(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)

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 Community provisions, 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, subject to the measures in force in the Community relating to double checking systems and to prior and retrospective Community surveillance of textile products on importation into the Community, binding tariff information issued by the customs authorities of Member States in respect of the classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature and which is not in accordance with this Regulation, can continue to be invoked for a period of 60 days 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 Community provisions, 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 codes 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)

Directive 2004/49/EC on safety on the Community’s railways elaborates the provisions for the safety certificates of railway undertakings. Article 10 of this Directive states that in order to be granted access to a railway infrastructure, a railway undertaking must hold a safety certificate. The purpose of the safety certificate is to provide evidence that the railway undertaking has established its safety management system and can meet requirements laid down in Technical Specifications for Interoperability, established under Council Directive 96/48/EC of 23 July 1996 on the interoperability of the trans-European high-speed rail system (3), Directive 2001/16/EC of 19 March 2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the interoperability of the trans-European conventional rail system (4), and other Community legislation, and in national rules in order to control risks and operate safely on the network.

(2)

Member States should make efforts to assist applicants wishing to enter the market as railway undertakings, and in particular they should provide information and act promptly for requests for safety certification. For railway undertakings operating international services it is important that the procedures for safety certification are similar in different Member States; therefore common parts of the safety certificate shall be harmonised in order to provide for a common template. To this end Article 15 of Directive 2004/49/EC provides for the harmonisation of safety certificates. Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 states that the Agency shall draft and recommend a harmonised format for safety certificates, including an electronic version, and a harmonised format for applications for safety certificates including a list of the essential details to be provided.

(3)

In accordance with Article 33 of Directive 2004/49/EC, Member States shall bring into force its provisions by 30 April 2006. Hence from this date safety certificates shall be awarded in accordance with the provisions of Directive 2004/49/EC. This makes it necessary to take early action to harmonise the approach to safety certificates such that Member States may apply a harmonised approach as soon as possible.

(4)

Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC makes provisions for the safety certificate to comprise of two parts: one part confirming acceptance of the railway undertaking’s safety management system which shall be accepted throughout the Community (Part A), and the second part confirming the provisions adopted to meet the specific national requirements necessary to operate on the relevant network (Part B). The harmonised safety certificate application and guidelines contained within this Regulation provide guidance for railway undertakings and national safety authorities on what should be contained within an application for each part of the safety certificate.

(5)

In accordance with Article 10(6) of Directive 2004/49/EC national safety authorities shall inform the Agency of the safety certificates issued in accordance with the provisions of Article 10(2)(a) of the same Directive (Part A Certificates). However the Agency, in accordance with Article 11(1)(b) of its Regulation (EC) No 881/2004, shall keep a public database of all safety certificates issued in accordance with Article 10 of Directive 2004/49/EC. This obligation requires the Agency to publish both Part A and Part B Certificates. Therefore in support of Article 11(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 881/2004 Member States shall inform the Agency of Part B safety certificates granted under Article 10(2)(b) of Directive 2004/49/EC, as well as Part A certificates.

(6)

National safety authorities may inform the Agency of the issue, renewal, amendment or revocation of safety certificates by three main methods: through the use of the Agency’s web based tool, by submitting an electronic file of the safety certificate, or by providing a facsimile of the safety certificate. To facilitate the use of the standard format and to guarantee the use of the latest version of the forms it is recommended that national safety authorities use the web based electronic format on the website of the Agency or download either the electronic file or the master documents provided on the same website. The use of the web based electronic version is highly recommended as it allows for saving the document directly into the Agency’s database. Submitting an electronic file is also recommended, as it enables the Agency to save the document as a codified file, which can be sent directly to the Agency’s safety database.

(7)

Each safety certificate granted by the Member States shall be given a unique number; this number shall also facilitate the method by which the safety certificate is recorded in the public database to be established by the Agency.

(8)

In order to avoid unnecessary financial and administrative burdens, it is necessary to clarify that railway undertakings having obtained a safety certificate in accordance with Directive 2001/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2001 on the allocation of railway infrastructure capacity and the levying of charges for the use of railway infrastructure and safety certification (5) are not obliged to apply for a new safety certificate until 1st of January 2011. Existing safety certificates are valid as long as the conditions for their validity are met; as soon as one of the conditions is not met (such as, for example, expiry or change of geographical scope), a new safety certificate shall be requested. This should not preclude the case where a railway undertaking, which already holds a certificate granted under Directive 2001/14/EC, can request a certificate in the new harmonised format. This question has been brought to the attention of the Commission in the context of Article 28(1) of Directive 2004/49/EC.

(9)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee as set up under Article 21 of Directive 96/48/EC,

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 936/97 provides in Articles 4 and 5 the conditions for applications and for the issue of import licences for meat referred to in Article 2(f).

(2)

Article 2(f) of Regulation (EC) No 936/97 fixes the amount of high-quality fresh, chilled or frozen beef and veal meeting the definition laid down therein which may be imported on special terms for the period 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 at 11 500 t.

(3)

It should be recalled that licences issued pursuant to this Regulation will, throughout the period of validity, be open for use only in so far as provisions on health protection in force permit,

(1)

Pursuant to Directive 2003/99/EC, Member States shall ensure that monitoring provides comparable data on the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic agents and, in so far as they present a threat to public health, other agents.

(2)

A FAO/OIE/WHO workshop on scientific assessment on non-human usage of antimicrobials and antimicrobial resistance in 2003 concluded that there is clear evidence of adverse human health consequences due to resistant organisms resulting from non-human usage of antimicrobials: increased frequency of infections, increased frequency of treatment failures (in some cases death) and increased severity of infections, as documented for instance by fluoroquinolone-resistant human Salmonella infections. Evidence shows that the amount and pattern of non-human usage of antimicrobials affect the occurrence of resistant bacteria in animals and food and thereby human exposure to these resistant bacteria (Joint FAO/OIE/WHO Expert Workshop, 2003). However, it should be noted that most of the resistance problems in human medicine are caused by human usage and over usage of antimicrobial agents for therapy and prophylaxis (European Parliament, October 2006).

(3)

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) indicates in its ‘Community Summary Report on Trends and Sources of Zoonoses, Zoonotic agents, Antimicrobial Resistance and Foodborne Outbreaks in the European Union in 2005’ (2) that a relatively high proportion of Campylobacter and Salmonella isolates from animals and food were resistant to antimicrobials commonly used in treatment of human diseases. Food-borne infections caused by these resistant bacteria pose a particular risk to humans due to possible treatment failure.

(4)

The Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards and of the Scientific Panel an Animal Health and Welfare of the EFSA, adopted an Opinion on ‘Review of the Community Summary Report on Trends and Sources of Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents and Antimicrobial Resistance in the European Union in 2004’ (3) during its meeting on respectively 7 and 8 September 2006. With regard to antimicrobial resistance testing, the Opinion indicates the importance to provide detailed information on the Salmonella serovar for each isolate and to harmonise the breakpoints applied for resistance assessment and reporting.

(5)

The Task Force on Zoonoses Data Collection of the EFSA adopted a ‘Report including a proposal for a harmonised monitoring scheme of antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella in fowl (Gallus gallus), turkeys and pigs and Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli in broilers’ (4) on 20 February 2007. The report makes recommendations on a harmonised monitoring scheme and harmonised methodology for susceptibility testing.

(6)

In view of the increasing public health risk posed by antimicrobial resistance and the evidence that use of antibiotics affects this risk, comparable information should be collected from all Member States on the antimicrobial resistance occurrence in zoonotic agents in animals by implementing Article 7 of Directive 2003/99/EC. This implementation should be based on the proposal of the EFSA Task Force but is without prejudice to further implementation rules in the future.

(7)

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 the review of remuneration of officials of Europol, the Management Board took account of the changes in the cost of living in the Netherlands, as well as of the changes in salaries in the public service in the Member States.

(2)

The review period from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 justifies an increase of 1,5 % of remuneration for the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007.

(3)

It is for the Council, acting unanimously, to adjust the basic salaries and allowances of officials of Europol, on the basis of the review,

(a)

in Article 45, the table of basic monthly salaries shall be replaced by the following:

(b)

in Article 59(3), the amount ‘EUR 1 004,36’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 1 019,43’;

(c)

in Article 59(3), the amount ‘EUR 2 008,72’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 2 038,85’;

(d)

in Article 60(1), the amount ‘EUR 267,84’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 271,86’;

(e)

in Article 2(1) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 280,00’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 284,20’;

(f)

in Article 3(1) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 12 174,06’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 12 356,67’;

(g)

in Article 3(1) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 2 739,17’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 2 780,26’;

(h)

in Article 3(2) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 16 434,98’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 16 681,50’;

(i)

in Article 4(1) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 1 217,41’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 1 235,67’;

(j)

in Article 4(1) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 913,07’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 926,77’;

(k)

in Article 4(1) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 608,70’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 617,83’;

(l)

in Article 4(1) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 486,96’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 494,26’;

(m)

in Article 5(3) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 1 718,01’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 1 743,78’;

(n)

in Article 5(3) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 2 290,68’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 2 325,04’;

(o)

in Article 5(3) of Appendix 5, the amount ‘EUR 2 863,34’ shall be replaced by: ‘EUR 2 906,29’.