Commission Regulation (EC) No 597/2002 of 5 April 2002 amending Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 on rules of application (cereal sector import duties) for Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on the common organisation of the market in cereals

Commission Regulation (EC) No 597/2002
of 5 April 2002
amending Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 on rules of application (cereal sector import duties) for Council Regulation (EEC) No 1766/92 on the common organisation of the market in cereals
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 10(4) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Article 2(4) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1249/96(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2104/2001(4), provides for the issue by the customs authority at the port of unloading of a certificate attesting the quantity of each product unloaded. However, the Regulation does not lay down the format of that certificate and this has caused a lack of harmonisation. In order to overcome that problem therefore, a model certificate should be included.
(2) In particular, exceptional circumstances, the representative cif prices calculated in accordance with Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 result in a duty being fixed for lower quality common wheat that is less than that for higher quality common wheat. The lower duty should be applied to the qualities concerned.
(3) Under Article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 1249/96, where the duty on the quality to be imported is not the highest duty for the product concerned, importers of common and durum wheat must lodge a specific security additional to those required under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1162/95(5) as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2298/2001(6). The purpose of that guarantee is to ensure that the duty applicable to the quality imported is paid. Where the duty applicable to each quality is zero, that guarantee is no longer necessary.
(4) Article 6(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1249/96 provides for the customs authorities to take representative samples of certain products on import in order to determine the rate of duty applicable on the basis of the quality of the product. Where the import duty is the same for the different qualities of the same product, the taking of samples to achieve the above objective no longer has any point.
(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,