, the Member                     particular the criteria laid down in Article 1 of Regula-
States shall inform the Commission of the above,                        tion (EC) No 1501/95, or
mentioning if necessary the names of the tenderers                  to make no award.
involved.
                                                                   2. Where a maximum export refund is fixed, the
                          Article 5                                contract shall be awarded to the tenderer or tenderers
                                                                   whose bids are equal to or lower than the maximum
1. The licence obliges the operator to export to the               refund, as well as to the tenderer or tenderers whose bid
ACP State or States for which the licence application was          relates to an export tax.
submitted. However, for ACP States and up to a limit of
30 % of the quantity for which the licence was issued, the         3. Where a minimum export tax is fixed, a contract
operator may effect his contract at another destination on         shall be awarded to any tenderer whose tender indicates a
condition that it belongs to the same group of countries           rate of tax equal to or more than such minimum export
listed in Annex I.                                                 tax.
2. The export licences shall be issued as soon as the
successful tenderers have been selected.
                                                                                               Article 9
3. Article 9 of Regulation (EEC) No 3719/88 notwith-
standing, the rights deriving from the licence referred to         Tenders submitted must reach the Commission through
in this Article shall not be transferable.                         the intermediary Member States, at the latest one and a
                                                                   half hours after expiry of the period for the weekly
                                                                   submission of tenders as specified in the notice of invita-
                          Article 6
                                                                   tion to tender. They must be communicated in the form
The obligation to export and import into one of the                indicated in Annex II, to the telex or fax numbers in
countries of destination listed in Annex I shall be covered        Annex III.
by a security amounting to ECU 20 per tonne, lodged
upon issue of the export licence.                                  If no tenders are received, Member States shall inform the
                                                                   Commission of this within the time limit indicated in the
The amount of ECU 20 per tonne must be released                    preceding paragraph.
within 15 working days of the date on which the
successful tenderer supplies proof of entry for consump-
tion into the ACP State or States referred to in Article                                      Article 10
1(2). This proof shall be supplied in accordance with
Articles 18 and 47 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No               The time limits fixed for the submission of tenders shall
3665/87 (1).                                                       correspond to Belgian time.
                          Article 7
                                                                                              Article 11
1. Notwithstanding Article 21(1) of Regulation (EEC)
No 3719/88, export licences issued under Article 8(1) of           This Regulation shall enter into force on the day
Regulation (EC) No 1501/95 shall, for the purpose of               following its publication in the Official Journal of the
determining their period of validity, be deemed to have            European Communities.
(1) OJ L 351, 14. 12. 1987, p. 1.                                  (2) OJ L 162, 30. 6. 1994, p. 47.
 ---pagebreak--- L 258/6         EN               Official Journal of the European Communities                      22. 9. 98
            This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
            States.
            Done at Brussels, 21 September 1998.
                                                                       For the Commission
                                                                         Franz FISCHLER
                                                                   Member of the Commission
                                                     ANNEX I
                           Groups of ACP States signatories to the Lomé Convention
                      Group I                          Group II                       Group III
        Mauritania                        Chad                             Seychelles
        Mali                              Central African Republic         Comoros
        Niger                             Benin                            Madagascar
        Senegal                           Cameroon                         Mauritius
        Gambia                            Equatorial Guinea                Angola
        Guinea-Bissau                     São Tomé and Príncipe            Zambia
        Guinea                            Gabon                            Malawi
        Cape Verde                        Congo                            Mozambique
        Sierra Leone                      Democratic Republic of Congo     Namibia
        Liberia                           Rwanda                           Botswana
        Côte-d’Ivoire                     Burundi                          Zimbabwe
        Ghana                             Burkina Faso                     Lesotho
        Togo                                                               Swaziland
                                                                           Djibouti
                                                                           Ethiopia
                                                                           Eritrea
 ---pagebreak--- 22. 9. 98       EN                Official Journal of the European Communities                           L 258/7
                                                      ANNEX II
          Weekly tender for the refund or the tax for the export of common wheat to certain ACP-States
                                             (Regulation (EC) No 2004/98)
                                Closing date for the submission of tenders (date/time)
                      1                        2                                    3
                                                                        A                      B
                  Number                  Quantity
                                                                     Amount                 Amount
                 of tenderer              in tonnes
                                                                   of export tax        of export refund
                                                                in ECU per tonne       in ECU per tonne
                      1
                      2
                      3
                     etc.
                                                      ANNEX III
            The only numbers to use to call Brussels (DG VI-C-1) are:
             fax:                   295 25 15,
                                     296 49 56,
             telex:                 22037 AGREC B,
                                     22070 AGREC B (Greek characters).