THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation), and in particular Article 144(1), in conjunction with Article 4, thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
The Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of Serbia, of the other part (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Stabilisation and Association Agreement’), signed on 29 April 2008, is in the process of ratification.
(2)
The Interim Agreement on trade and trade-related matters between the European Community, of the one part, and the Republic of Serbia, of the other part (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Interim Agreement’), approved by Council Decision 2010/36/EC on 29 April 2008, provides for the early implementation of the trade and trade-related provisions of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
(3)
The Interim Agreement and the Stabilisation and Association Agreement provide that wines originating in Serbia may be imported into the European Union, within the limits of Union tariff quotas, and subject to the condition that no export subsidies shall be paid for exports of these quantities by Serbia, at a zero-rate customs duty.
(4)
The Commission should adopt the implementing measures for the opening and the administration of those Union tariff quotas.
(5)
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, has established the management rules for tariff quotas designed to be used following the chronological order of dates of acceptance of customs declarations.
(6)
Particular care should be taken to ensure that all Union importers have equal and continuous access to the tariff quotas and that the zero-rate duty laid down for the quotas is applied uninterruptedly to all imports of the products concerned into all Member States until the quotas are exhausted. In order to ensure the efficiency of a common administration of those quotas, there should be no obstacle to authorising the Member States to draw from the quota volumes the necessary quantities corresponding to actual imports. Communication between the Member States and the Commission should, as far as possible, take place by electronic transmission.
(7)
This Regulation should apply from 1 February 2010, date of the entry into force of the Interim Agreement and should continue to apply after the date of 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 Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: