Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 786/2012
of 30 August 2012
amending and correcting Regulation (EC) No 951/2006 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 318/2006 as regards trade with third countries in the sugar sector
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 134, Article 161(3), Article 170 and Article 192(2), in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 of 31 August 2009 laying down detailed rules for the Member States’ notification to the Commission of information and documents in implementation of the common organisation of the markets, the direct payments’ regime, the promotion of agricultural products and the regimes applicable to the outermost regions and the smaller Aegean islands lays down common rules for notifying information and documents by the competent authorities of the Member States to the Commission. Those rules cover in particular the obligation for the Member States to use the information systems made available by the Commission and the validation of the access rights of the authorities or individuals authorised to send notifications. In addition, that Regulation sets common principles applying to the information systems so that they guarantee the authenticity, integrity and legibility over time of the documents and provides for personal data protection.
(2)
Pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 792/2009 the obligation to use the information systems in accordance with that Regulation has to be provided for in the Regulations establishing a specific notification obligation.
(3)
The Commission has developed an information system that allows managing documents and procedures electronically in its own internal working procedures and in its relations with the authorities involved in the common agricultural policy. It is considered that several notification obligations can be fulfilled via that system in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 792/2009, in particular those provided for in Commission Regulation (EC) No 951/2006 .
(4)
In the interest of an efficient administration and taking account of the experience, some notifications should be either simplified and specified or deleted in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006.
(5)
For reasons of clarity, it is appropriate to provide explicitly that Commission Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 of 23 April 2008 laying down common detailed rules for the application of the system of import and export licences and advance fixing certificates for agricultural products applies to the licences provided for in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006, save as otherwise provided in the latter Regulation.
(6)
Isoglucose products are not listed in Section C of Part II of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 376/2008, therefore no export licence is required for the exports of isoglucose which is in free circulation on the Union market and which is not considered as ‘out-of-quota’ to be exported without refund. This should be reflected in Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 951/2006, where any reference to isoglucose should be deleted.
(7)
According to point (d) of the first paragraph of Article 61 of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, the sugar or isoglucose produced in excess of the quota referred to in Article 56 of that Regulation may be exported only within the quantitative limit to be fixed by the Commission. When fixing the quantitative limit the Commission has to respect the commitments resulting from agreements concluded in accordance with Article 218 of the Treaty.
(8)
At times of large Union production of out-of-quota sugar, in particular when coupled with high world market prices, applications for export licences submitted by sugar manufacturers can exceed significantly the available quantities. The strong competition of operators for export licences may lead to a situation where certain operators apply for licences exceeding their actual production of out-of-quota sugar in respect of the marketing year concerned. Such speculative behaviour could mean loss of export possibilities for Union out-of-quota sugar and increasing the pressure on the Union market for out-of-quota sugar and therefore also increasing the risk of accumulation of surplus sugar.
(9)
According to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 376/2008 the rights deriving from licences or certificates can be transferred once by their titular holder during the validity of the licence or certificate concerned. In order to reduce the risks of speculative behaviour of sugar manufacturers it is appropriate to prohibit the transfer of export licences in the case of out-of-quota sugar.
(10)
Article 3(4) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1484/95 of 28 June 1995 laying down detailed rules for implementing the system of additional import duties and fixing additional import duties in the poultry meat and egg sectors and for egg albumin, and repealing Regulation No 163/67/EEC and Article 4(4) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 504/2007 of 8 May 2007 laying down detailed rules for the application of the arrangements for additional import duties in the milk and milk products sector set the time limit for the importers concerned to prove that the consignment in question was disposed of under conditions confirming the correctness of the declared cif import price. For the sake of harmonisation of the implementing rules applicable to the additional import duties in the different sectors, it is appropriate to align Article 38(4) of Regulation (EC) No 951/2006 to Article 3(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1484/95 and Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 504/2007.
(11)
Article 34(3) of Regulation (EC) No 951/2006 lays down that Member States have to provide the Commission each month with information related to the molasses world market. Experience has shown that, due to the characteristics of the molasses markets, such information is difficult to obtain and most Member States have no relevant information to provide. It is therefore appropriate to delete that notification obligation.
(12)
Chapter 17 of Annex I to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87 of 23 July 1987 on the tariff and statistical nomenclature and on the Common Customs Tariff as amended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1006/2011 contains new CN codes for the various raw sugar products which are different from those referred to in Regulation (EC) No 951/2006. For the sake of legal clarity those new codes should be reflected in Article 42 of Regulation (EC) No 951/2006.
(13)
At the occasion of those amendments it is appropriate to correct an obvious error regarding an internal reference.
(14)
Regulation (EC) No 951/2006 should therefore be amended and corrected accordingly.
(15)
For reasons of transparency and equal treatment this Regulation should apply from the beginning of the 2012-2013 marketing year. However, since the correction of Article 12a(3) of Regulation (EC) No 951/2006 should have a retroactive effect which duly respects the legitimate expectations of those concerned, that correction should apply as from the date of entry into force of the amending act which inserted the erroneous reference into Regulation (EC) No 951/2006, namely Commission Regulation (EC) No 910/2008 .
(16)
The Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets has not delivered an opinion within the time limit set by its Chair,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.
OJ L 228, 1.9.2009, p. 3.
OJ L 178, 1.7.2006, p. 24.
OJ L 114, 26.4.2008, p. 3.
OJ L 145, 29.6.1995, p. 47.
OJ L 119, 9.5.2007, p. 7.
OJ L 256, 7.9.1987, p. 1.
OJ L 282, 28.10.2011, p. 1.
OJ L 251, 19.9.2008, p. 13.