Article 41.

The competent national authorities listed in Annex II may, from 10.00 a.m., Brussels time, on 11 January 2017, notify the Commission of the amounts covered by requests for import authorisations.

The competent national authorities shall issue import authorisations only after being notified by the Commission pursuant to Article 17(2) of Regulation (EU) 2015/936 that the requested quantities are available for importation.

They shall issue authorisations only where an operator:

(a)

proves the existence of a contract relating to the provision of the goods; and

(b)

certifies in writing that, in respect of the categories and countries concerned:

(i)

the operator has not already been granted an authorisation under this Regulation; or

(ii)

the operator has been granted an authorisation under this Regulation but has used at least 50 per cent of the quantity allocated.

Import authorisations shall be valid for nine months from the date of issue until 31 December 2017 at the latest.

The competent national authorities may, however, at the importer's request, grant a three-month extension to the validity of an authorisation, provided that at least 50 per cent of the allocated quantity has been used at the time of the request. Such extension shall in no circumstances expire later than 31 March 2018.