Commission Regulation (EC) No 1217/2005 of 28 July 2005 laying down detailed rules for the application of a tariff quota for certain live bovine animals originating in Bulgaria, provided for in Council Decision 2003/286/EC

29.7.2005 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 199/33
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1217/2005
of 28 July 2005
laying down detailed rules for the application of a tariff quota for certain live bovine animals originating in Bulgaria, provided for in Council Decision 2003/286/EC
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in beef and veal (1), and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 32(1) thereof,
Whereas,
(1) Council Decision 2003/286/EC of 8 April 2003 on the conclusion of a Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bulgaria, of the other part, to take account of the outcome of negotiations between the Parties on new mutual agricultural concessions (2), provided for concessions as regards the opening of tariff import quotas of certain live bovine animals originating from Bulgaria.
(2) Council and Commission Decision 2005/430/EC of 18 April 2005 on the conclusion of the Additional Protocol to the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part, to take account of the accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic to the European Union (3) provides for additional concessions as regards imports of certain live bovine animals originating from Bulgaria.
(3) Detailed rules should be adopted for the opening and administration of the tariff quota concerning live bovine animals, on a multi-annual basis beginning on 1 July 2005.
(4) With a view to preventing speculation, the quantities available within the quota should be made accessible to operators able to show that they are genuinely engaged in trade of a significant scale with third countries. In consideration of this and in order to ensure efficient management, the traders concerned should be required to have imported a certain minimum number of animals during the year previous to the annual quota period in question which, at the same time, should guarantee a fair access to the concessions. Given that the present concessions only apply to imports of animals from Bulgaria and considering the imports which are carried out from this country, a consignment of 50 animals may be considered to be a normal load. Experience shows that the purchase of a single consignment is a minimum requirement for a transaction to be considered real and viable.
(5) If such criteria are to be checked, applications should be presented in the Member State where the importer is entered in a VAT register.
(6) Furthermore, in order to prevent speculation, importers no longer involved in trade in live bovine animals at 1 January previous to the beginning of the annual quota period in question should be denied access to the quota. Moreover, a security relating to import rights should be submitted in the Member States where the operator is entered in the national VAT register. Import licences should not be transferable and should be issued to traders solely for the quantities for which they have been allocated import rights.
(7) To provide a more equal access to the quota while ensuring a commercially viable number of animals per application, maximum and minimum limits should be fixed for the number of animals covered in each application.
(8) It should be established that import rights are to be allocated after a reflection period and where necessary with a fixed percentage reduction applied.
(9) Pursuant to Article 29(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1254/1999, the arrangements should be managed using import licences. To this end, rules should be laid down on the submission of applications and the information to be given on applications and licences, where necessary in addition to or by way of derogation from certain provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1445/95 of 26 June 1995 on rules of application for import and export licences in the beef and veal sector and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2377/80 (4) and of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 of 9 June 2000 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (5).
(10) To oblige operators to apply for import licences for all import rights allocated, it should be established that the application should constitute, with regard to the import rights security, a primary requirement within the meaning of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2220/85 of 22 July 1985 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of securities for agricultural products (6).
(11) A proper management of the quota also requires that the titular holder of the licence is a genuine importer. Therefore, such importer should actively participate in the purchase, transport and import of the animals concerned. Presentation of proof of those activities should thus also be a primary requirement with regard to the licence security.
(12) With a view to ensuring a strict statistical control of the animals imported under the quota, the tolerance referred to in Article 8(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 should not apply.
(13) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Beef and Veal,