Commission Regulation (EC) No 2388/96 of 16 December 1996 amending Regulation (EC) No 2146/95 on the transitional adjustment of the special arrangements for imports of olive oil originating in Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey with a view to implementing the Agreement on agriculture concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations and derogating from Council Regulations (EEC) No 1514/76, (EEC) No 1620/77, (EEC) No 1521/76, (EEC) No 1508/76 and (EEC) No 1180/77 and providing for the reimbursement of import duties collected on certain imports from Morocco and Turkey

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2388/96 of 16 December 1996 amending Regulation (EC) No 2146/95 on the transitional adjustment of the special arrangements for imports of olive oil originating in Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey with a view to implementing the Agreement on agriculture concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations and derogating from Council Regulations (EEC) No 1514/76, (EEC) No 1620/77, (EEC) No 1521/76, (EEC) No 1508/76 and (EEC) No 1180/77 and providing for the reimbursement of import duties collected on certain imports from Morocco and Turkey
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1521/76 of 24 June 1976 on imports of olive oil originating in Morocco (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2062/96 (2), and in particular Article 6 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1180/77 of 17 May 1997 on imports into the Community of certain agricultural products originating in Turkey (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2063/96 (4), and in particular Article 14 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3290/94 of 22 December 1994 on the adjustments and transitional arrangements required in the agriculture sector in order to implement the agreements concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations (5), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1193/96 (6), and in particular Article 3 (1) thereof,
Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 2146/95 of 8 September 1995 (7), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1235/96 (8), transitionally adjusts the special arrangements for imports of olive oil originating in Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey with a view to implementing the Agreement on agriculture concluded during the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations by derogating from the Council Regulations on imports of olive oil originating in those countries;
Whereas, pursuant to the abovementioned Regulation (EC) No 2146/95, the reductions in levies on unrefined oil applying before 1 July 1995 pursuant to the Council Regulations in force have become reductions in the rate of duty applicable under the same conditions;
Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1521/76 was amended by Regulation (EC) No 2062/96 to take account of an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the Community and Morocco; whereas the aim of that amendment is to ensure that the amount to be deducted from the levy includes an amount equal to the special export charge levied by Morocco in the period 1 January 1994 to 31 January 1995 but not exceeding ECU 12,09 per 100 kilograms, plus an additional ECU 12,09 per 100 kilograms; whereas, from 1 February 1995, those amounts are replaced by ECU 14,60 per 100 kilograms in accordance with that amendment;
Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 1180/77 was amended by Regulation (EC) No 2063/96 to take account of an agreement in the form of an exchange of letters between the Community and Turkey; whereas the aim of that amendment is to ensure that the amount to be deducted from the levy includes an amount equal to the special export charge levied by Turkey in the period 1 January 1994 to 31 January 1995 but not exceeding ECU 10,88 per 100 kilograms, plus an additional ECU 10,88 per 100 kilograms; whereas, from 1 February 1995, those amounts are replaced by ECU 13,14 per 100 kilograms in accordance with that amendment;
Whereas Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2146/95 should accordingly be amended with effect from the entry in force of the transitional arrangements, in order to take account of the additional ECU 14,60 and ECU 13,14 per 100 kilograms in reductions in the rates of duty on imports of unrefined olive oil originating in Morocco and Turkey respectively;
Whereas, with a view to full compliance with the Community's international undertakings, provision must be made for a procedure to reimburse traders for the difference between the duty actually paid and the duty payable in accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2146/95, as amended by this Regulation, on imports between 1 July 1995 and the entry into force of this Regulation and the difference between the levy actually paid and the levy payable for the period 1 January 1994 to 30 June 1995;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for oils and fats,