Commission Regulation (EC) No 53/2004

of 12 January 2004

amending Council Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 as regards the Community tariff quotas and reference quantities for certain agricultural products originating in Egypt

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 of 9 April 2001 providing for the management of Community tariff quotas and of reference quantities for products eligible for preferences by virtue of agreements with certain Mediterranean countries and repealing Regulations (EC) No 1981/94 and (EC) No 934/95(1), and in particular Article 5(1)(b) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Pending the completion of the procedure necessary for the ratification and entry into force of the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an Association between the European Communities and their Member States on the one part, and the Arab Republic of Egypt on the other part, signed on 25 June 2001, an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters concerning the provisional application of the trade and trade-related provisions of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement, hereinafter referred to as "the provisional Agreement", has been concluded on 19 December 2003. The provisional Agreement applies from 1 January 2004.

(2) The provisional Agreement will replace the relevant provisions in the Cooperation Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Arab Republic of Egypt signed on 18 January 1977(2) and in the Agreement between the Member States of the European Coal and Steel Community and the Arab Republic of Egypt signed in Brussels on 18 January 1977(3).

(3) In the provisional Agreement, for Community imports of certain agricultural products originating in Egypt tariff concessions are granted at a zero-rate of customs duty within the framework of tariff quotas.

(4) For certain agricultural products for which the tariff concessions under the Cooperation Agreement have applied within reference quantities, the provisional Agreement provides for the exemption of customs duties within tariff quotas or for the exemption of customs duties for unlimited volumes.

(5) To implement the tariff concessions provided for in the provisional Agreement, it is necessary to replace the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 relating to tariff quotas and reference quantities for products originating in Egypt.

(6) In accordance with the provisional Agreement, the volumes of the tariff quotas for certain products should, from the second year of application, be increased annually by 3 % of the volume of the previous year, and the volumes for the tariff quotas for other products should be fixed specifically for the first to the third and following years of application.

(7) Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8) For the purpose of the calculation of the tariff quotas for the first year of application, it is appropriate to provide, in accordance with the provisional Agreement, that the volumes of the tariff quotas for which the quota period starts before the date of entry into force of the provisional Agreement, should be reduced by a proportion relative to that part of the period which has elapsed before that date.

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 747/2001 is replaced by the Annex to this Regulation.

Article 2

For the first year of application, the volumes of the Community tariff quotas with order numbers 09.1704, 09.1706, 09.1707, 09.1711, 09.1713, 09.1714, 09.1717, 09.1721 and 09.1725, for which the quota period starts before the date of entry into force of the provisional Agreement, shall be reduced by a proportion relative to that part of the period which has elapsed before that date.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 January 2004.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 12 January 2004.

For the Commission

Frederik Bolkestein

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 109, 19.4.2001, p. 2. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 37/2004 (OJ L 6, 10.1.2004, p. 3).

(2) OJ L 266, 27.9.1978, p. 2.

(3) OJ L 316, 12.12.1979, p. 2.

ANNEX

"ANNEX IV

EGYPT

Notwithstanding the rules for the interpretation of the Combined Nomenclature, the wording for the description of the products is to be considered as having no more than an indicative value, the preferential scheme being determined, within the context of this Annex, by the coverage of the CN codes as they exist at the time of adoption of the current regulation. Where ex CN codes are indicated, the preferential scheme is to be determined by application of the CN code and corresponding description taken together.

Tariff quotas

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