Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1239/2011 of 30 November 2011 opening a standing invitation to tender for the 2011/2012 marketing year for imports of sugar of CN code 1701 at a reduced customs duty

1.12.2011 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 318/4
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 1239/2011
of 30 November 2011
opening a standing invitation to tender for the 2011/2012 marketing year for imports of sugar of CN code 1701 at a reduced customs duty
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
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 Article 187, in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,
Whereas:
(1) The world market prices for sugar have been at a level close to or even above the Union internal market price for several months. Forecasts of world market prices based on the sugar futures exchange markets of New York and London for the terms of March, May and July 2012 further indicate a constant high world market price. Imports from third countries benefiting from certain preferential agreements are therefore expected to increase only moderately during the 2011/2012 marketing year.
(2) The forecasted Union sugar balance for the 2011/2012 marketing year indicates a negative difference between availability and utilisation. The resulting low level of ending stocks threatens to disrupt the availability of supply of the Union sugar market.
(3) For that reason and with the view to increasing the supply, it is necessary to make imports easier through the reduction of the import duty for certain quantities of sugar, in a way similar to that provided for in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 634/2011 of 29 June 2011 opening a standing invitation to tender for the 2010/2011 marketing year for imports of sugar of CN code 1701 at a reduced customs duty (2). The quantity and the reduction of the duty should be assessed in the light of the current state and foreseeable development of the Union and world sugar market. The quantity and reduction should therefore be based on a tendering system.
(4) The minimum eligibility requirements to tender should be specified.
(5) A security should be lodged for each tender. That security should become the security for the import licence application in the case of a successful tender and be released when a tender is unsuccessful.
(6) The competent authorities of the Member States should notify the Commission of the admissible tenders. In order to simplify and standardise those notifications, models should be made available.
(7) For each partial invitation to tender, provision should be made for the Commission to fix a minimum customs duty and, if appropriate, an allocation coefficient in order to reduce the quantities accepted, or to decide not to fix a minimum customs duty.
(8) Member States should inform the tenderers of the result of their participation in the partial invitation to tender within a short period.
(9) It should be made clear that during the first 3 months of the marketing year import licences for raw sugar for refining are to be issued only to full time refiners.
(10) The competent authorities should notify the Commission of the quantities for which import licenses have been issued. For this purpose, models should be made available by the Commission.
(11) The Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its Chair,