1.   The release for free circulation in the Community of the steel products set out in Article 1 originating in the Russian Federation shall be subject to the presentation of an import licence issued by the Member States' authorities in accordance with the provisions of Article 4.

2.   In order to ensure that quantities for which import licences are issued do not exceed at any moment the total quantitative limits, the competent authorities of the Member States listed in Annex II shall issue import licences only upon confirmation by the Commission that there are still quantities available within the quantitative limits.

3.   For the purposes of this Regulation and as from the date of its application, shipment of products shall be considered as having taken place on the date on which they were loaded on to the exporting means of transport. Shipment must take place no later than 31 December 2004.

1.   The quantitative limits referred to in Article 1 shall not apply to products placed in a free zone or free warehouse or imported under the arrangements governing customs warehouses, temporary importation or inward processing (suspension system).

2.   Where the products referred to in paragraph 1 are subsequently released for free circulation, either in the unaltered state or after working or processing, Article 2(2) shall apply and the products so released shall be counted against the quantitative limit set out in Article 1.

1.   For the purpose of applying Article 2(2), before issuing import licences, the competent authorities of the Member States listed in Annex II shall notify the Commission of the amounts of the requests for import licences which they have received. By return, the Commission shall notify whether the requested amounts of quantities are available for importation in the chronological order in which the notifications of the Member States have been received (first-come, first-served basis). The import licence shall then be issued within five working days of the positive confirmation of the Commission.

2.   The requests included in the notifications to the Commission shall be valid if they establish clearly in each case the exporting country, the amounts to be imported, the quota period, the Member State in which the products are intended to be put into free circulation and the specific code to identify the products referred to in Article 1. The necessary technical modalities for the proper management of these quantitative limits shall be agreed within the Steel Liaison Committee.

3.   The notifications referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be communicated electronically within the integrated network set up for this purpose, unless for imperative technical reasons it is necessary to use other means of communication temporarily.

4.   As far as possible, the Commission shall confirm to the authorities the full amount indicated in the requests notified.

5.   The import licences or equivalent documents shall be issued in accordance with Annex I.

6.   Import licences issued in accordance with this Regulation shall be valid throughout the customs territory of the Community. A Community importer may apply for an import licence with any of the competent authorities.

7.   The importer's application shall be made no later than 31 December 2004 and shall include the following elements:

8.   The period of validity of the import licence is hereby fixed at four months. Upon duly motivated request by an importer, the competent authorities of a Member State may extend the duration of validity for a period of two months.

9.   The competent national authorities may allow the submission of declarations or requests to be transmitted or printed by electronic means, under the conditions fixed by them. However, all documents and evidence shall be available to the competent national authorities.

10.   The import licence may be issued by electronic means, as long as the customs offices involved have access to the document via a computer network.

11.   The importers shall be under no obligation to import in one consignment the total quantity mentioned in an import licence.

1.   A finding that the unit price at which the transaction is effected varies from that indicated in the import licence by less than 5 % in either direction or that the total quantity of the products presented for import exceeds the quantity given in the import licence by less than 5 % shall not preclude the release for free circulation of the products in question.

2.   Applications for import licence and the documents themselves shall be confidential. They shall be restricted to the competent national authorities and the applicant.