(1)

In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined Nomenclature annexed to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classification of the goods referred to in the Annex to this Regulation.

(2)

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Those rules apply also to any other nomenclature which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any additional subdivision to it and which is established by specific provisions of the Union, with a view to the application of tariff and other measures relating to trade in goods.

(3)

Pursuant to those general rules, the goods described in column (1) of the table set out in the Annex should be classified under the CN code indicated in column (2), by virtue of the reasons set out in column (3) of that table.

(4)

It is appropriate to provide that binding tariff information which has been issued by the customs authorities of Member States in respect of the classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature but which is not in accordance with this Regulation can, for a period of three months, continue to be invoked by the holder, under Article 12(6) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (2).

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

(1)

In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined Nomenclature annexed to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classification of the goods referred to in the Annex to this Regulation.

(2)

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Those rules apply also to any other nomenclature which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any additional subdivision to it and which is established by specific provisions of the Union, with a view to the application of tariff and other measures relating to trade in goods.

(3)

Pursuant to those general rules, the goods described in column (1) of the table set out in the Annex should be classified under the CN code indicated in column (2), by virtue of the reasons set out in column (3) of that table.

(4)

It is appropriate to provide that binding tariff information which has been issued by the customs authorities of Member States in respect of the classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature but which is not in accordance with this Regulation can, for a period of three months, continue to be invoked by the holder, under Article 12(6) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (2).

(5)

The Customs Code Committee has not issued an opinion within the time limit set by its Chairman,

(1)

In order to ensure uniform application of the Combined Nomenclature annexed to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, it is necessary to adopt measures concerning the classification of the goods referred to in the Annex to this Regulation.

(2)

Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 has laid down the general rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature. Those rules apply also to any other nomenclature which is wholly or partly based on it or which adds any additional subdivision to it and which is established by specific provisions of the Union, with a view to the application of tariff and other measures relating to trade in goods.

(3)

Pursuant to those general rules, the goods described in column (1) of the table set out in the Annex should be classified under the CN code indicated in column (2), by virtue of the reasons set out in column (3) of that table.

(4)

It is appropriate to provide that binding tariff information which has been issued by the customs authorities of Member States in respect of the classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature but which is not in accordance with this Regulation can, for a period of three months, continue to be invoked by the holder, under Article 12(6) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code (2).

(5)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,

(1)

Pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006, France's application to register the name ‧Bœuf de Vendée‧ was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2).

(2)

As no statement of objection under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 has been received by the Commission, that name should therefore be entered in the register,

(1)

Pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006, France's application to register the name ‘Porc d'Auvergne’ was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2).

(2)

As no statement of objection under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 has been received by the Commission, that name should therefore be entered in the register,

(1)

Pursuant to the first subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006, Greece’s application to register the name ‧Ξύγαλο Σητείας (Xygalo Siteias)/Ξίγαλο Σητείας (Xigalo Siteias)‧ was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2).

(2)

As no statement of objection under Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 has been received by the Commission, that name should therefore be entered in the register,

(1)

Pursuant to Article 27(1)(a) of Directive 92/83/EEC, Member States are required to exempt from excise duty alcohol which has been completely denatured in accordance with the requirements of any Member State, provided that such requirements have been duly notified and accepted in accordance with the conditions laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 of that Article.

(2)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 3199/93 (2) provides that the denaturants which are employed in each Member State for the purposes of completely denaturing alcohol in accordance with Article 27(1)(a) of Directive 92/83/EEC are to be described in the Annex to that Regulation.

(3)

On 13 May 2010 the Czech Republic communicated some changes to its denaturing processes authorised by Regulation (EC) No 3199/93.

(4)

The Commission transmitted the communication of the Czech Republic to the other Member States on 18 June 2010.

(5)

Objections have been received to the requirements notified by the Czech Republic. Therefore, the procedure referred to in Article 27(4) of Directive 92/83/EEC has been duly followed. Following discussion in the Committee on Excise Duties, the Czech Republic revised its original proposal so that the proposed requirements should not give rise to evasion, avoidance or abuse.

(6)

In accordance with Article 27(5) of Directive 92/83/EEC, Poland notified the Commission on 26 May 2010 that it had detected abuse of completely denatured alcohol, exempted from excise duty pursuant to Article 27(1)(a) of Directive 92/83/EEC, and denatured according to the method of Latvia authorised by Regulation (EC) No 3199/93, which is a mixture of a minimum amount of 3 litres of isopropyl alcohol and 2 grams of denatonium benzoate per 100 litres of spirit.

(7)

The Commission transmitted the communication of Poland to the other Member States on 25 June 2010.

(8)

Subsequent responses to the communication and discussion in the Committee on Excise Duties indicated that the majority of Member States were in agreement with the position of Poland. In response to the concerns raised by Poland, Latvia communicated to the Commission the agreement to amend its method of denaturing as provided for in Regulation (EC) No 3199/93.

(9)

Regulation (EC) No 3199/93 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(10)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Excise Duties,

(1)

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 585/2011 of 17 June 2011 laying down temporary exceptional support measures for the fruit and vegetable sector (2) introduced temporary exceptional support measures for the fruit and vegetable sector following an outbreak of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Germany, which caused a significant disturbance of the Union fruit and vegetable market.

(2)

Pursuant to Article 7(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 585/2011, Member States had to notify their requests for total Union support to the Commission by 18 July 2011. On the basis of the information notified by Member States in accordance with that Article, it appears that the impact of the crisis has been bigger than expected.

(3)

Given the significant disturbance of the fruit and vegetables market and the harm caused to the fruit and vegetables sector, it is appropriate to increase the maximum amount of support provided for in Article 2 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 585/2011. For reasons of urgency, this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication.

(4)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

(1)

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 585/2011 introduced temporary exceptional support measures for the fruit and vegetable sector following an outbreak of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Germany, which caused a significant disturbance of the Union fruit and vegetable market.

(2)

On the basis of the information notified by Member States in accordance with Article 7(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 585/2011, it appears that the requests for Union support have not exceeded the maximum amount of support fixed in Article 2 of that Regulation. Therefore, an allocation coefficient of 100 % has to be fixed for those requests.

(3)

For the sake of transparency, producer organisations and producers non members having applied for Union support should be informed swiftly on the allocation coefficient fixed by the Commission. For this reason and in order to ensure the efficient management of the measure, this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication,

(1)

The representative prices and additional duties applicable to imports of white sugar, raw sugar and certain syrups for the 2010/11 marketing year are fixed by Commission Regulation (EU) No 867/2010 (3). These prices and duties have been last amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 760/2011 (4).

(2)

The data currently available to the Commission indicate that those amounts should be amended in accordance with the rules and procedures laid down in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006,

(1)

If the amount of manure that a Member State intends to apply per hectare each year is different from those specified in the first sentence of the second subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC and in point (a) of that subparagraph, that amount is to be fixed so as not to prejudice the achievement of the objectives specified in Article 1 of that Directive and it has to be justified on the basis of objective criteria, such as, in the present case, long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake.

(2)

On 21 December 2007, the Commission adopted Decision 2008/64/EC granting a derogation requested by the Kingdom of Belgium with regard to the region of Flanders pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (2), allowing the Kingdom of Belgium to authorise in the region of Flanders, under certain conditions, the application of up to 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure on parcels cultivated with grassland and maize undersown with grassland and up to 200 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure on parcels cultivated with winter wheat followed by a catch crop and with beet.

(3)

The derogation granted by Decision 2008/64/EC concerned approximately 3 300 farmers and 83 500 ha of land and expired on 31 December 2010.

(4)

On 15 March 2011, the Kingdom of Belgium submitted to the Commission a request for renewal of the derogation under the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 of Annex III to Directive 91/676/EEC referred to the region of Flanders.

(5)

The requested derogation concerns the intention of the Kingdom of Belgium to allow the application in Flanders, in specific holdings, of up to 250 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from grazing livestock manure and treated pig manure on parcels cultivated with grassland, maize undersown with grassland and cut grassland or cut rye followed by maize and up to 200 kg nitrogen per hectare per year from livestock manure and treated pig manure on parcels cultivated with winter wheat or triticale followed by a catch crop and with beet.

(6)

Flanders established clear water quality goals to be reached over the two next action programme periods. For surface water the quality standard of 50 mg nitrates per litre will be reached in 84 % of the monitoring points of the agricultural monitoring network by 2014 and in 95 % of these points by 2018. For shallow groundwater, which has a slower recovery rate, the average nitrate concentration will be decreased by 10 % in 2014 and 20 % by 2018 compared to the average level of 2010 amounting to 40 mg nitrates per litre. Specific focus is given to the hydrogeological homogeneous zones for which the nitrate concentrations in shallow groundwaters are on average higher than 50 mg nitrates per litre for which the average concentration will need to decrease by 5 mg nitrates per litre per action programme period.

(7)

In order to reach these goals, Flanders has established a reinforced action programme for the period 2011-14. A review of the policy will be carried out by 2014 based on which possible further reinforced action will be taken in the action programme for the period 2015-18 in order to guarantee that the set water quality goals are reached.

(8)

The legislation implementing Directive 91/676/EEC for the region of Flanders, the ‘Decree for the protection of water against pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources’ of 22 December 2006 (hereinafter ‘the Manure Decree’) has been amended (3) in accordance with the action programme for the period 2011-14 on 6 May 2011 and applies in conjunction with this Decision.

(9)

The Manure Decree applies trough the whole territory of the region of Flanders.

(10)

The Manure Decree includes limits for the application of both nitrogen and phosphorus.

(11)

The supporting documents presented in the notification show that the proposed amount of respectively 250 and 200 kg per hectare per year nitrogen from livestock manure is justified on the basis of objective criteria such as long growing seasons and crops with high nitrogen uptake.

(12)

The Commission after examination of the request considers that the proposed amounts of respectively 250 and 200 kg per hectare per year of nitrogen from grazing livestock manure and treated pig manure, will not prejudice the achievement of the objectives of Directive 91/676/EEC, subject to certain strict conditions being met which apply in addition to the reinforced measures taken in the action programme for the period 2011-14.

(13)

In order to avoid that the application of the requested derogation leads to intensification of livestock rearing, the competent authorities should ensure the limitation of the number of livestock which can be kept in each farm (nutrient emission rights) in the region of Flanders according to the provisions set out in the Manure Decree.

(14)

The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Nitrates Committee set up pursuant to Article 9 of Directive 91/676/EEC,

(a)

‘farms’ means agricultural holding with or without livestock rearing;

(b)

‘parcel’ means an individual field or a group of fields, homogeneous regarding cropping, soil type and fertilisation practices;

(c)

‘grassland’ means permanent or temporary grassland (generally temporary lies less than 4 years);

(d)

‘crops with high nitrogen demand and long growing season’ means grassland; maize undersown, before or after harvest, with grass mowed and removed from the field acting as a catch crop; cut grassland or cut rye followed by maize; winter wheat or triticale followed by a catch crop; sugar or fodder beets;

(e)

‘grazing livestock’ means cattle (with the exclusion of veal calves), sheep, goats and horses;

(f)

‘manure treatment’ means the processing of pig manure in two fractions, a solid and a liquid fraction, performed in order to improve land application and enhance nitrogen and phosphorus recovery;

(g)

‘treated manure’ means the liquid fraction resulting from manure treatment;

(h)

‘effluent with low nitrogen and phosphate content’ means treated manure with a maximum nitrogen content of 1 kg per ton effluent and a maximum phosphate content of 1 kg per ton effluent;

(i)

‘soil profile’ means the soil layer below ground level to a depth of 0,90 m, unless the average highest groundwater level is shallower; in this latter case it shall be to a depth of the average highest groundwater level.

(a)

grassland shall be ploughed in spring for all soil types except clay soils;

(b)

grassland on clay soils shall be ploughed before 15 September;

(c)

grassland on derogated parcels shall not include sown leguminous or other plants fixing atmospheric nitrogen;

(d)

a crop with high nitrogen demand shall be seeded within 2 weeks after ploughed grass and fertilisers shall not be applied in the year of ploughing of permanent grassland;

(e)

catch crops shall be seeded within 2 weeks after harvest of winter wheat or triticale and no later than 10 September;

(f)

catch crops shall not be ploughed before 15 February in order to ensure permanent vegetal cover of the arable area for recovering subsoil autumn losses of nitrates and limit winter losses.

(a)

maps showing the percentage of farms, percentage of livestock, percentage of agricultural land and local land use, as well as data on crop rotations and agricultural practices in derogation farms, as referred to in Article 10(1);

(b)

the results of water monitoring, including information on water quality trends for ground and surface waters, as well as the impact on derogation on water quality as referred to in Article 10(2);

(c)

evaluation of the nitrate residue in soil profile in autumn for the derogated parcels and a comparison with nitrate residue data and trends on non-derogated parcels for similar crop rotations. Non-derogated parcels should include non-derogated parcels on farms benefiting from derogation and parcels on other farms;

(d)

evaluation of the implementation of the derogation conditions, on the basis of controls at farm and parcel level, as well as controls on manure transport, and information on non-compliant farms, on the basis of the results of the administrative and field inspections;

(e)

information on manure treatment, including further processing and utilisation of the solid fractions, and provide detailed data on the characteristics of treatments systems, their efficiency and composition of treated manure;

(f)

information on the amount of farms benefiting from derogation and derogated parcels on which treated manure and effluents with low nitrogen and phosphate content has been applied as well as their volumes;

(g)

the methodologies to assess the composition of treated manure, the variations in composition and treatment efficiency for each farm benefiting from individual derogation, referred to in Article 5(3);

(h)

the inventory of manure treatment installation as referred to in Article 5(4);

(i)

summary and evaluation of data obtained from the monitoring sites referred to in Article 10(4).