Commission Regulation (EC) No 1157/2003 of 30 June 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards the import arrangements for milk and milk products and opening tariff quotas, and derogating from that Regulation

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1157/2003
of 30 June 2003
amending Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EC) No 1255/1999 as regards the import arrangements for milk and milk products and opening tariff quotas, and derogating from that Regulation
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 last amended by Regulation (EC) No 806/2003(2), and in particular Article 29(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 787/2003(4), lays down, inter alia, detailed rules for the application to milk and milk products of the import arrangements provided for in the Europe Agreements between the Community and its Member States, of the one part, and certain Central and East European countries, of the other part. In order to implement the concessions provided for by Council Decision 2003/286/EC of 8 April 2003 on the conclusion of a Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Bulgaria, of the other part(5), the new import tariff quotas should be opened and certain existing quotas should be increased.
(2) Council Decision 2003/285/EC(6), which approved the Protocol adjusting the trade aspects of the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Hungary, of the other part, to take account of the outcome of negotiations between the Parties on new mutual agricultural concessions, repealed Council Regulation (EC) No 1408/2002(7). The references made to that Regulation in Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 should, therefore, be replaced.
(3) Council Decision 2003/465/EC of 16 June 2003 concerning the conclusion of the Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Community and the Kingdom of Norway concerning certain agricultural products(8), provides inter alia for changes in the quotas for cheese imports into the Community. The agreement also relates to replacing the method of managing these quotas, currently based on the issuing of IMA 1 certificates as described in Chapter III, Title 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001, by managing them on the basis of an import licence alone, as provided for in Chapter I, Title 2 of the said Regulation.
(4) The details relating to the issuing body for Canada, set out in Annex XII to Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001, should be updated.
(5) Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 should be amended accordingly.
(6) Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 lays down that the licence applications may be lodged only during the first 10 days of each six-month period. In order to enable this Regulation to be implemented correctly and ensure that all the importers concerned have 10 days to lodge applications for the second half of 2003, provision should be made to derogate from the said Article.
(7) Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2535/2001 lays down that applicants for import licences must be approved in advance by the competent authority of the Member States in which they are established. Provision should be made to derogate from the said Article and from Article 11 in the case of importers wishing, for the period 1 July 2003 to 31 December 2003, to have access to the quotas provided for in the Agreement with Norway.
(8) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Milk and Milk Products,