(1)

Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 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)

The representative prices and additional duties applicable to imports of white sugar, raw sugar and certain syrups for the 2007/08 marketing year are fixed by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1109/2007 (3). These prices and duties have been last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 462/2008 (4).

(2)

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

(1)

Council Regulation (EC) No 40/2008 of 16 January 2008 fixing for 2008 the fishing opportunities and associated conditions for certain fish stocks and groups of fish stocks applicable in Community waters and for Community vessels, in waters where catch limitations are required (3), lays down quotas for 2008.

(2)

According to the information received by the Commission, catches of the stock referred to in the Annex to this Regulation by vessels flying the flag of or registered in the Member State referred to therein have exhausted the quota allocated for 2008.

(3)

It is therefore necessary to prohibit fishing for that stock and its retention on board, transhipment and landing,

(1)

As from 1 July 2008 Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 will apply to main sectors of the common organisation of agricultural markets, as provided for in Article 204 thereof. Consequently, the Commission should adopt the necessary measures to amend or repeal the sectoral Regulations concerned, in order to ensure proper implementation from that date.

(2)

Article 130 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 provides that without prejudice to cases where import licences are required in accordance with that Regulation, the Commission may make imports of one or more products covered by the common organisation of agricultural markets subject to presentation of an import licence. Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 requires import licences on the one hand for the management of the import regime for husked and milled rice, to take into account the quantities to be imported, and on the other hand for the management of the import regime for sugar under preferential arrangements.

(3)

As regards exports, Article 167 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 states that export refunds shall only be granted for products listed in Article 162(1) of that Regulation on presentation of an export licence. In accordance with Article 161 of that Regulation, the Commission may make exports of one or more products subject to presentation of an export licence.

(4)

For the purposes of the management of imports and exports, the Commission has been given the power to determine the products for which import and/or export will be subject to presentation of a licence. When assessing the needs of a licence system, the Commission should take account of the appropriate instruments for the management of the markets and in particular for monitoring the imports.

(5)

This situation offers the opportunity to examine in depth the existing rules in the different market sectors and to reconsider current practices for licencing with a view to simplification and to alleviating the administrative burden for Member States and operators. For reasons of clarity, the rules should be included in Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 of 23 April 2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products (3).

(6)

A licence system is the appropriate mechanism for the management of tariff quotas for imports and exports to be administered by a method other than the method based on the chronological order of the lodging of applications, according to the first come first served principle, given the limited volume in question and the huge number of quantities applied for.

(7)

A licence system is deemed to be the most appropriate mechanism to monitor certain agricultural products imported under preferential conditions, when considering the valuable advantage offered by the reduced rate of duty applicable and the imperative need to forecast market movements.

(8)

Taking account of the wide range of detailed rules and technical provisions implemented in the market sectors to administer exports with the benefit of refunds it is deemed more appropriate to maintain those provisions in the sectoral Regulations, at this stage.

(9)

In the cereals sector, import and export licences have to be considered as an indicator of medium-term movements and of the foreseeable evolution of the market. They represent a key instrument to set up a balance sheet of the market, to be used when assessing the conditions of resale of intervention stocks in the internal market or for exports, or to determine if an export tax has to be applied. In that respect import should be subject to presentation of a licence for spelt, common wheat and meslin, barley, maize, sorghum, durum wheat, flour of common wheat and spelt, and manioc, and export should be subject to presentation of a licence for spelt, common wheat and meslin, barley, maize, durum wheat, rye, oats and flour of common wheat and spelt in the light of their prevailing importance on the trade flows and the domestic market.

(10)

In the rice sector the information on foreseeable imports and exports provided by licences is the basis for the surveillance of the market, in particular because of the important position of rice in domestic consumption. It is also used to monitor the respect of tariff lines for like products. In addition, licences issued are to be taken into account for the calculation of import duties for husked and milled rice pursuant to Articles 137 and 139 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007. For these reasons, import licence should be required for husked rice, milled rice, semi-milled rice and for broken rice, and export licence should be required for husked, milled and semi-milled rice.

(11)

For sugar, the monitoring of the market is of high importance and a precise knowledge of exports is necessary. As a consequence, sugar exports should be monitored and be subject to presentation of licences. As regards imports, the licence requirement should be limited to imports benefiting from preferential import duties, without prejudice to imports subject to tariff quotas.

(12)

In order to prevent illicit hemp crops from disturbing the common organisation of the market in hemp for fibre, provision should be made for checks on imports of hemp and hemp seed to ensure that such products offer certain guarantees with regard to the tetrahydrocannabinol content. The issue of licences for such import should therefore be provided for.

(13)

For fruit and vegetables, the information gained from import licences should be used to monitor the respect of tariff lines for like products such as dried or frozen garlic or to administer tariff-rate quotas.

(14)

Apple producers in the Community have recently found themselves in a difficult situation, due, amongst others, to a significant increase in imports of apples from certain third countries of the Southern hemisphere. The monitoring of the import of apples should therefore be improved. The appropriate instrument for achieving that objective is a mechanism based on issuing import licences, as provided in Commission Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 of 21 December 2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations (EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96 and (EC) No 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector (4). As regards bananas, import licences are required pursuant to Commission Regulation (EC) No 2014/2005 of 9 December 2005 on licences under the arrangements for importing bananas into the Community in respect of bananas released into free circulation at the common customs tariff rate of duty. (5) In order to give a complete view of the products subject to licences, the relevant requirements should also be included in Regulation (EC) No 376/2008.

(15)

For dairy products, the information on foreseeable imports at reduced duty provided by licences is important for the surveillance of the market. As regards imports at reduced rate of duty of beef, in order to monitor the volume of trade with third countries, provision should be made for a system of licences for certain products.

(16)

Ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin imports should be subject to presentation of licences given the needs for market surveillance in case of a sensitive industry.

(17)

In order to present a clear and complete view of the obligations in respect of licences for trade in agricultural products, the list of imports and exports subject to the requirements concerned should be set out in Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008.

(18)

For the application of Article 4(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 376/2008, the maximum quantities of products for which import or export or advance fixing certificates need not to be presented should be set out, provided import or export does not take place under preferential arrangements. The list of products concerned should be amended in the light of the amendments made to the licencing obligations.

(19)

Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 and the following Regulations should therefore be amended accordingly:

(20)

Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1119/79 of 6 June 1979 laying down special provisions for the implementation of the system of import licences for seeds (17) should therefore be repealed accordingly.

(21)

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.

Article 1 is replaced by the following:

(*1)   OJ L 318, 20.12.1993, p. 18."

(*2)   OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1."

(*3)   OJ L 179, 14.7.1999, p. 1."

(*4)   OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.’ "

2.

In Article 7, the following paragraph is added:

3.

In Article 14, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

4.

Annex II is replaced by the text in Annex I to this Regulation.

1.

Article 1 is replaced by the following:

(*5)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3."

(*6)   OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1."

(*7)   OJ L 238, 1.9.2006, p. 13.’ "

2.

Article 2 is replaced by the following:

(*8)   OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1."

(*9)   OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.’ "

3.

Articles 4, 5 and 6 are deleted.

1.

Article 2 is replaced by the following:

(*11)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3."

(*12)   OJ L 238, 1.9.2006, p. 13.’ "

2.

In Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 3 are deleted.

3.

In Article 24, the following paragraphs are added:

1.

Article 1 is replaced by the following:

(*13)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3."

(*14)   OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1."

(*15)   OJ L 238, 1.9.2006, p. 13."

(*16)   OJ L 325, 11.12.2007, p. 69.’ "

2.

Article 6 is replaced by the following:

(*17)   OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1.’ "

3.

Article 7 is deleted.

4.

Article 8 is replaced by the following:

(*18)   OJ L 147, 30.6.1995, p. 55."

(*19)   OJ L 336, 23.12.1994, p. 22.’ "

5.

Article 9 is replaced by the following:

6.

Article 11 is deleted.

7.

Article 12 is replaced by the following:

(*20)   OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.’ "

8.

Annexes I, II, III, XI, XII and XIII are deleted.

9.

Annex X is replaced by the text in Annex II to this Regulation.

1.

In Article 5, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

(*21)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3."

(*22)   OJ L 205, 3.8.1985, p. 5.’ "

2.

Articles 6 and 8 are deleted.

1.

In Article 1, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

(*23)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3.’ "

2.

Article 3 is deleted.

1.

In Article 5, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

(*26)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3.’ "

2.

In Article 8, paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 are deleted.

3.

Article 10 is replaced by the following:

4.

In Article 11, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

5.

In Article 12, paragraph 1 is deleted.

1.

In Article 5, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

(*28)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3.’ "

2.

In Article 6, paragraph 2 is deleted.

3.

Article 13 is amended as follows:

4.

Annex II is deleted.

1.

Paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

(*29)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3.’ "

2.

Paragraph 4 is replaced by the following:

3.

Paragraph 6 is replaced by the following:

1.

In Article 2, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

(*30)   OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3.’ "

2.

Articles 3 and 4 are deleted.

3.

In Article 5, paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:

(a)

as regards the cereals, flax and hemp, olive oil, fruits and vegetables fresh or processed, seeds, beef and veal, sheepmeat and goatmeat, pig meat, milk and milk products, eggs, poultry meat, ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin and other product sectors, other than rice, sugar and wine sectors, from 1 July 2008;

(b)

as regards the wine sector, from 1 August 2008;

(c)

as regards the rice sector, from 1 September 2008;

(d)

as regards the sugar sector, from 1 October 2008.

(1)

Council Directive 76/308/EEC of 15 March 1976 on mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to certain levies, duties, taxes and other measures (3) has been substantially amended several times (4). In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Directive should be codified.

(2)

The fact that national provisions relating to recovery are applicable only within national territories is in itself an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market. This situation prevents Community rules from being fully and fairly applied, particularly in the area of the common agricultural policy, and facilitates fraudulent operations.

(3)

It is necessary to meet the threat to the financial interests of the Community and the Member States and to the internal market posed by the development of fraud so as to safeguard better the competitiveness and fiscal neutrality of the internal market.

(4)

It is therefore necessary to adopt common rules on mutual assistance for recovery.

(5)

These rules should apply to the recovery of claims resulting from the various measures which form part of the system of total or partial financing of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, to the recovery of levies and other duties and import and export duties, valued added tax and harmonised excise duties (manufactured tobacco, alcohol and alcoholic beverages and mineral oils), as well as of taxes on income, on capital and on insurance premiums. They should also apply to the recovery of interest, administrative penalties and fines, with the exclusion of any sanction of a criminal nature, and costs incidental to such claims.

(6)

Mutual assistance should consist of the following: the requested authority should on the one hand supply the applicant authority with the information which the latter needs in order to recover claims arising in the Member State in which it is situated and notify the debtor of all instruments relating to such claims emanating from that Member State, and on the other hand it should recover, at the request of the applicant authority, the claims arising in the Member State in which the latter is situated.

(7)

These different forms of assistance should be afforded by the requested authority in compliance with the laws, regulations and administrative provisions governing such matters in the Member State in which it is situated.

(8)

It is necessary to lay down the conditions in accordance with which requests for assistance must be drawn up by the applicant authority and to give a limitative definition of the particular circumstances in which the requested authority may refuse assistance in any given case.

(9)

In order to permit more efficient and effective recovery of claims in respect of which a request for recovery has been made, the instrument permitting enforcement of the claim should, in principle, be treated as an instrument of the Member State in which the requested authority is situated.

(10)

When the requested authority is required to act on behalf of the applicant authority to recover a claim, it should be able, if the provisions in force in the Member State in which it is situated so permit and with the agreement of the applicant authority, to allow the debtor time to pay or authorise payment by instalment. Any interest charged on such payment facilities should also be remitted to the Member State in which the applicant authority is situated.

(11)

Upon a reasoned request from the applicant authority, the requested authority should also be able, in so far as the provisions in force in the Member State in which it is situated so permit, to take precautionary measures to guarantee the recovery of claims arising in the applicant Member State. Such claims should not necessarily benefit from the privileges accorded to similar claims arising in the Member State in which the requested authority is situated.

(12)

During the recovery procedure in the Member State in which the requested authority is situated the claim or the instrument authorising its enforcement issued in the Member State in which the applicant authority is situated may be contested by the person concerned. It should be laid down in such cases that the person concerned must bring the action contesting the claim before the competent body of the Member State in which the applicant authority is situated and that the requested authority must suspend, unless the applicant authority requests otherwise, any enforcement proceedings which it has begun until a decision is taken by the aforementioned body.

(13)

It should be laid down that documents and information communicated in the course of mutual assistance for recovery may not be used for other purposes.

(14)

The use of mutual assistance for recovery cannot, save in exceptional circumstances, be based on financial benefits or an interest in the results obtained, but Member States should be able to agree the reimbursement arrangements when recovery poses a specific problem.

(15)

This Directive should not curtail mutual assistance between particular Member States under bilateral or multilateral agreements or arrangements.

(16)

The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission (5).

(17)

This Directive should be without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time-limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex I, Part C,

(a)

refunds, interventions and other measures forming part of the system of total or partial financing of the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), including sums to be collected in connection with these actions;

(b)

levies and other duties provided for under the common organisation of the market for the sugar sector;

(c)

import duties;

(d)

export duties;

(e)

value added tax;

(f)

excise duties on:

(g)

taxes on income and capital;

(h)

taxes on insurance premiums;

(i)

interest, administrative penalties and fines, and costs incidental to the claims referred to in points (a) to (h), with the exclusion of any sanction of a criminal nature as determined by the laws in force in the Member State in which the requested authority is situated.

1.

‘applicant authority’ means the competent authority of a Member State which makes a request for assistance concerning a claim referred to in Article 2;

2.

‘requested authority’ means the competent authority of a Member State to which a request for assistance is made;

3.

‘import duties’ means customs duties and charges having equivalent effect on imports, and import charges laid down within the framework of the common agricultural policy or in that of specific arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products;

4.

‘export duties’ means customs duties and charges having equivalent effect on exports, and export charges laid down within the framework of the common agricultural policy or in that of specific arrangements applicable to certain goods resulting from the processing of agricultural products;

5.

‘taxes on income and capital’ means those enumerated in Article 1(3) of Council Directive (77/799/EEC) of 19 December 1977 concerning mutual assistance by the competent authorities of the Member States in the field of direct taxation and taxation of insurance premiums (6), read in conjunction with Article 1(4) of that Directive;

6.

‘taxes on insurance premiums’ means:

(a)

to grant the assistance provided for in Articles 6 to 13 if recovery of the claim would, because of the situation of the debtor, create serious economic or social difficulties in the Member State in which that authority is situated, in so far as the laws, regulations and administrative practices in force in the Member State in which the requested authority is situated allow such action for similar national claims;

(b)

to grant the assistance provided for in Articles 4 to 13, if the initial request under Articles 4, 5 or 6 applies to claims more than five years old, dating from the moment the instrument permitting the recovery is established in accordance with the laws, regulations or administrative practices in force in the Member State in which the applicant authority is situated, to the date of the request. However, in cases where the claim or the instrument is contested, the time-limit begins from the moment at which the applicant State establishes that the claim or the instrument permitting recovery may no longer be contested.

(a)

the person mentioned in the request for assistance;

(b)

those persons and authorities responsible for the recovery of the claims, and solely for that purpose;

(c)

the judicial authorities dealing with matters concerning the recovery of the claims.

(1)

Outbreaks of Newcastle disease occurred in the United Kingdom in 2005. The emergence of that disease presented a serious risk to the Community’s livestock population.

(2)

In order to prevent the spread of the disease and to help eradicate it as quickly as possible, the Community should contribute financially towards the eligible expenditure incurred by the Member State under the emergency measures taken to combat the disease, as provided for in Decision 90/424/EEC.

(3)

Commission Decision 2006/602/EC of 6 September 2006 concerning a financial contribution by the Community in the context of emergency measures taken to combat Newcastle disease in the United Kingdom in 2005 (2) granted a financial contribution at the rate of 50 % of the expenditure eligible for Community funding for the implementation of the measures taken to combat this outbreak.

(4)

Pursuant to that Decision, the Community financial contribution is to be paid on the basis of the request submitted by the United Kingdom on 11 June 2007 and supporting documents set out in Article 7 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 349/2005 of 28 February 2005 laying down rules on the Community financing of emergency measures and of the campaign to combat certain animal diseases under Council Decision 90/424/EEC (3).

(5)

In view of those considerations, the total amount of the Community’s financial contribution to the eligible expenditure incurred associated with the eradication of Newcastle disease in the United Kingdom in 2005 should now be fixed.

(6)

The results of the inspections carried out by the Commission in compliance with the Community veterinary rules and the conditions for granting Community financial contributions mean the entire amount of the expenditure submitted cannot be recognised as eligible.

(7)

The Commission’s observations, method of calculating the eligible expenditure and final conclusions were communicated to the United Kingdom in a letter dated 21 December 2007.

(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,