Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 provides that reference prices valid for the Union may be fixed each year, by product category, for products that are the subject of a tariff suspension under Article 28(1). The same holds for products which, by virtue of being either the subject of a binding tariff reduction under the WTO or some other preferential arrangements, must comply with a reference price.

Pursuant to Article 29(3)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, the reference price for the products listed in Annex I, Parts A and B to that Regulation, is to be the same as the withdrawal price fixed in accordance with Article 20(1) of that Regulation.

Pursuant to Article 29(3)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000, the reference price for products other than those listed in Annexes I and II to that Regulation is to be established in particular on the basis of the weighted average of customs values recorded on the import markets or in the ports of import in the three years immediately preceding the date on which the reference price is fixed.

There is no need to fix reference prices for those products falling under the criteria laid down in Article 29(1) of Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 which are imported from third countries in insignificant volumes.

In order to allow a swift application of the reference prices in the year 2012, this Regulation should enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fishery Products,