Commission Regulation (EC) No 1456/2007 of 10 December 2007 amending Regulations (EC) No 2058/96, (EC) No 2375/2002, (EC) No 2377/2002, (EC) No 2305/2003, (EC) No 955/2005, (EC) No 969/2006 and (EC) No 1964/2006 opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas for imports of rice and cereals

11.12.2007 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 325/76
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1456/2007
of 10 December 2007
amending Regulations (EC) No 2058/96, (EC) No 2375/2002, (EC) No 2377/2002, (EC) No 2305/2003, (EC) No 955/2005, (EC) No 969/2006 and (EC) No 1964/2006 opening and providing for the administration of tariff quotas for imports of rice and cereals
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3491/90 of 26 November 1990 on imports of rice originating in Bangladesh (1), and in particular Article 3 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1095/96 of 18 June 1996 on the implementation of the concessions set out in Schedule CXL drawn up in the wake of the conclusion of the GATT XXIV.6 negotiations (2), and in particular Article 1 thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in cereals (3), and in particular Article 12(1) thereof,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 of 29 September 2003 on the common organisation of the market in rice (4), and in particular Articles 10(2) and 13(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Regulations (EC) No 2058/96 of 28 October 1996 opening and providing for the management of a tariff quota for broken rice of CN code 1006 40 00 for production of food preparations of CN code 1901 10 (5), (EC) No 2375/2002 of 27 December 2002 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for common wheat of a quality other than high quality from third countries and derogating from Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 (6), (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 (7), (EC) No 2305/2003 of 29 December 2003 opening and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for imports of barley from third countries (8), (EC) No 955/2005 of 23 June 2005 opening a Community import quota for rice originating in Egypt (9), (EC) No 969/2006 of 29 June 2006 opening and providing for the administration of a Community tariff quota for imports of maize from third countries (10) and (EC) No 1964/2006 of 22 December 2006 laying down detailed rules for the opening and administration of an import quota for rice originating in Bangladesh, pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3491/90 (11) provide for different measures for certain matters relating to the management of the quotas concerned. In order to rationalise and simplify the procedures for operators in the rice and cereals sectors, as well as to improve the management of these quotas by the Member States and the Commission, these Regulations should be amended.
(2) To this end, common, harmonised rules should be laid down for all these quotas with regard to the deadline for submitting import licence applications, stating that this deadline must always be Friday at 13:00, as well as detailed rules concerning the communication of information by Member States to the Commission.
(3) As regards quotas in the rice sector, the possibility should be provided, in a harmonised way, for an operator to give up quantities below 20 tonnes when this has been allocated to him following application of an allocation coefficient.
(4) Regarding Regulation (EC) No 955/2005 in particular, it should be specified that the rules applicable to the transport document and the proof of preferential origin on release for free circulation of the product are set out in Protocol IV to Council Decision 2004/635/EC of 21 April 2004 on the conclusion of a Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt, of the other part (12).
(5) Regulations (EC) No 2058/96, (EC) No 2375/2002, (EC) No 2377/2002, (EC) No 2305/2003, (EC) No 955/2005, (EC) No 969/2006 and (EC) No 1964/2006 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(6) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,