Commission Regulation (EC) No 594/2001 of 27 March 2001 amending Regulation (EC) No 1374/98 laying down detailed rules for the application of the import arrangements and opening tariff quotas for milk and milk products

Commission Regulation (EC) No 594/2001
of 27 March 2001
amending Regulation (EC) No 1374/98 laying down detailed rules for the application of the import arrangements and opening tariff quotas for milk and milk products
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in milk and milk products(1), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1670/2000(2), and in particular Article 26(3) and Article 29(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Article 3(a) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1374/98 of 29 June 1998 laying down detailed rules for the application of the import arrangements and opening tariff quotas for milk and milk products(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1998/2000(4), lays down that the classification of certain cheeses is subject to the presentation of a licence issued in accordance with Article 23. Article 23(3) and (4) clearly state that the headings concerned are reserved exclusively for preferential imports from Switzerland under the special arrangements that the Community has concluded with that country. Given that IMA 1 certificates are no longer used when those products are imported, Article 3(b) no longer makes any sense. In the interests of clarity, Article 3 should therefore be updated.
(2) Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1374/98 permits operators to submit a licence application for each CN code under the "minimum access" quotas referred to in Annex II. This has resulted in excessive numbers of applications, leading to a heavy workload for the competent departments of the Member States and the Commission and financial costs to operators. The provisions concerned should be amended to restrict operators to just one application per serial number.
(3) Article 21 of Chapter III of Regulation (EC) No 1374/98, which lays down the detailed rules for the application of the non-quota preferential import arrangements, lists the products covered by those arrangements. CN codes 0406 90 02 to 0406 90 06, which are covered, inter alia, by Council Decision 69/352/EEC of 6 October 1969 concluding a tariff agreement with Switzerland concerning certain cheeses listed in position ex 4.04 of the Common Customs Tariff(5) and listed in Article 23 of Regulation (EC) No 1374/98, are not listed in Article 21. An addition should therefore be made to Article 21 and it should be stipulated that "BergkĂ¤se" cheese falling within CN codes 0406 90 02 to 0406 90 06 is not covered by the said tariff agreement.
(4) Article 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2000 of 18 September 2000 introducing exceptional trade measures for countries and territories participating in or linked to the European Union's Stabilisation and Association process, amending Regulation (EC) No 2820/98, and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1763/1999 and (EC) No 6/2000(6), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 2563/2000(7), provides for the import of milk and milk products into the Community without quantitative restrictions or measures having equivalent effect and with exemption from customs duties and charges having equivalent effect. Those exceptional measures go beyond the concessions granted to those countries in the form of reduced duties laid down in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1374/98. Those countries should be deleted from that Annex and consequently from Annex VII.
(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products,