THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 32/2000 of 17 December 1999 opening and providing for the administration of Community tariff quotas bound in GATT and certain other Community tariff quotas and establishing detailed rules for adjusting the quotas, and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1808/95, and in particular the first indent of Article 9(1)(b) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
As a result of an agreement between the Union and the United States of America concluded by virtue of Council Decision 2013/125/EU, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 624/2013 amended Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 32/2000 with effect from 1 July 2013 to open a new tariff quota of 1 550 tonnes bound in GATT for imports in the Union of food preparations not elsewhere specified or included of CN code 2106 90 98 originating in the United States of America.
(2)
As country-specific tariff quotas are allocated on the basis of the origin of goods, it was considered appropriate to introduce an obligation in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 32/2000 to present a certificate of origin, in accordance with the applicable Union legislation on non-preferential origin, whenever a declaration for release for free circulation is made in respect of food preparations intended to benefit from the new tariff quota.
(3)
However, by letter of 26 April 2016, the United States of America asked for this obligation to be removed. Their letter explains that the products benefiting from the tariff quota are exported from across the United States and even though the task of issuing certificates of origin is decentralised, the resources necessary to comply with such a paper-based certification system make this task prohibitively burdensome.
(4)
With regard to the risk that products not originating in the United States may be imported under the tariff quota if the obligation is removed, Article 61 of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 already allows customs authorities to require declarants to prove the origin of goods by a means of proof other than presentation of a certificate of origin in accordance with Articles 57, 58 and 59 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2447. The correct application of the rules can thus be ensured even if the obligation to provide a certificate of origin is removed to reduce the administrative burden on exporters.
(5)
In consequence, given these exceptional circumstances, it is appropriate to allow importers of those products to use the tariff quota without their having to provide a certificate of origin.
(6)
Regulation (EC) No 32/2000 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(7)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Customs Code Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: