THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to 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 Norway, and in particular Article 5(1)(a) and (b) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
By Decision (EU) 2016/837, the Council authorised the signing, on behalf of the European Union, and provisional application of the Agreement between the European Union, Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Kingdom of Norway on an EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, the Agreement between the Kingdom of Norway and the European Union on a Norwegian Financial Mechanism for the period 2014-2021, the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Norway and the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and Iceland.
(2)
The text of the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Norway (‘the Additional Protocol’) which is attached to Decision (EU) 2016/837 provides for the renewal of seven duty-free tariff quotas that ended on 30 April 2014 and for three new duty-free tariff quotas for release for free circulation in the European Union of certain fish and fishery products originating in Norway.
(3)
In accordance with the Additional Protocol, the volumes of the tariff quotas covering the period from 1 May 2014 until the date on which the provisional application of the Additional Protocol becomes effective shall be proportionally allocated and made available for the period from the date of provisional application of the Additional Protocol until 30 April 2021.
(4)
It is necessary to amend Regulation (EC) No 992/95 in order to implement the tariff quotas laid down in the Additional Protocol.
(5)
The tariff quotas should apply from the date on which the provisional application of the Additional Protocol becomes effective until 30 April 2021. This Regulation should therefore apply from the date of provisional application of the Additional Protocol laid down in Article 3 of Decision (EU) 2016/837.
(6)
Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council repealed Council Regulation (EC) No 104/2000 and ended the system of reference prices for fishery products. It is therefore necessary to delete the condition laid down in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC) No 992/95 on respecting reference prices.
(7)
Protocol 3 to the Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Norway defining the concept of originating products and setting out the methods of administrative cooperation has been amended by Decision No 1/2016 of the EU-Norway Joint Committee of 8 February 2016. It is therefore necessary to provide that Protocol 3 as amended is to apply.
(8)
Tariff quotas under order numbers 09.0760, 09.0763 and 09.0778 applied in accordance with the Annex to Council Regulation (EC) No 1920/2004 from 2005 to 2009. It is therefore necessary to delete Article 2a of Regulation (EC) No 992/95 referring to those tariff quotas.
(9)
Rules on the management of tariff quotas are laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447 replacing Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2454/93 from 1 May 2016. Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 992/95 should be amended to take account of the new rules.
(10)
The Annex to Regulation (EC) No 992/95 should be amended in order to take account of amendments of the Combined Nomenclature codes (‘CN codes’) laid down in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87, and of the Taric subdivisions. For reasons of clarity it is appropriate to replace the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 992/95 in its entirety.
(11)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: