Community tariff quotas for sheepmeat and goatmeat should be opened for 2006. The duties and quantities referred to in Regulation (EC) No 2529/2001 should be fixed in accordance with the respective international agreements in force during the year 2006.

Council Regulation (EC) No 312/2003 of 18 February 2003 implementing for the Community the tariff provisions laid down in the Agreement establishing an association between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Chile, of the other part2 has provided for an additional bilateral tariff quota of 2 000 tonnes with a 10 % annual increase of the original quantity to be opened for product code 0204 from 1 February 2003. That quota was added to the GATT/WTO quota for Chile and both quotas should continue to be managed in the same way during 2006. Moreover, a quota calculation error occurred when attributing the quota for the year 2005 under Commission Regulation (EC) No 2202/2004 of 21 December 2004 opening Community tariff quotas for 2005 for sheep, goats, sheepmeat and goatmeat3 and a quantity of 5 417 tonnes instead of 5 400 tonnes was attributed. A quantity of 17 tonnes should therefore be deducted from the quantity available for 2006.

Council Regulation (EC) No 992/95 of 10 April 1995 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas for certain agricultural and fishery products originating in Norway4, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1329/20035, grants additional bilateral trade concessions concerning agricultural products.

Council Regulation (EC) No 2175/2005 of 21 December 2005 concerning the implementation of the Agreements concluded by the EC following negotiations in the framework of Article XXIV:6 of GATT 1994, amending Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff6 grants an additional tariff quota quantity of 1 154 tonnes for New Zealand as from 1 January 2006, which should be added to the quantity available for 2006.

Certain tariff quotas for sheep and goat meat products have been granted to the ACP States under the Cotonou Agreement7.

Certain quotas are defined for a period running from 1 July of a given year to 30 June of the following year. Since imports under this present Regulation should be managed on a calendar-year basis, the corresponding quantities to be fixed for the calendar year 2006 with regard to the quotas concerned are the sum of half of the quantity for the period from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 and half of the quantity for the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 2007.

A carcase-weight equivalent needs to be fixed in order to ensure a proper functioning of the Community tariff quotas. Furthermore, since certain tariff quotas provide for the option of importing either the live animals or their meat, a conversion factor is required.

Experience with the management of the Community tariff quotas under the first-come, first-served system in sheepmeat and goatmeat products has been positive during the year 2005. Therefore, quotas concerning those products should, by way of derogation from Commission Regulation (EC) No 1439/95 of 26 June 1995 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EEC) No 3013/89 as regards the import and export of products in the sheepmeat and goatmeat sector8, be managed in conformity with Article 16(2)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2529/2001. This should be done in accordance with Articles 308a, 308b and 308c(1) of 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 Code9.

In order to avoid any discrimination among exporting countries, and given that equivalent tariff quotas have not been quickly exhausted in the last two years, tariff quotas under this Regulation should be regarded initially as non-critical within the meaning of Article 308c of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 when managed under the first-come, first-served system. Therefore, customs authorities should be authorised to waive the requirement for security in respect of goods initially imported under those quotas in accordance with Articles 308c(1) and 248(4) of Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93. Due to the particularities of the transfer from one management system to the other, Article 308c(2) and (3) of that Regulation should not apply.

It should be clarified which kind of proof certifying the origin of products has to be provided by operators in order to benefit from the tariff quotas under the first-come, first served system.

When sheepmeat products are presented by operators to the customs authorities for import, it is difficult for those authorities to establish whether they originate from domestic sheep or other sheep, which determines the application of different duty rates. It is therefore appropriate to provide that the proof of origin contains a clarification to that end.

In accordance with Chapter II of Council Directive 2002/99/EC of 16 December 2002 laying down the animal health rules governing the production, processing, distribution and introduction of products of animal origin for human consumption10 and with Council Directive 97/78/EC of 18 December 1997 laying down the principles governing the organisation of veterinary checks on products entering the Community from third countries11, imports may be authorised only for products meeting the requirements of the food chain procedures, rules and checks in force in the Community.

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