(1)

Regulation (EC) No 3223/94 lays down, pursuant to the outcome of the Uruguay Round multilateral trade negotiations, the criteria whereby the Commission fixes the standard values for imports from third countries, in respect of the products and periods stipulated in the Annex thereto.

(2)

In compliance with the above criteria, the standard import values must be fixed at the levels set out in the Annex to this Regulation,

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 733/2007 of 22 February 2007 concerning the implementation of the Agreement between the European Community and the Government of Canada on the conclusion of GATT Article XXIV:6 Negotiations, amending and supplementing Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff (3), provides, per calendar year, for a tariff quota for the import of certain preparations of a kind used in animal feeding falling within CN code 2309 90 at a customs duty of 7 % ad valorem.

(2)

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (4), brings together the management rules applicable to tariff quotas to be used in the chronological order of the dates of the customs declarations and to the monitoring of imports under a preferential regime. To harmonise the management of this new tariff quota with that of similar quotas, its management should be incorporated into the relevant provision.

(3)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2133/2001 (5) should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Cereals,

(1)

Applications for import licences were submitted to the competent authority during the period from 9 to 20 July 2007, in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 950/2006 or Commission Regulation (EC) No 1832/2006 of 13 December 2006 laying down transitional measures in the sugar sector by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania (3) for a total quantity equal to or exceeding the quantity available for serial number 09.4346 (2006 to 2007).

(2)

In these circumstances, the Commission should fix an allocation coefficient in order to issue licences in proportion to the quantity available and inform the Member States that the set limit has been reached,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 42 of the Act of Accession of Bulgaria and Romania, the Commission may adopt transitional measures if these transitional measures are necessary to facilitate the transition from the existing regime in the new Member States to that resulting from the application of the Community veterinary and phytosanitary rules. Those rules include the rules in respect of marketing of forest reproductive material.

(2)

Council Directive 1999/105/EC of 22 December 1999 on the marketing of forest reproductive material (1) provides that forest reproductive material may be marketed only if the requirements of Article 6(1) and (3) of that Directive are met.

(3)

Directive 1999/105/EC allows to market until exhaustion stocks of forest reproductive material accumulated before 1 January 2003.

(4)

Bulgaria and Romania have informed the Commission and the other Member States of the existence of stocks of forest reproductive material produced in their territories from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2006. Marketing of such material would not be permitted unless a derogation from the provisions of Directive 1999/105/EC is granted.

(5)

In order to enable those countries to market stocks of reproductive material produced from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2006, they should be allowed to market in their territories until 31 December 2009 reproductive material which was produced during the above period in accordance with their national provisions as applicable at the time of production.

(6)

Labels or accompanying documents should indicate that such material may only be marketed in the Member State where it was produced.

(7)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Seeds and Propagating Material for Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry,

(1)

On 12 December 2003, the European Council adopted a European Security Strategy which calls for an international order based on effective multilateralism. In a world of global threats, global markets and global media, the security and prosperity of the EU increasingly depend on an effective multilateral system. The development of a stronger international society, well functioning international institutions and a rule-based international order is an objective of the EU.

(2)

The European Security Strategy acknowledges the United Nations Charter as the fundamental framework for international relations. Strengthening the United Nations, equipping it to fulfil its responsibilities and to act effectively, is a European priority.

(3)

The 1980 United Nations convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects, concluded at Geneva on 10 October 1980, as amended on 21 December 2001, is also known as the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (hereinafter ‘CCW’) and it regulates the use in armed conflict of certain conventional arms deemed to cause excessive suffering to combatants or indiscriminate harm to civilian populations. The CCW is based upon the principle of international law that the right of the parties to an armed conflict to choose methods or means of warfare is not unlimited, and on the principle that prohibits the use in armed conflicts of weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering.

(4)

On 6 December 2006, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on the CCW in which it calls upon all States that have not yet done so to take all measures to become parties, as soon as possible, to the CCW and the Protocols annexed thereto, as amended, with a view to achieving the widest possible adherence to those instruments at an early date, and so as to ultimately achieve their universality.

(5)

The most recent of the Protocols annexed to the CCW, Protocol V on Explosive Remnants of War was adopted on 28 November 2003 by the Meeting of the States Parties to the CCW (Protocol V). The Protocol V, which is the first multilaterally negotiated instrument to deal with the problem of unexploded and abandoned ordnance, is intended to eradicate the daily threat that such legacies of wars pose to populations in need for development and to humanitarian aid workers operating in the field to help them. Since its adoption, 32 States have thus far notified the UN Secretary-General, as depositary of the CCW, of their consent to be bound by Protocol V. Pursuant to Article 5 paragraph 3 of the CCW, Protocol V entered into force on 12 November 2006. The entry into force of Protocol V demonstrates that the CCW has the potential of being a dynamic instrument responsive to advancements in weapons technology and developments in the nature and conduct of armed conflict.

(6)

Despite great progress towards universal adherence, almost half of the UN Member States have not yet ratified or otherwise acceded to the CCW and its annexed Protocols. The rate of adherence remains low in Africa, Asia, in particular South-East Asia, and the Middle East. However, half of the States not yet Party to the CCW are affected by mines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW). Universalisation of the CCW and all its annexed Protocols will remain a priority objective among States Parties in the period from 2006 to 2011.

(7)

The third Review Conference of the States Parties of the CCW, held in Geneva from 7 to 17 November 2006 adopted a Plan of Action to Promote the Universality of the CCW, which sets the goals of strengthening the implementation of the CCW and its annexed Protocols, promoting universalisation and enhanced cooperation among States Parties, as well as a Sponsorship Programme.

(8)

The Plan of Action to Promote the Universality of the CCW identifies the important role to be played by the Regional Centres for Peace and Disarmament of the UN, as well as by regional organisations as appropriate, in coordinating regional actions in accordance with the characteristics of each region, mostly in those where acceptance of the CCW remains low.

(9)

The Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement, concluded between the European Community, on the one hand, and the UN, on the other hand, sets out a framework for the UN and the Community, in order to enhance their cooperation, including programmatic partnership,