Certificates of authenticity shall be valid for three months from the date of issue.

However, certificates may not be presented to the competent national authority after 30 June following the date of issue.

The original of the certificate of authenticity drawn up in accordance with Articles 3, 4 and 6 plus a copy thereof shall be presented to the competent national authority together with the application for the first import licence relating to the certificate of authenticity.

A certificate of authenticity may be used for the issuing of more than one import licence for a total quantity not exceeding that shown on the certificate. Where more than one licence is issued in respect of a certificate, the competent national authority shall endorse the certificate of authenticity to show the quantity attributed.

The competent national authorities may issue import licences only after they are satisfied that all the information on the certificate of authenticity corresponds to that received each week from the Commission on the subject. The import licences shall be issued immediately thereafter.

Notwithstanding the third subparagraph of paragraph 2, the competent national authorities may, in exceptional cases and on duly reasoned application, issue import licences on the basis of the relevant certificates of authenticity before the information from the Commission is received. In such cases, the security for the import licences shall be EUR 50 per 100 kg net weight. After receiving the information concerning the certificate, the Member States shall replace the security by that of EUR 12 per 100 kg net weight.