1. Tariff quotas for the products listed in Article 1 (1) resulting from agreements concluded in the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations shall be opened and administered in accordance with detailed rules adopted under the procedure laid down in Article 17.
2. Quotas shall be administered by applying one of the following methods or a combination of them:
method based on the chronological order of the lodging of applications (first come, first served principle),
method of distribution in proportion to the quantities requested when the applications were lodged (using the simultaneous examination method),
method based on taking traditional trade patterns into account (using the traditional/new arrivals method).
Other appropriate methods may be adopted.
They must avoid any discrimination between the operators concerned.
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, whilst at the same time possibly drawing on methods which may have been applied in the past to quotas corresponding to those referred to in paragraph 1 without prejudice to the rights resulting from agreements concluded in the framework of the Uruguay Round negotiations.
4. The detailed rules referred to in paragraph 1 shall provide for annual quotas, suitably phased over the year if necessary, and, where appropriate, for:
(a) guarantees covering the nature, provenance and origin of the product;
(b) recognition of the document used for verifying the guarantees referred to in (a); and
(c) the conditions under which import licences are issued and their term of validity.]