Commission Regulation (EC) No 972/2008 of 3 October 2008 amending Regulation (EC) No 341/2007 opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas and introducing a system of import licences and certificates of origin for garlic and certain other agricultural products imported from third countries

4.10.2008 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 265/6
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 972/2008
of 3 October 2008
amending Regulation (EC) No 341/2007 opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas and introducing a system of import licences and certificates of origin for garlic and certain other agricultural products imported from third countries
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (1), and in particular Articles 134 and 148 thereof in conjunction with Article 4,
Whereas:
(1) In accordance with Chapter II of Commission Regulation (EC) No 341/2007 (2), applications for ‘A’ licence have to be submitted in April, July, October and January of each year, and ‘A’ licences are only valid for the subperiod for which they have been issued.
(2) According to an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Argentine Republic pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 for the modification of concessions with respect to garlic provided for in Schedule CXL annexed to the GATT (3), approved by Council Decision 2001/404/EC (4), the import tariff quota period for garlic should be divided into four subperiods.
(3) In order to provide importers with more flexibility, the period in which they may lodge applications for ‘A’ licences should begin six weeks earlier.
(4) In order to ensure that as much unused or partly used import licences as possible may be reallocated, the quantities, including nil returns, covered by unused or partly used import licences and corresponding to the difference between the quantities entered on the back of the import licences and the quantities for which they were issued should be notified by the end of November for the information available at that time. Later notifications only serve statistical purposes, so a single notification at the end of July would be sufficient for such quantities.
(5) Under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1084/95 of 15 May 1995 abolishing the protective measure applicable to imports of garlic originating in Taiwan and replacing it with a certificate of origin (5) a certificate of origin is required for the import of garlic from Taiwan. It provides for a regime similar to that laid down in Chapter IV of Regulation (EC) No 341/2007 for garlic of certain other origins. In the interests of legislative simplification and readability, it is appropriate to list all countries to which an origin certificate for garlic is needed in one place. Taiwan should therefore be added to the list of countries in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 341/2007 to which Chapter IV of that Regulation is applied. Regulation (EC) No 1084/95 should therefore be repealed.
(6) Regulation (EC) No 341/2007 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,