Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 of 7 May 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community
Modified by
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1613/2001of 7 August 2001amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community, 32001R1613, August 8, 2001
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2351/2001of 30 November 2001amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community, 32001R2351, December 1, 2001
Commission Regulation (EC) No 349/2002of 25 February 2002amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community, 32002R0349, February 26, 2002
Commission Regulation (EC) No 323/2003of 20 February 2003amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 as regards the list of national authorities competent to apply the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community, 32003R0323, February 21, 2003
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1303/2003of 23 July 2003amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community, 32003R1303, July 24, 2003
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1439/2003of 12 August 2003amending Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community, 32003R1439, August 13, 2003
Commission Regulation (EC) No 838/2004of 28 April 2004on transitional measures for imports of bananas into the Community by reason of the accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, 32004R0838, April 29, 2004
Commission Regulation (EC) No 219/2006of 8 February 2006opening and providing for the administration of the tariff quota for bananas falling under CN code 08030019 originating in ACP countries for the period 1 March to 31 December 2006, 32006R0219, February 9, 2006
Corrected by
Corrigendum to Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/2001 of 7 May 2001 laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community, 32001R0896R(01), May 16, 2001
Commission Regulation (EC) No 896/2001of 7 May 2001laying down detailed rules for applying Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the arrangements for importing bananas into the CommunityTHE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 of 13 February 1993 on the common organisation of the market in bananasOJ L 47, 25.2.1993, p. 1., as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 216/2001OJ L 31, 2.2.2001, p. 2., and in particular Article 20 thereof,Whereas:(1)By Regulation (EC) No 216/2001 the Council amended the rules for importing bananas introduced by Title IV of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93. In particular, that Regulation opened an autonomous C tariff quota of 850000 tonnes at EUR 300/tonne customs duty in addition to the 2200000 tonnes secured under the world Trade Organisation (WTO) and the additional quota of 353000 tonnes. All the provisions necessary to implement those rules should be adopted, including such transitional measures as are justified by the entry into force of this Regulation on 1 July 2001, as well as provisions concerning imports at the Common Customs Tariff rate.(2)Under the last subparagraph of Article 18(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, where there is no agreement with World Trade Organisation contracting parties with a substantial interest in the supply of bananas, the tariff quotas "A" and "B" need not be allocated among supplier countries.(3)Article 19 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 provides that the tariff quotas may be managed in accordance with the method based on taking account of traditional trade flows ("traditional/newcomers") and/or other methods. To implement the new arrangements from the second half of 2001, it is advisable to grant access to the tariff quotas to traditional operators who have undertaken on their own account the purchase of fresh products from producers in third countries, or their production, as well as their dispatch to and unloading in the customs territory of the Community, during a reference period. For the purposes of this Regulation, these activities are called "primary imports".(4)A single definition of traditional operators should be adopted for all tariff quotas, and their reference quantities should be determined according to the same rules, but separately depending on whether these operators have supplied the Community market with bananas originating in non-ACP third countries and non-traditional imports from ACP States or with traditional ACP bananas during the reference period, within the meaning of the definitions in Article 16 of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 applicable before the amendment introduced by Regulation (EC) No 216/2001.(5)The reference period to be used for defining categories of operators and determining the reference quantities of traditional operators should be the three-year period 1994 to 1996. The three-year period 1994 to 1996 is the most recent for which the Commission has sufficiently reliable data on primary imports. Using that period can also resolve a dispute which has been going on for a number of years with certain of the Community's trading partners. In the light of the available data established for the purpose of administering the quotas opened in 1998, traditional operators need not be registered.(6)A share of the tariff quotas must be reserved for non-traditional operators. That share must allow operators who did not carry out any primary imports during the reference period to continue trading and to adapt to the new rules and to allow new operators to enter this import trade, thereby encouraging healthy competition.(7)Experience from several years of applying the Community banana import arrangements indicates the need to tighten the criteria for non-traditional operators and the eligibility criteria for new operators so as to avoid the registration of purely fictious agents and the grant of allocations in response to artificial or speculative applications. In particular, it is justifiable to demand a minimum of experience in importing fresh bananas. Also, to avoid applications for annual allocations which bear little relation to operators' actual capacities and which will not lead to applications for import licences for the corresponding quantities, submission of an application for import licences for the corresponding quantities, submission of an application for an annual allocation should be subject to the requirement that a security in lieu of the import licence security be lodged. That security should be released without delay in stages as operators actually use up their annual allocations and furnish proof that they have dispatched the goods and unloaded them in the Community and had them released for free circulation on their own account. For the same purpose, the grant of an annual allocation in subsequent years should be made subject to a minimum rate of use of the previous annual allocation.(8)Operators should be remineded that they may form mergers or groupings on terms and conditions defined in national legislation in order to meet their obligations and exercise the rights arising under this Regulation.(9)Rules should be adopted for registering non-traditional operators and determining their annual allocations and the verifications and checks to be carried out by the competent national authorities should be specified, as should the action to be taken in the event that certain obligations are not fulfilled, in particular as regards registration and declarations made for the purpose of obtaining allocations under the import arrangements.(10)For the purposes of implementing the tariff quota arrangements on 1 July 2001, it is appropriate to maintain the administrative rules based on periods as created by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 of 28 October 1998 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 regarding imports of bananas into the CommunityOJ L 293, 31.10.1998, p. 32., as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1632/2000OJ L 187, 26.7.2000, p. 6., with adjustments where necessary. Those rules relate in particular to fixing the indicative quantities for the first three quarters, the ceilings for individual applications, the frequency for the submission of licence applications and for the issue of licences, and the issue of licences for the re-use of unused quantities. However, the fact that tariff quotas A and B on the one hand and C on the other are managed separately as regards the share allocated to traditional operators means that those operators may submit licence applications only under the tariff quota for which they have been granted and notified of a reference quantity.(11)For the purposes of Article 18(6) and (7) of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93, there is a need to define the items making up the balance sheet of production, consumption, imports and exports which has to be established before an increase in the autonomous quota can be made in the event of an increase in demand or of exceptional circumstances affecting supplies to the Community market.(12)Except where derogations are explicitly provided for, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1291/2000 of 9 June 2000 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance-fixing certificates for agricultural productsOJ L 152, 24.6.2000, p. 1., as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 369/2001OJ L 55, 24.2.2001, p. 41., should apply. Pursuant to Article 9 of that Regulation, rights resulting from licences may be transferred by the holder only once per licence or per extract from a licence during the term of validity thereof.(13)The rules for transferring licences should be specified in the light of the definition of operator categories established by this Regulation. Transfer restricted to a single transferee per licence or extract therefrom will allow trade relations to develop between the various registered operators. However, artificial trade, speculation or disturbance of normal trade should not be encouraged by permitting transfer from non-traditional operators to traditional operators.(14)All the necessary communications between operators, Member States and the Commission in pursuance of this Regulation should be specified, in particular for the purpose of establishing operators' reference quantities and allocations, administering tariff quotas by period and market monitoring.(15)Under the transitional measures necessitated by the application of the new arrangements on 1 July 2001, derogations should be provided for from administrative rules on the timetable for registering non-traditional operators and on the transmission to the competent national authorities of the documentary evidence relating to their registration.(16)Further, the quantities which can be imported for the third quarter of 2001 under the tariff quotas should be determined and the ceiling for individual licence applications from operators and a strict timetable for the submission of those applications should be fixed.(17)The changes made by this Regulation to the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community to define non-traditional operators call for verifications and checks by the competent national authorities, acting in cooperation with the Commission. Such operations can, if need be, lead to corrections of operators' allocations. It follows, inter alia, that those allocations may not be regarded as vested rights, nor be pleaded by operators as legitimate expectations.(18)Regulation (EC) No 2362/98 should be repealed.(19)Pursuant to Article 1 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 395/2001OJ L 58, 27.2.2001, p. 11., Regulation (EC) No 216/2001 applies from 1 July 2001. In order to enable operators to benefit under that Regualation from that date onwards, transitional measures should be enacted to allow the Member States and the Commission to assemble all the requisite information for ensuring that licences are used from 1 July 2001 onwards.(20)The Management Committee for Bananas has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its Chairman,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: