Commission Regulation (EC) No 2377/2002 of 27 December 2002 opening and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for malting barley from third countries and derogating from Council Regulation (EC) No 1766/92

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2377/2002
of 27 December 2002
opening and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for malting barley from third countries and derogating from Council Regulation (EC) No 1766/92
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 of 30 June 1992 on the common organisation of the market in cereals(1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1666/2000(2), and in particular Article 12(1) thereof,
Having regard to the Council Decision of 19 December 2002 concerning the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the United States of America, with a view to the modification of concessions with respect to cereals provided for in schedule CXL annexed to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)(3) and in particular Article 2 thereof,
Having regard to the Council Decision of 19 December 2002 concerning the conclusion of an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and Canada pursuant to Article XXVIII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), with a view to the modification of concessions with respect to cereals provided for in EC schedule CXL annexed to the GATT(4) and in particular Article 2 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Following trade negotiations, the Community has changed the conditions for the import of common wheat of low and medium quality and of barley by creating import quotas from 1 January 2003. For barley, the Community has decided to replace the "margin of preference" system by two tariff quotas: one tariff quota of 50000 tonnes for malting barley and one tariff quota of 300000 for barley. This Regulation concerns the tariff quota of 50000 tones of malting barley.
(2) Under the Community's international commitments, malting barley for import must be intended for use in the manufacture of beer aged in vats containing beechwood. In this respect, provisions should be adopted relating to the quality criteria for barley and to processing requirements similar to those of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1234/2001 of 22 June 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 822/1999 and providing for the partial reimbursement of import duties levied on a quota of barley for malting(5).
(3) The opening of this quota means that Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 has to be adapted. In order to enable the quota to be opened on 1 January 2003, provision should be made to derogate from Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92, during a transitional period expiring on the date of entry into force of the amendment to that Regulation, but until 30 June 2003 at the latest.
(4) To ensure that imports of the barley covered by this tariff quota are orderly and not speculative, they should be made subject to the issue of import licences. The licences will be issued, within the quantities set, at the request of the interested parties, subject where appropriate to the fixing of a reduction coefficient in respect of the quantities applied for.
(5) To ensure the proper management of this quota, deadlines for the lodging of licence applications should be laid down and the information to be included in applications and licences should be specified.
(6) To take account of supply conditions, a derogation should be made concerning the period of validity of the licences.
(7) Taking account of the obligation to apply a high level of guarantee to insure adequate execution of the quota and that this guarantee vwould have to be in place during all the processing period, it is adequate to exempt importers whose consignements of malting barley are accompanied by a certificate of conformity agreed with the government of the United States of America according to the administrative cooperation procedure provided for in Articles 63 to 65 of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93(6), as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 444/2002(7).
(8) With a view to the sound management of the quota, provision should be made to derogate from 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(8), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2299/2001(9), as regards the transferable nature of the licences and the tolerance relating to the quantities released into free circulation.
(9) To ensure sound management of this quota, the security on the import licences should be set at a relatively high level, notwithstanding Article 10 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1162/95 of 23 May 1995 laying down special detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences for cereals and rice(10), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1322/2002(11).
(10) Rapid two-way communication should be established between the Commission and the Member States regarding the quantities applied for and imported.
(11) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,