(1)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1432/94 of 22 June 1994 laying down detailed rules for the application in the pigmeat sector of the import arrangements provided for in Council Regulation (EC) No 774/94 opening and providing for the administration of certain Community tariff quotas for pigmeat and certain other agricultural products (3) has been substantially amended several times (4). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulation should be codified.

(2)

Regulation (EC) No 774/94 opened, from 1 January 1994, new annual tariff quotas for certain pigmeat products. The said quotas are to apply for an unspecified period.

(3)

The administration of the arrangements should be based on import licences. To that end, the detailed rules for submission of the applications and the information which must appear on the applications and licences, by way of derogation from Article 8 of 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 products (5) should be laid down. In addition, provision should be made for the licences to be issued after a period of consideration, applying, where necessary, a single percentage of acceptance. It is appropriate, in the interest of the operators, to provide for the possibility to withdraw the application for certificates after the fixing of a coefficient of acceptance.

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 774/94 provides for the customs duty to be fixed at 0 % for imports of certain pigmeat products, up to a certain quantity. In order to ensure the regularity of imports, the quantity in question should be staggered over one year.

(5)

In order to facilitate trade between the Community and third countries, it must be possible to import pigmeat products without an obligation to import from the country of origin, which must nevertheless be mentioned for statistical reasons in section 8 of the import licence.

(6)

To ensure proper management of the import regimes, the Commission needs precise information from the Member States on the quantities actually imported. For the sake of clarity, it is necessary to use a single model for communicating the quantities between Member States and the Commission.

(7)

In order to ensure proper administration of the system, the security for import licences under the said system should be fixed. In view of the risk of speculation inherent in the system in the pigmeat sector, precise conditions governing access by traders to the said system should be laid down.

(8)

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

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25 % in the period from 1 January to 31 March,

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25 % in the period from 1 April to 30 June,

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25 % in the period from 1 July to 30 September,

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25 % in the period from 1 October to 31 December.

(a)

applicants for import licences must be natural or legal persons who, at the time applications are submitted, can prove to the satisfaction of the competent authorities in the Member States that they have been active in trade with third countries in products in the pigmeat sector for at least the preceding 12 months; however, retail establishments or restaurants selling their products to final consumers are excluded from the benefits of this regime;

(b)

licence applications must mention the serial number, and may relate to products covered by the two different CN codes and originating in only one country; in such cases, all the CN codes must be indicated in section 16 and their descriptions in section 15; a licence application must relate at least to 20 tonnes and at most to 20 % of the quantity available for the period specified in Article 2;

(c)

section 8 of licence applications and licences shall show the country of origin;

(d)

section 20 of licences applications and licences shall show one of the indications set out in Annex II, Part A;

(e)

section 24 of licences shall show one of the indications set out in Annex II, Part B.