(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)

Article 13(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 and Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 provide that the difference between quotations or prices on the world market for the products listed in Article 1 of each of those Regulations and the prices within the Community may be covered by an export refund.

(2)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005 of 30 June 2005 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 3448/93 as regards the system of granting export refunds on certain agricultural products exported in the form of goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty, and the criteria for fixing the amount of such refunds (3), specifies the products for which a rate of refund is to be fixed, to be applied where these products are exported in the form of goods listed in Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 or in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 as appropriate.

(3)

In accordance with the first paragraph of Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005, the rate of the refund per 100 kilograms for each of the basic products in question is to be fixed each month.

(4)

The commitments entered into with regard to refunds which may be granted for the export of agricultural products contained in goods not covered by Annex I to the Treaty may be jeopardised by the fixing in advance of high refund rates. It is therefore necessary to take precautionary measures in such situations without, however, preventing the conclusion of long-term contracts. The fixing of a specific refund rate for the advance fixing of refunds is a measure which enables these various objectives to be met.

(5)

Taking into account the settlement between the European Community and the United States of America on Community exports of pasta products to the United States, approved by Council Decision 87/482/EEC (4), it is necessary to differentiate the refund on goods falling within CN codes 1902 11 00 and 1902 19 according to their destination.

(6)

Pursuant to Article 15(2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 1043/2005, a reduced rate of export refund has to be fixed, taking account of the amount of the production refund applicable, pursuant to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1722/93 (5), for the basic product in question, used during the assumed period of manufacture of the goods.

(7)

Spirituous beverages are considered less sensitive to the price of the cereals used in their manufacture. However, Protocol 19 of the Act of Accession of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark provides that the necessary measures must be decided to facilitate the use of Community cereals in the manufacture of spirituous beverages obtained from cereals. Accordingly, it is necessary to adapt the refund rate applying to cereals exported in the form of spirituous beverages.

(8)

The Management Committee for Cereals has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,

(1)

Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 1784/2003 and Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 provide that the difference between quotations or prices on the world market for the products listed in Article 1 of those Regulations and prices for those products within the Community may be covered by an export refund.

(2)

Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 1785/2003 provides that when refunds are being fixed account must be taken of the existing situation and the future trend with regard to prices and availabilities of cereals, rice and broken rice on the Community market on the one hand and prices for cereals, rice, broken rice and cereal products on the world market on the other. The same Articles provide that it is also important to ensure equilibrium and the natural development of prices and trade on the markets in cereals and rice and, furthermore, to take into account the economic aspect of the proposed exports, and the need to avoid disturbances on the Community market.

(3)

Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1518/95 (3) on the import and export system for products processed from cereals and from rice defines the specific criteria to be taken into account when the refund on these products is being calculated.

(4)

The refund to be granted in respect of certain processed products should be graduated on the basis of the ash, crude fibre, tegument, protein, fat and starch content of the individual product concerned, this content being a particularly good indicator of the quantity of basic product actually incorporated in the processed product.

(5)

There is no need at present to fix an export refund for manioc, other tropical roots and tubers or flours obtained therefrom, given the economic aspect of potential exports and in particular the nature and origin of these products. For certain products processed from cereals, the insignificance of Community participation in world trade makes it unnecessary to fix an export refund at the present time.

(6)

The world market situation or the specific requirements of certain markets may make it necessary to vary the refund for certain products according to destination.

(7)

The refund must be fixed once a month. It may be altered in the intervening period.

(8)

Certain processed maize products may undergo a heat treatment following which a refund might be granted that does not correspond to the quality of the product; whereas it should therefore be specified that on these products, containing pregelatinised starch, no export refund is to be granted.

(9)

The Management Committee for Cereals has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its chairman,

(1)

Article 32 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 provides that the difference between prices on the world market for the products listed in Article 1(1)(b) of that Regulation and prices for those products on the Community market may be covered by an export refund.

(2)

Given the present situation on the sugar market, export refunds should therefore be fixed in accordance with the rules and certain criteria provided for in Articles 32 and 33 of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006.

(3)

The first subparagraph of Article 33(2) of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 provides that the world market situation or the specific requirements of certain markets may make it necessary to vary the refund according to destination.

(4)

Refunds should be granted only on products that are allowed to move freely in the Community and that comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 318/2006.

(5)

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

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 900/2007 of 27 July 2007 on a standing invitation to tender to determine refunds on exports of white sugar for the 2007/2008 marketing year (2) requires the issuing of partial invitations to tender.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 900/2007 and following an examination of the tenders submitted in response to the partial invitation to tender ending on 13 September 2007, it is appropriate to fix a maximum export refund for that partial invitation to tender.

(3)

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

(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 38/2007 of 17 January 2007 opening a standing invitation to tender for the resale for export of sugar held by the intervention agencies of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden (2) requires the issuing of partial invitations to tender.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 4(1) of Regulation (EC) No 38/2007 and following an examination of the tenders submitted in response to the partial invitation to tender ending on 12 September 2007, it is appropriate to decide that no award shall be made for that partial invitation to tender.

(3)

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

(1)

Pursuant to Article 63(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999, to the extent necessary to enable the products listed in Article 1(2)(a) and (b) of that Regulation to be exported on the basis of the prices for those products on the world market and within the limits of the Agreements concluded in accordance with Article 300 of the Treaty, the difference between those prices and the prices in the Community may be covered by an export refund.

(2)

The amounts and destinations for refunds are to be fixed periodically taking account of the existing situation and likely trends with regard to the prices and availability of the products concerned on the Community market and the world market prices for those products.

(3)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 2805/95 (2) should therefore be amended accordingly.

(4)

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

(1)

A Community Mechanism to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions, hereinafter ‘the Mechanism’, was established by Council Decision 2001/792/EC, Euratom (2). Commission Decision 2004/277/EC, Euratom (3) lays down rules for the implementation thereof. It is necessary to refer to that Decision for the definitions of participating States and third countries.

(2)

Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom makes special provisions to fund certain transport resources in the event of a major emergency to facilitate a rapid and effective response thereto.

(3)

It is necessary to establish the rules and procedures concerning the requests made by the participating States to obtain financial support from the Community to transport their assistance to the affected country and the handling of those requests by the Commission. To that end, it is necessary to establish the rules and procedures to follow with regard to the pooling or identifying of transport resources since one of the conditions for the provision of financial support is that all other possibilities for finding transport under the Mechanism have been exhausted. To ensure a rapid and effective response of the Community to major emergencies it is necessary to set a period on expiry of which requests for Community financing may become eligible.

(4)

For reasons of transparency, coherence and effectiveness it is necessary to establish the information to be provided in the requests for transport support and related replies by the Participating States and the Commission.

(5)

Where Community financial assistance may be provided in accordance with Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom, participating States should have the choice to request either a grant or a transport service.

(6)

It is necessary to define the information to be taken into account in order to determine whether the criteria set out in points (i) and (iii) of Article 4(2)(c) of Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom and the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the Financial Regulation are met.

(7)

It is necessary to define the eligible costs since under Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom the financial assistance from the Community may take the form of grants or public procurement contracts implemented in accordance with Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (4).

(8)

Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom provides that Member States requesting financial support from the Community for the transport of their assistance are to reimburse at least 50 % of the Community funds received within 180 days of the intervention. It is necessary to establish rules and procedures for that purpose. The costs incurred by the Commission are to be considered as funds received by Member States within the meaning of Article 4(3) of Decision 2007/162/EC, Euratom.

(9)

Since it is the responsibility of Member States to provide equipment and transport for the civil protection assistance they offer in the framework of the Mechanism, and since the Commission has only a supporting role in financing additional transport resources at the request of Member States, it is necessary to safeguard the financial interests of the Community concerning compensation for possible damage by providing that the participating State requesting transport support shall refrain from making any request for compensation from the Community where such damage is the consequence of the provision of transport support governed by this Decision, unless it is proven to be the result of fraud or serious misconduct.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for civil protection,

(a)

‘participating State’ has the meaning assigned to it in Article 2 of Commission Decision 2004/277/EC, Euratom.

(b)

‘third countries’ has the meaning assigned to it in Article 2 of Commission Decision 2004/277/EC, Euratom.

(c)

‘affected State’ means the participating State or third country affected by a major emergency for which the Mechanism is activated.

(d)

‘participating State requesting transport support’ means the participating State, which requests support from the Mechanism to transport its assistance to the affected State.

(e)

‘civil protection assistance’ means civil protection teams, experts or modules with their equipment as well as relief materials or supplies needed to mitigate the immediate consequences of an emergency.

(a)

costs related to the movement of the transport resources to the point of dispatch in the territory of the participating State offering the civil protection assistance including the costs of all services, fees, logistical and handling costs, fuel and possible accommodation costs as well as other indirect costs such as taxes, duties in general and transit costs;

(b)

costs incurred from the point of dispatch in the territory of the participating State offering the civil protection assistance to its final destination, including the costs of all services, fees, logistical and handling costs, fuel and possible accommodation costs as well as other indirect costs such as taxes, duties in general and transit costs;

(c)

costs necessary for the return journey of the transport assets and any teams and their equipment.

(1)

Annex V, point C(2)(e), and Annex VI, point E(3)(e), to Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine (1) set the minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume for table wines and quality wines psr in zone C II which may be the subject of enrichment.

(2)

By way of derogation from these limits, under Annex XIII, Chapter 5(A), to the Act of Accession of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia this minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume may be derogated from in the case of table wines and quality wines psr from the Primorska wine area in zone C II in Slovenia in the three consecutive wine years 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07, but may not be lower than that set for zone C I (a). At the end of this period Slovenia is to submit a detailed report on the minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of the grapes observed in the three years in question.

(3)

On 24 April 2007 Slovenia submitted a detailed report on the minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of the grapes harvested in the Primorska wine area, including Teran PTP Kras quality wine psr. However, as the three years in which these measures were carried out were characterised by exceptionally and abnormally good weather conditions, the Slovenian authorities believe that the values observed are not representative of the conditions normally encountered in this region and cannot be conclusive in fixing the normal natural alcoholic strength by volume for the region. They have therefore requested an extension of the period of the derogation from the minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume for these grapes.

(4)

In accordance with the conditions laid down for this derogation, the period covered should therefore be extended by two further wine years, to the 2007/08 and 2008/09 wine years, to enable table wines and quality wines psr in the Primorska wine area, including Teran PTP Kras quality wine psr, to reach the minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume,

(1)

Commission Decision 2007/554/EC of 9 August 2007 concerning certain protection measures against foot-and-mouth disease in the United Kingdom (3) was adopted following recent outbreaks of that disease in that Member State. That Decision is to apply until 15 September 2007.

(2)

Decision 2007/554/EC defines the high and low risk areas in the affected Member States and provides for a prohibition on the dispatch of susceptible animals from the high and low risk areas and on the dispatch of products derived from susceptible animals from the high risk area. The Decision also provides for the rules applicable to the dispatch from those areas of safe products that either had been produced before the restrictions, from raw material sourced from outside the restricted areas or that had undergone a treatment proven effective in inactivating possible foot-and-mouth disease virus.

(3)

Until 15 September 2007 Annexes I and II to Decision 2007/554/EC limit the high and low risk areas respectively to the perimeters of the consolidated surveillance zone around the two outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease confirmed in the beginning of August 2007, which was maintained until 8 September in accordance with Article 44 of Directive 2003/85/EC of 29 September 2003 on Community measures for the control of foot-and-mouth disease repealing Directive 85/511/EEC and Decisions 89/531/EEC and 91/665/EEC and amending Directive 92/46/EEC (4).

(4)

Following a new outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on 12 September 2007 in Great Britain outside the areas described in Annexes I and II to Decision 2007/554/EC, the United Kingdom has taken measures in the framework of Council Directive 2003/85/EC and has introduced further measures within the affected areas.

(5)

The foot-and-mouth disease situation in the United Kingdom is liable to endanger the herds of other Member States in view of trade in live biungulate animals and the placing on the market of certain of their products.

(6)

Given the disease situation in the United Kingdom, it is necessary to ensure that Decision 2007/554/EC is amended before the 15 September 2007 in order to extended its application until at least 15 October 2007 and to enlarge the areas under restriction in the light of the epidemiological situation.

(7)

Decision 2007/554/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

1.

In Article 17, ‘15 September 2007’ is replaced by ‘15 October 2007’;

2.

Annexes I and II are replaced by the text in the Annex to this Decision.