Commission Regulation (EC) No 2738/95 of 28 November 1995 establishing rules for the management and distribution of textile quotas established for the year 1996 under Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2738/95 of 28 November  1995 establishing rules for the management and distribution of textile quotas established for the  year 1996 under Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94 of 7 March 1994 relating to the common rules for  the import of textile products from certain third countries not covered by bilateral agreements,  protocols or other arrangements, or by other specific Community import rules  (1), as last amended  by Regulation (EC) No 1325/95  (2), and in particular Article 17 (3) and (6) and Article 21 (2) and  (3) thereof, in relation to Article 25 (3) thereof,
Whereas the Council, by its Regulation (EC) No 517/94, established quantitative restrictions on  imports of certain textile products originating in certain third countries and envisaged, in  Article 17 (2), that these quotas will be allocated in the chronological reception order of the  notifications from the Member States according to the principle of first come, first served;
Whereas past experience has revealed that for certain quotas the established annual quantities were  insufficient to cover the quantities subject to requests for import authorizations notified to the  Member States; whereas there are serious reasons to believe that, for all the quotas established by  Regulation (EC) No 517/94 requests for import authorizations to be notified by the competent Member  States' authorities will exceed the quantitative limits established for 1996;
Whereas Regulation (EC) No 517/94, Article 17 (3), stipulates that is is possible, in these  circumstances, to make use of allocation methods which differ from the allocation method based  exclusively on the chronological reception order of the notifications from Member States, as well  as to envisage the division of the quotas in tranches;
Whereas it is advisable, in order not to affect unduly the continuity of trade flows, to adopt  before the start of the quota year, rules for management and distribution of the quotas fixed  established for 1996 by Regulation (EC) No 517/94;
Whereas it seems appropriate for a large majority of the quotas to adjust the allocation method  based on the chronological reception order of the notifications from Member States according to the  principle of first come, first served in order to satisfy the greatest number of operators by  limiting the quantities to be attributed to each operator, on the basis of this method, to a  maximum amount at a level which allows the operators concerned to perform economically justifiable  transactions;
Whereas as far as the other quotas are concerned which seem to be even more insufficient it is  appropriate to have a method of allocation which takes into account traditional trade flows;  whereas to this end it is appropriate to divide the quotas to be allocated into two parts, one  reserved for traditional importers, the other for other applicants, and to fix the respective  shares reserved for these different categories of operators at levels which, while taking into  account traditional trade flows, will nevertheless ensure non-traditional importers significant  access to the quotas; whereas it is necessary to define the concept of traditional importers with  reference to the year 1992, 1993 not being representative due to certain distortions which  characterized imports during this period within the Community;
Whereas with regard to the distribution of the part reserved to other operators, other than  traditional importers, past experience has shown that the method based on the reception in  chronological order of the notifications from the Member States satisfied only a limited number of  operators and that the application of a method of distribution in proportion to the requested  quantities on the basis of a simultaneous examination of all quantities notified to the Commission  might satisfy a larger number of operators; whereas it is appropriate for the same reasons to  envisage, furthermore, that the quantities requested by each individual operator, cannot exceed a  predetermined quantity fixed to a level economically significant;
Whereas, it is possible that, in certain cases, for certain categories and countries concerned,  quantities in a part reserved remain available after application of quantitative criteria adopted;  whereas it is therefore appropriate for an optimum distribution of each quantitative limit to  envisage the possibility of a transfer of quantities in between the different parts reserved for  the two categories of operators;
Whereas for the purposes of quota allocation, it is appropriate to set a time period for the  submission of licence applications by traditional and other importers;
Whereas with a view to making optimal use of the quantities it is appropriate to envisage that  quantities still available after distribution according to the rules described above will be  distributed to all operators according to the principle of first come, first served within a  predetermined maximum amount;
Whereas, for optimum use of the quantities it is appropriate to envisage that each operator, after  50  % utilization of a licence, can introduce a new request for a licence, not exceeding a  predetermined quantity, provided quantities are available in the quotas;
Whereas for good management purposes it is appropriate to fix the period of validity of the import  authorizations to nine months from the date of issuance, but not beyond the date of 31 December  1996 and to allow their issuance by the Member States, after notification of the Commission  decision to the Member States, and provided that the concerned operator can justify the existence  of a contract and certifies, except in cases where it is especially foreseen, not to have already  benefited under this Regulation for the category and the country concerned of an import  authorization within the Community; whereas the national competent authorities are however  authorized to extend up to 31 December 1996 upon request from importers concerned, the validity of  licences of which the degree of utilization represents at least 60  % at the date of 30 September  1996;
Whereas the measures contained in this Regulation are in conformity with the opinion expressed by  the Committee established by Regulation (EC) No 517/94,