CHAPTER 2Provisions applicable to imports
Article 26Import duties
1.Unless this Regulation provides otherwise, the rates of import duty in the Common Customs Tariff shall apply to the products listed in Article 1(1).
2.Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the Commission may suspend in whole or in part for certain quantities the application of import duties on the following products to ensure that the Community market is adequately supplied by means of imports from third countries:
raw sugar for refining falling within CN codes 1701 11 10 and 1701 12 10,
molasses falling within CN code 1703.
3.In order to guarantee the supply necessary for the manufacturing of products referred to in Article 13(2), the Commission may suspend in whole or in part for certain quantities the application of import duties on sugar falling within CN code 1701 and isoglucose falling within CN codes 1702 30 10, 1702 40 10, 1702 60 10 and 1702 90 30.
Article 27Management of imports
1.In order to prevent or counteract adverse effects on the market of the Community which may result from imports of certain products listed in Article 1(1), imports of one or more of such products at the rate of duty laid down in the Common Customs Tariff shall be subject to the payment of an additional import duty if the conditions to be determined pursuant to Article 40(1)(e) are fulfilled, unless the imports are unlikely to disturb the Community market, or where the effects would be disproportionate to the intended objective.
2.Imports made at a price below the level notified by the Community to the World Trade Organisation (‘the trigger price’) may be subject to an additional import duty.
The import prices to be taken into consideration for imposing that additional import duty shall be determined on the basis of the cif import prices of the consignment under consideration.
Cif import prices shall be checked to that end against the representative prices for the product on the world market or on the Community import market for that product.
3.If the volume of imports in any year in which the adverse effects referred to in paragraph 1 arise or are likely to arise exceeds a level based on market access opportunities defined as the percentage of the corresponding domestic consumption during the three previous years (‘the trigger volume’), an additional import duty may also be imposed.
Article 28Tariff quotas
1.Tariff quotas for imports of products listed in Article 1(1) resulting from agreements concluded in accordance with Article 300 of the Treaty or from any other act of the Council shall be opened and administered by the Commission under detailed rules adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 39(2) of this Regulation.
2.Tariff quotas shall be administered in a manner which avoids any discrimination between the operators concerned, by applying one of the following methods or a combination of them or another appropriate method:
(a)a method based on the chronological order of the lodging of applications (‘first come, first served’ principle);
(b)a method of distribution in proportion to the quantities requested when the applications were lodged (using the ‘simultaneous examination method’);
(c)a method based on taking traditional trade patterns into account (using the ‘traditional/new arrival method’).
3.The method of administration adopted shall, where appropriate, give due weight to the supply requirements of the Community market and the need to safeguard the equilibrium of that market.
Article 29Traditional supply need for refining
1.Notwithstanding Article 19(1), a traditional supply need of sugar for refining is fixed for the Community at 1 796 351 tonnes per marketing year, expressed in white sugar.
During the marketing years 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, the traditional supply need shall be distributed as follows:
296 627 tonnes for France,
291 633 tonnes for Portugal,
19 585 tonnes for Slovenia,
59 925 tonnes for Finland,
1 128 581 tonnes for the United Kingdom.
2.The traditional supply need referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be increased:
(a)by 50 000 tonnes in the marketing year 2007/2008 and by 100 000 tonnes as from the marketing year 2008/2009. These quantities shall be made available to Italy in the marketing years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009;
(b)by 30 000 tonnes as from the marketing year 2006/2007 and by a supplementary 35 000 tonnes as from the marketing year in which the sugar quota has been reduced by at least 50 %.
The quantities referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph shall concern raw cane sugar and shall be reserved for the marketing years 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 for the sole sugar beet processing plant at work in 2005 in Portugal. This processing plant is deemed to be a full time refiner.
3.Import licences for sugar for refining shall be issued only to full-time refiners provided that the concerned quantities do not exceed the quantities that may be imported in the framework of the traditional supply need referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2. The licences in question may be transferred only between full-time refiners and their validity expires at the end of the marketing year for which they have been issued.
This paragraph shall apply for the marketing years 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, and for the first three months of each of the following marketing years.
4.The application of import duties on cane sugar for refining falling within CN code 1701 11 10 originating in the States referred to in Annex VI shall be suspended for the complementary quantity which is needed to allow an adequate supply of the full-time refiners for each of the marketing years 2006/2007, 2007/2008 and 2008/2009.
The complementary quantity shall be fixed in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 39(2), based on the balance between the traditional supply need referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and the forecast supply of sugar for refining for the marketing year concerned. This balance may be revised in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 39(2) during the marketing year and may be based on historic flat-rate estimates of the raw sugar intended for consumption.
Article 30Guaranteed price
1.The guaranteed prices fixed for the ACP/Indian sugar shall apply for import of standard quality raw and white sugar from:
(a)the least developed countries under the arrangements referred to in Articles 12 and 13 of Regulation (EC) No 980/2005;
(b)the States listed in Annex VI to this Regulation for the complementary quantity referred to in Article 29(4).
2.Applications for import licences for sugar benefiting from a guaranteed price shall be accompanied by an export licence issued by the authorities of the exporting country certifying the compliance of the sugar with the rules provided for in the agreements concerned.
Article 31Sugar Protocol Commitments
In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 39(2), measures may be adopted to ensure that the ACP/Indian sugar is imported into the Community under the conditions set out in Protocol 3 to Annex V to the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement and the Agreement on cane sugar between the European Community and the Republic of India. Those measures may, if necessary, derogate from Article 29 of this Regulation.