THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 594/2008 of 16 June 2008 on certain procedures for applying the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part, and for applying the Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters between the European Community, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part, and in particular Article 2 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
A Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part (‘the Stabilisation and Association Agreement’), was signed in Luxembourg on 16 June 2008. The Stabilisation and Association Agreement is in the process of ratification.
(2)
On 16 June 2008 an Interim Agreement was concluded on trade and trade-related matters between the European Community, of the one part, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the other part (‘the Interim Agreement’), which was approved by Council Decision 2008/474/EC. The Interim Agreement provides for the early entry into force of the trade and trade-related provisions of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. It entered into force on 1 July 2008.
(3)
The Interim Agreement and the Stabilisation and Association Agreement provide that certain fish and fishery products originating in Bosnia and Herzegovina may be imported into the European Union, within the limits of tariff quotas of the Union (‘quotas’), at a reduced or a zero rate of customs duty.
(4)
The tariff quotas provided for in the Interim Agreement and in the Stabilisation and Association Agreement are annual and have been adopted for an indefinite period. It is necessary to open the tariff quotas for 2008 and following years and to provide for a common system for their management.
(5)
This common management should ensure that all importers in the European Union have equal and continuous access to the tariff quotas and that the rates laid down for the quotas are applied uninterruptedly to all imports of the products in question into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted. In order to ensure the efficiency of the system, Member States should be authorised to draw from the quota volumes the necessary quantities corresponding to actual imports. Close cooperation between the Member States and the Commission is required and the latter must in particular be able to monitor the rate at which the quotas are used up and inform the Member States accordingly. For reasons of speed and efficiency, communication between the Member States and the Commission should, as far as possible, take place by electronic transmission.
(6)
The quotas opened by this Regulation should therefore be managed in accordance with the system for management of tariff quotas designed to be used following the chronological order of dates of acceptance of customs declarations which is provided for in 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.
(7)
As the Interim Agreement entered into force on 1 July 2008, this Regulation should apply from the same date and should remain in force after the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
(8)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: