Commission Regulation (EC) No 2339/96 of 6 December 1996 establishing rules for the management and distribution of textile quotas established for the year 1997 pursuant to Council Regulation (EC) No 517/94

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2339/96 of 6 December 1996 establishing rules for the management and distribution of textile quotas established for the year 1997 pursuant to 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 1937/96 (2), and in particular Articles 17 (3) and (6) and 21 (2) and (3) thereof, in conjunction with Article 25 (3) thereof,
Whereas the Council, through 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 would be allocated in chronological order of receipt of notifications from the Member States according to the principle of first come, first served;
Whereas Article 17 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 517/94 stipulates that it is possible, in certain circumstances, to make use of allocation methods which differ from the method based exclusively on the chronological order of receipt of notifications from Member States, as well as to envisage the division of the quotas into tranches or to set aside part of a specific quantitative limit exclusively for applications which are backed up by proof of the results of previous imports;
Whereas it is advisable, in order not to affect unduly the continuity of trade flows, to adopt rules for management and distribution of the quotas established for 1997 pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 517/94 before the quota year begins;
Whereas past experience of the administration of the quantitative restrictions in Annexes IIIB and IV to Regulation (EC) No 517/94 has furthermore revealed that quota-allocation arrangements which set aside some of the available quantities for traditional operators could have the effect of restricting trade, since the failure of traditional operators to use up all of the quantities set aside for them left an unused balance to which new operators found access difficult;
Whereas the fact that little use has been made of most of the quantitative quotas set aside for traditional operators and the fact that Regulation (EC) No 1937/96 has recently increased the quantities available in certain categories suggest that it is no longer necessary to set aside part of the available quantities for what have been termed 'traditional operators`;
Whereas in order to satisfy the greatest possible number of operators it therefore seems appropriate to make the 'first come, first served` allocation method based on the chronological order of receipt of the notifications from Member States more flexible by placing a ceiling on the quantities which can be allocated to each operator by that method;
Whereas efforts should nevertheless be made to guarantee a degree of continuity in trade; whereas this consideration and the desirability of efficient quota administration make it appropriate for operators to be allowed to make their initial import authorization application for 1997 equivalent to the quantity (for each textile category and each third country) which they imported in 1996;
Whereas it has also proved necessary to revise the maximum quantities previously established for certain categories in order to allow commercially significant transactions to take place;
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 it is appropriate for the sake of sound administration to make import authorizations valid for nine months from the date of issue and to stipulate that the Member States can issue licences only after being notified of the Commission's decision and only if an operator can prove the existence of a contract and certify (except where specifically provided otherwise) that he has not already been allocated a Community import authorization under this Regulation for the categories and countries concerned; whereas the competent national authorities are however authorized, in response to importers' applications, to extend by three months and up to 31 March 1998 licences of which at least 60 % has been used by the application date;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion expressed by the Committee established by Regulation (EC) No 517/94,