THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3036/94 of 8 December 1994 establishing economic outward processing arrangements applicable to certain textile and clothing products reimported into the Community after working or processing in certain third countries, and in particular Article 3 (8) and Article 12 thereof,

Whereas Article 4 of this Regulation provides that the competent authorities of the Member States shall issue prior authorizations to applicants satisfying the conditions of the economic outward processing arrangements for certain textile and clothing products;

Whereas the smooth operation of the arrangements in the single market calls for uniform procedures for issuing and checking such prior authorizations;

Whereas the introduction of a standard application and prior authorization form will facilitate the application of the arrangements in the single market, and in particular adminisrative cooperation between the Member States;

Whereas it should be possible for prior authorizations to be issued in my Member State and be valid throughout the Communiy irrespective of the Member State of issue; whereas, provision should nevertheless be made for centralized control to prevent economic operators being allocated more than their entitlement, such control taking the form of consulting the competent authorities of the Member State in which the applicant is established or where his Community production takes place;

Whereas a time limit should be fixed for the completion of any consultation that may prove necessary between Member States;

Whereas applications, prior authorizations and the documents belonging to them should be kept for a prescribed period;

Whereas economic operators must be notified of the authorities competent to issue prior authorizations in each Member State; for that reason the Member States should transmit this information to the Commission in order to publish it in the ‘C’ series of the Official Journal of the European Communities;

Whereas the administration of quotas should be facilitated by issuing prior authorizations in respect of one category of compensating product and one processing country only;

Whereas procedures for the issue of prior authorizations and the control of such essential aspects as the origin of goods should be introduced;

Whereas procedures should be introduced for the administration of the quantitative limits;

Whereas in cases other than those provided for in Article 11 (3) of Regulation (EC) No 3036/94, the granting of prior authorizations is subject to the quantities being available in accordance with the procedures laid down in Annex VII to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3030/93 of 12 October 1993 on common rules for imports of certain textile products from third countries, as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1616/95; whereas the quantities available are allocated in the chronological order in which applications are received by the Commission;

Whereas a time limit must be set for exporting the export goods in order to ensure that amounts charged against quantitative limits do not go unused;

Whereas the measures applicable in the event of infringements being detected must be established to ensure the smooth running of the procedure;

Whereas the procedures for temporary export and for free circulation shall follow as closely as possible the rules set down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code, as well as Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code, as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1762/95;

Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee on Economic Outward Processing Arrangements for Textiles,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: